Research Thursdays - Aimee Arias received a Jean Monnet Project Grant from the European Union to create a South Florida High School Model European Union (SFHSMEU)
Thursday, Feb 11, 2021
Aimee Arias, associate professor of Political Science and associate dean for Research and Creative Achievement, received a Jean Monnet Project Grant from the European Union to create a South Florida High School Model European Union (SFHSMEU). The grant-supported project will provide an opportunity for students to engage with the European Union institutions in an active learning exercise formatted as a conference simulation. University students in FAU’s Leon Charney Diplomacy Program will serve as moderators and judges during the conference.
Registration will be free and open to all South Florida high school students and their teacher advisors. FAU will host two continuing education teacher workshops. These workshops will be designed to help South Florida high school teachers understand how they can include the EU into the subjects they teach and prepare students for participation in the SFHSMEU.
“The impact of this grant includes heightened awareness and knowledge of the EU that high school students can take back into their classrooms, school projects and community, creating a multiplier effect throughout the region,” said Arias.
The spring 2021 simulation will be virtual, with plans for an in-person session in spring 2022.
Arias received her Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami in 2001. Arias has been the assistant director of FAU’s internationally recognized and award-winning Leon Charney Diplomacy Program since 2009 and has been training undergraduate students to participate in the Midwest Model European Union (MMEU) since 2012.
For the past 5 years, she has co-trained (with Dr. Markus Thiel from FIU) a joint FIU-FAU undergraduate student delegation to participate in the MMEU.
