VSU Interdisciplinary Presentation to Focus on the European Union

Dr. Michael Baun, Valdosta State University Political Science Professor and Marguerite Langdale Pizer Chair of International Relations, presents a European Union (EU) overview at Harley Langdale, Jr. College of Business Administration's Pound Hall auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The meeting starts at 7:30 P.M. and both the university and local community are welcome to attend.

The intercampus guest speaker's presentation is required material for two undergraduate sections of the International Management course this semester taught by Dr. Fred Ware, Professor of Management at the Langdale College and the event's coordinator. ?We are fortunate to have someone of Dr. Baun's caliber at VSU,? Ware said. ?Our course is currently focusing on European Management and Dr. Baun's expertise on the EU will be an important contribution.? Ware says that the idea of this event is to allow others interested in the topic to essentially sit in on the class session.

?This is the type of academic interdisciplinary cooperation that exemplifies VSU's new HUB initiative,? said Dr. Louis Levy, Vice President of Academic Affairs.

?The HUB Learning Cooperative is a voluntary association of persons who plan and develop learning experiences university-wide which cross disciplinary boundaries,? said Dr. Lorraine Schmertzing, HUB Board Co-chair. ?This EU event, for instance, offers a vital topic at a minimal expense to a wider audience.?

A similar European Union overview convened last spring that had a lasting impact on those in attendance. ?As a direct result of the meeting, two business students are now involved in the European Union Studies Certificate Program,? said Baun, VSU's European Union Campus Representative. Certification gives students the opportunity to enhance international employment credentials.

Baun has dedicated time and effort into informing people about the union. The professor has either authored or co-authored journal articles, book chapters, and books on the European Union. His research interests include EU growth, EU relations with neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, and United States-European Union relations.

Since 1997, Baun and Ware have taught a number of International Management and Political Science summer courses in Europe for the European Council. They have also taken EU field trips to Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg, France. In some cases, political science and business classes traveled together to the same European Union field trip sites, but had different learning objectives.

VSU parking restrictions at Rea & Lillian Steele North Campus will be lifted for EU presentation attendees.

For more information on the event, contact Ware at (229) 245-2244. A brief synopsis of the European Union Certificate Program is provided in the VSU 2004-2005 Undergraduate Catalog on Pages 128-129.