Deadline: 23 April 2013
Open to: university students in their third year of studies (or equivalent) or higher and are citizens of the European Union
Venue: 1-29 September 2013 in Brussels, Belgium and multiple Canadian cities
Description
“Thinking Canada” is designed to enable European students to experience an in-depth exposure to a wide variety of institutions (both private and public), government bodies, think tanks and NGOs in Canada. These have been chosen to reflect a number of topics that are central for an understanding of contemporary Canada, among them cultural diversity, the English/French relationship, multiculturalism, the position of the First Nations, federalism and regionalism, the environment, urban issues and questions relating to economics, finance and trade. This interdisciplinary approach aims at broadening students’ knowledge of Canada as well as its relations with the EU.
Participants will arrive in Brussels on 1 September, the tour proper will begin on 2 September with a three-day introductory session focused on the EU and EU-Canada relations. It will then move on to Canada for a period of three-and-a-half weeks that will take it to Ottawa, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver (5 September – 28 September) and finally back to Brussels (29 September). Accommodation will be in shared rooms in reasonably-priced hotels. Travel to and from Canada, as well as from Toronto to Vancouver, will be on arranged group flights; within Canada, ground transportation by coach will be provided in and between cities.
“Thinking Canada” will be a demanding tour, providing a rich academic experience in a non-academic setting. Students will be required to attend all sessions. Each participant must agree beforehand with an academic sponsor at his or her home university on the specific requirements to be recognized after return, ideally in the form of ECTS credits. In addition, academics will be accompanying the tour to serve as resource persons and to advise the students with regard to any academic tasks they may have been set by their academic sponsors.
Costs
The bulk of the funding for the tour comes from a very generous grant from the European Commission, with additional contributions from the European Network for Canadian Studies and the national and regional Canadian Studies associations in Europe. Thanks to this financial support, students will only be required to pay a participation fee of 750 EUR. For students from the newer member countries of the EU (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) the fee will be 650 EUR.
The following costs will be fully covered for participants in the tour:
- accommodation in Brussels and for the duration of the tour in Canada
- return airfare Europe-Canada-Europe, as well as the flight from Toronto to Vancouver, on group flights booked by the tour organizers
- ground transportation in Canada
Students will be required to pay for their own meals and to cover incidental costs. They will also be responsible for getting to and from Brussels at the beginning and the end of the tour.
Internships
Ten internships will also be offered, enabling students to stay on in Canada for two months after the end of the tour itself. They will take place at leading think tanks, public and private bodies, NGOs and cultural institutions selected to meet a broad range of interests and skills. Students accepted for internships will receive a grant of 750 EUR per month. For more information on the Internships, see HERE.
Eligibility
Participation in the tour is open to university students who, at the time of application, are in their third year of studies (or equivalent) or higher and are citizens of the European Union. (NOTE: This also includes citizens of Croatia.)
Third-country nationals who have been legal residents in the European Union for at least three years (and for purposes other than study) before the start of the tour are also eligible; they must be enrolled at a university in an EU member state. Participants must be students at the time the study tour takes place.
Note: Other students at European universities can take part in the tour, but on the condition that they pay the full cost – 2,750 EUR per person.
Though Canada is a bilingual state, and the tour will be visiting both Anglophone and Francophone regions of the country, for practical reasons it is unrealistic to expect every participant to be fluent in both English and French. Knowledge of French will greatly enhance the experience gained on the tour; however, it is not a precondition for participation. On the other hand, it is essential for participants to have a good working knowledge of English.
Application
Applications are to be submitted through an on-line process AVAILABLE HERE. For details, first read all of the information on the “How to apply” page HERE. Application deadline: midnight (Central European Time) on Tuesday 23 April 2013. Academic sponsors must fill in their recommendation by midnight (Central European Time – summer time) on Wednesday 24 April 2013.
The deadline by which students must close their online application is midnight (Central European Time) on Thursday 25 April 2013.
Please note that the application form cannot be closed until your academic sponsor sends his/her recommendation(s). Once that is done – you will receive an e-mail informing you of this – you must return to the on-line form and close the application.
For inquiries, please contact Executive Director Don Sparling at thinking.canada@gmail.com. For more information, see the official website HERE.
