July 28 – August 7 2017
Otzenhausen, Germany
The German-Russian Summer School for BA students was organized in 2017 for the seventh time. 14 students from six different faculties of St. Petersburg State University were selected out of over 30 applications to participate in the Seminar. 11 German students from various disciplines represented three partner universities in Germany: Bielefeld University, Würzburg University, and University of Koblenz-Landau.
The goal of the Summer European Academy was to give the participants a comprehensive and deeper understanding of German and EU policies and societies, as well as EU-Russia relations in an international environment, and to foster mutual learning from each other. In the framework of the Seminar, such topics as the EU political system, the history and future of European integration, mass media, migration, foreign policy and international relations were discussed during the lectures and interactive workshops. Special attention was paid to the topic of commemorative cultures in Germany and Russia.
In addition to the traditional excursions to the Council of Europe, the Schengen Museum, and the European Parliament in Strasbourg, study trips to the site of the former concentration camp Hinzert and Luxembourg were also organized. One of the highlights was a public discussion dedicated to the German-Russian relations, organized at the City Hall in Saarbrücken. The event was moderated by a journalist from the Saarländischer Rundfunk and on the panel were among others Hubert Seipel a German journalist who is an expert in German-Russian relations, Hans Peter Hinrichsen, Director of department Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, German Federal External Office, and also two students (one Russian, one German) from the group.
The evaluation feedback from the participants was very positive and showed that such activities for undergraduates are a useful way to provide them with knowledge about Germany- and Europe-related issues. The high interest of students both from Russia and Germany in informal exchange and mutual learning shows that these seminars should be continued in the future.