The Jean Monnet Winter School. “EU External Relations in the Times of Geopolitical Turbulence: the Case of the South Caucasus”
3-15 March 2024, Yerevan
The Jean Monnet Module “EU, Security and Fundamental Rights”, the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Legal Studies and Legal Europeanization, and the EIU Department of Law invite Armenian and international students to participate in the Annual Jean Monnet Winter School.
The School covers the following teaching areas: EU Law (including EU decision-making procedures), EU External Relations Law and Policy, International relations, Project Management, Development Theory, Legal Argumentation and Reasoning, Theory of Law-Making and Europeanization theories, Public International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law.
The School pursues the threefold learning objectives:
Objective 1: To enrich students’ knowledge of the South Caucasus region in the EU External Relations Law and Policy context. From this perspective, the Program will cover two major areas:
Week 1: The EU as a Global Security Actor: conflict resolution and humanitarian action. This part will focus on the critical analysis of the role of the EU in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and facilitation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations by the President of the European Council, the role of the EU’s civilian mission EUMA and the EU’s humanitarian assistance. To set the scene, students will be introduced to the geopolitical architecture of the South Caucasus and the history of the geopolitical rivalry over the region between the major actors; the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a wider geopolitical context with a detailed explanation of the most recent developments; and the evolution of the EU’s position regarding the conflict through the analysis of statements at the European Parliament, Council and European Council. Additionally, students will be introduced to the particularities of the EU’s decision-making procedures and principles governing the EU’s external action in the relevant cases.
Week 2: The EU as a Development Actor and a Transformative Power: Supporting Domestic Reforms. This part of the Program will focus on the EU as a normative and transformative power in the region with specific attention to the case of Armenia. Students will be introduced to the issues of legal Europeanization and ongoing legal reforms based on the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), critically analyse the relevance of the fundamental values promoted by the EU in the domestic constitutional order and discuss the influence of EU law on law-making and judicial practice in Armenia and other EaP countries. A critical analysis of the reform performance will be offered.
Objective 2: To develop students’ professional and soft skills. To achieve this objective, two training sessions will be integrated into the Program:
Week 1 will end with the one-day training on Humanitarian Project Management. This training will develop students’ skills in project design, implementation, monitoring and assessment and raise awareness about the methodology that NGOs apply in their humanitarian action. The training will be supplemented with a field visit.
Week 2 will feature training on a development (reform-supporting) project design and assessment. It will help students to understand the rationale and methodology of EU Twinning Projects and projects supporting domestic reforms through capacity building. The developed skills will help students to understand the logic of the said projects better, assess their effectiveness and transformative potential and develop their professional profiles as potential project experts.
Additionally, the following skills will be strengthened throughout the Program: [legal] argumentation, critical thinking, research and analysis, teamwork, presentation skills, debating and negotiation skills.
Objective 3: To enrich students’ social experience. This will be achieved by (1) introducing them to the Armenian culture and society, and (2) stimulating professional networking within the group and with the involved external contributors.
Workload: 90 academic hours (including study visits and group work). Upon the successful completion of the program, 3 ECTS credits will be awarded.
Format: The School is planned to be delivered in a face-to-face format.
Teaching staff:
The core lecturers will be delivered by:
- Anna Khvorostiankina, PhD, Head of Law Department, Jean Monnet Chair in EU Legal Studies and Legal Europeanization, EIU (focuses on EU Law, EU External Relations Law, EU’s role as a security and development actor in the Eastern Partnership) and
- Nawras Layous, Ph.D., Lecturer at Law Department, EIU (focuses on International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, Collective Security, and the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region; as an expert at Caritas-Armenia and SOS Children’s Villages Armenia, he has rich experience of Humanitarian Project Management to share with students and a wide professional network to introduce students to the activities of international NGOs in the region).
Teaching methodology:
The School combines:
- interactive lectures based on the principle of integration of research results and practical expertise into teaching,
- the “learning-by-doing” activities (professional training, debates, and simulations),
- study visits to governmental institutions (EU Delegation to Armenia, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the Office of the Representative of Armenia on International Legal Matters, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia), and
- meetings with civil society actors, entrepreneurs, and experts from international NGOs.
Logistics:
We will organize and cover: airport transfer, local transportation to the study visit sites, three social dinners (including one with a traditional cooking class), coffee breaks on working days, excursions to museums, a city tour around Yerevan, a long-distance tour during the weekend; learning materials and certificates. We will also negotiate a reduced price for lunches with the on-campus service providers.
Before the arrival, a WhatsApp group will be established to communicate with students about travel arrangements, weather conditions, food preferences, planned activities, requirements related to the rules applicable to visits to governmental institutions, etc. (in case of sensitive information, the communication will be performed via individual emails).
Participation fee: 650 euro
For students from EaP countries, a limited number of merit-based Jean Monnet scholarships (tuition fee waivers) are available.
Students are eligible for DAAD scholarships, please apply for financial support directly to DAAD. Further information can be found here. Please note: the application procedure for participation in the Summer School is separate from the application procedure for a DAAD scholarship.
Application procedure
Students (advanced Bachelor, Master, or PhD) of the following academic disciplines are eligible to apply:
- Law/International Law/EU Law
- Human Rights
- Political Science
- International Relations
- (Eastern) European and Eurasian Studies / post-Soviet Studies / Area Studies
- Journalism
- Project Management and
- Other related disciplines
Application deadline: 17 December 2023
To apply, fill in the application form here and attach your CV and the motivation letter.
Selection criteria:
- Relevant degree program
- Prior experience related to the topic of the Winter School (as an advantage)
- Proven interest in one of the following areas: EU External Relations, International Law, international litigation, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, Human Rights and Human Rights Project Management, South Caucasus / post-Soviet space
- Strong academic record of accomplishment
- Language skills (B2 level of English based on self-assessment, certificate is not required)
- Quality of the motivation letter and CV
If you have questions, please contact:
Dr. Anna Khvorostiankina
Head of Law Department
Jean Monnet Chair in EU Legal Studies and Legal Europeanization
Academic coordinator of the Jean Monnet Module “EU, Security and Fundamental Rights”
Eurasia International University
Room 420, 24/2 Azatutyan Street, 0014 Yerevan, Armenia
+374 91 620690
The provisional program is available here.
You may also be interested: in the DAAD-supported Jean Monnet Summer School 2023 report.
