Chair's Welcome
On behalf of the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society (CSEPS) at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), I would like to welcome you to our website. In 2003, BGU established the CSEPS at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Department of Politics and Government in order to offer students and faculty the opportunity to deepen and enhance their knowledge of contemporary political and social developments in Europe, as well as to promote a greater awareness within Israel of the growing importance of the European Union (EU).
To this effect, CSEPS coordinates the National Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam in European Integration Studies, develops joint research projects with European research institutions, organises international conferences and workshops and brings contemporary European culture to BGU through seminars, films, and talks by distinguished European figures. In 2012 CSEPS established under its auspices The National Bologna Training Centre (BTC). The BTC facilitates the exposure of Israeli higher education institutions to the Bologna Process. The BTC is a national disseminator of knowledge and information regarding the Bologna Process, and it stimulates discourse concerning the Bologna Process in the Israeli academic arena.
Our National Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence draws on the success of two former Jean Monnet Teaching Modules, as well as a Jean Monnet Chair, both coordinated by the CSEPS. The Jean Monnet Chair has served as a basic introduction to the EU, as well as to the Union's special relations with Europe's Jewish communities and Israel. The National Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence takes EU studies in both Israel and BGU a step further by enabling BA-, MA- and Ph.D.-level students, from all disciplines, including those who do not normally come into contact with European integration studies, an opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the integration process and its implications for European citizenship and the global community.
Whether you are a student, a researcher, Israeli, European, whether you are interested in the European integration project for research or pleasure, I invite you to explore this website, to learn more about the European integration project and the EU relationship with the State of Israel.
Prof. Renée Poznanski
Chair