The European Union and the United States have
such a rich history of cooperation with each
other.
The reason a lot of the European Union hiring
and employers like American students or students
from abroad is that they can bring this unbiased
perspective and just get the fact.
So there is massive need in the underlying
economy for experts in European affairs.
For people who know how politics works in
the European Union, how policy is made in
the European Union and that's really one of
the great things about the EUPS program, it
allows us to really contribute to that relationship.
Our program is a one-year masters program
which is extremely intense.
The way we have structured the program is
really to proceed from breadth, to depth,
to application.
The first classes are all foundational you
have classes where you learn the institution
specifically, you have classes where you learn
policy.
That's the semester where students are becoming
exposed to the European approach to contemporary,
global policy problems.
And then in the spring is when you choose
your specialization.
They will choose one specific track and become
experts in a specific field of EU policy making.
Either in economic and social policy or in
foreign policy and internal security.
It was really amazing because you could do
an in-depth analysis because you already have
the foundation from the fall.
It is a European experience the coursework
is based in Florence, but our students go
on multiple trips to the heart of European
decision-making.
Out trips were definitely the best thing going
to Brussels twice and Strasbourg.
The people we get to see and meet and talk
to and listen to is incredible.
The program is committed to bringing in and
exposing students to really high-level decision-makers.
Caterina Paolucci, our academic coordinator
has thousands of connections from Florence
to Brussels to Strasbourg.
We go on study abroad trips, weeks in November
and April and, I think one more was in February
and she just introduces us to so many influential
people.
The capacity for the EUPS program to take
what you learn in the classroom and do it
practically has been one of the most rewarding
experiences.
One of the great examples of that is the simulation
of the Council of the European Union that
we do each year with our partners in the European
Parliament.
It bring University of Florence students,
Erasmus students and it really emulates, not
only the processes of the council of ministers
but also the languages barrier.
So you have this dynamic where you can definitely
see how difficult it is, but understand it
takes a lot of work.
So they play the role of a state, they take
that role very seriously, they work on the
position within that role for a number of
months and they horse-train.
They take part in sort of diplomatic negotiations
with each other and teams that are representing
other member states.
We had heard about how the meetings are super
slow and every one had to wait for the translators
and, you know, it's one thing to hear that
in the classroom, but it's quite another to
sit in on the meeting and watch that, "yea
it's essentially how it works."
It's something that is very much true to real
life and requires our students to take the
role of their countries very seriously.
In the second half of the first semester students
start also thinking about their internship,
so they also have to decide they would prefer
to do an internship in the summer versus doing
a research project, a research thesis.
Students in the internship have extremely
rich experiences.
I was fortunate enough to work for the U.S.
Conciliate Office here in Florence, Italy
where I worked in the non-immagrant VISA section
of the office.
I'm interning at Centro Unesco di Firenze
and it is an NGO that is a branch of the United
Nations Florence base.
I work for the Association Via Mago which
is right around the corner from the Palazzo
and it's working to bring back the traditions
of this area of Florence because we are on
the older, more artisan side.
I have never learned as much in a single work
experience as I have working at the Florentine.
I've had to present television news, I've
written scripts, I've translated article from
Italian to English, written my own articles,
proofread the paper, edited other people's
articles, so on and so forth.
Every day brings something new and it's very,
very fascinating.
All of of whom are engaged with, on a daily
basis, the process of European integration.
they're having to deal with the implications
of European Union law.
Only through the EUPS Program do you have
an internship opportunity like that.
Where I can put on my résumé that I have
a security clearance from the U.S. government
already.
That opens doors if I want to for defense
contracting, security contracting companies
all over the country.
Our students need to present themselves with
a perfect résumé, having certain specific
characteristics and they have to be able to
present what they have learned in the appropriate
way.
Dr. Paolucci works very hard with you, especially
in the summer semester getting your résumé
correct, your cover letter correct, and everything
that goes with it.
I think we are doing a good job in preparing
them what comes next.
