| Monash home | About Monash | Faculties | Campuses | Contact Monash |
| Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
| Monash home | About Monash | Faculties | Campuses | Contact Monash |
| Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
|
|
Current research studentsPhD students
Master thesis students
Honours students
PhD studentsFlora Anderson PhD (European Studies) student Academic background
Contact details
Research details I aim to test the hypothesis that the creation of transnational European institutions in the 1950s, which eventually became today’s European Union, was part of a wider reconstruction of European modernity in the post-Second World War (WWII) world. These new movements towards integration were presented as a way to overcome the violent nationalism that was understood to have caused WWII; however, it is increasingly argued that these movements centered on the nation state, and served as a way to consolidate and legitimate the post-war states. To this end my thesis explores the following questions: 1) Did an Americanized version of the history of modernity become dominant within Western European intellectual circles in this period? This goes to the further question of to what extent the American-led definition of the West in the 1950s was accepted within Western Europe. 2) Did there exist, among policy makers in Europe, a reactivation of the Enlightenment vision of progress, a kind of modernist liberal ideology? Or was this in fact only a kind of rhetoric, primarily designed to ensure continuing American support for the elites on the continent? To answer these questions, I propose to investigate the intellectual history of European integration in the 1950s through the concept of modernity as it has been developed in social theory, and, to focus on how Europeanization has been part of the evolution of modernity understood as a new societal form pioneered in 18th century Europe. Cristian Brasoveanu PhD (European Studies) student Academic background
Contact details
Research details The aim of this research is to answer the question of what kind of power the EU is in international politics with the help of the social identity approach. We ask whether the EU is a “Prosocial Power Europe?”, i.e. whether the EU is developing into a major international actor predisposed to cooperation with other players on the international scene. Three case studies are presented: EU policy towards the United States (US), EU policy towards Russia and EU policy towards China. Cristian is a successful international Monash Research Graduate School (MRGS) scholarship candidate. Philippine ColsonPhD (European Studies) student Academic background Philippine Colson obtained a BA in International Affairs Cum Laude from Vesalius College in Belgium (Honours Essay: “EU Discourse, Radical Islam and Turkey’s Accession: A Study of the Conditions Necessary for Turkey’s Accession). She was on the Dean’s List every year of the program. During her studies, she focused on the European Union’s history, politics, and institutions. She spent one semester studying at the American University in Bulgaria, where she took courses on South East Europe’s history and politics, while studying the Bulgarian language. Following her undergraduate studies, she moved to Canada, where she completed a MA in Political Science (Thesis title: “Elite Class renewal, Corruption, and Political Accountability: A Case Study of Bulgaria). She obtained a Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarship for her program, and also received travel grants in the form of a European Union Centre of Excellence Research Grant and a Faculty of Graduate Studies Conference Travel Grant. During her program, she conducted field work in Bulgaria, facilitated through an internship at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium to Bulgaria. Philippine has presented at academic conferences in Canada, Poland, and the UK. She has also worked in a variety of research, education, and non-governmental organisations in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Canada. Contact details
Research details Philippine is currently conducting research in the context of a PhD in European Studies at the Monash European and EU Centre. She is benefiting from a Monash Graduate Scholarship and an Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship to enable her to complete her research. The working title of her research is “The Lisbon Strategy and European Social and Employment Policies: Problems and Implications.” She continues to focus her research on the new Member States, with an emphasis on Bulgaria. She finds that the circumstances surrounding EU policy implementation and adherence in these countries makes them particularly interesting case studies and a rich resource for the furthering of EU studies. Master thesis studentsAlice Campbell-Cree Masters student Academic background Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Alice Campbell-Cree moved to Melbourne in 2005 and completed her Bachelor of Arts at Monash majoring in Psychology and European Studies in 2006. During the course of her undergraduate degree, Alice was invited to join the prestigious Golden Key society, as well as receiving the European Union Award of Excellence in 2006; the Dean’s Recognition Award in 2007; and in 2008 became an inaugural recipient of the European and European Union Masters Degree Scholarship. Following the completion of her dissertation, Alice hopes to undertake an internship at the EU with the hopes of contributing to Middle East conflict resolution, or, at the very least achieving world peace. Contact details
Research details This thesis will address the nature of the EU's involvement in the Israeli – Palestinian crisis. This will include an historical account of European colonial involvement in the Middle East; a political overview of the current bilateral relations between the EU and Israel and the EU and the Palestinian Occupied Territories as well as a theoretical look at the role the Union fulfils and the power it employs as a mediator within the conflict. Drawing upon notions including Joseph Nye’s concept of Soft Power and Jeroen Gunning’s theory of Engagement as Necessary for Deradicalistion, I will argue that the Union’s policies toward the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Occupied Territories – including both Fatah and Hamas –are leading the way toward a peaceful solution and that the EU, more generally, is setting a world standard in conflict resolution. Lillian Goldsmith Master in European and International Studies student Academic background Lillian Goldsmith received a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University and is currently completing a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Queensland, whilst writing her Masters thesis in European and International Studies at Monash University. Originally from the desert region of Alice Springs, she finds the multidisciplinary area of energy security fascinating and hopes to undertake a PhD in Europe in the same area. Lillian is a recipient of a Monash European and EU Centre scholarship. In 2007, she was the winner of the Australian National University NEC Summer School Essay Competition. Contact details
Research details This research evaluates the scaled development of natural gas production in the Russian Far East, with exports aimed into North East Asia. It analyses on a case-by-case basis the natural gas production facilities in the Far East, then turns to the viability of exporting to the targeted North Asian markets (eg. China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan). Using this evaluation, the research then weighs up the implications for EU natural gas supply security, in light of the resultant fundamental changes in market power in the EU-Russia gas relationship. Ivana La Rosa Master in European and International Studies student Academic background Ivana completed a Bachelor in International Relations at La Trobe University, Bundoora, where she undertook a number of European Studies subjects and also became more familiar with the EU. In addition to this she completed a Diploma in Languages, also at La Trobe University – majoring in Italian. She has had an interest in Europe since a young age and grew particularly interested in EU affairs since starting University. Her interests mainly focus on the environment and agriculture. Although it was not originally her intention to write a thesis paper when she enrolled in the Master in International and European Studies, she has decided that she would like to further explore EU Agricultural policy - in particular the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and how it is viewed by Australia and the developing world, and also whether EU Agricultural policy is addressing important issues – such as environmental sustainability. In terms of work experience, besides the typical part-time student jobs, she has had work experience in several organisations. She did an internship with the Italian Chamber of Commerce. Contact details
Research details After a general historical introduction to the CAP and a look at what the CAP has become today this research will analyse how it is being viewed by one developed country, namely Australia. It will then focus on the developing world and discuss how it is affecting these countries and whether they are at a disadvantage because of the EU’s CAP. It will next come back to the EU itself and analyse what impact the CAP is having on its own member countries. The attention will then shift to agriculture in the World Trade Organisation and investigate what deals the EU recently presented at the Doha Round and how EU proposals were viewed by the rest of the world. Was the EU deal a fair one? Finally it will conclude by looking at other aspects of the CAP, outside of trade, which are also important – such as environmental sustainability and food quality/health. Should the CAP also be concerned with these issues? How are they being tackled at the EU level? Katrina Murray Master in European and International Studies student Academic background Trina is a student in the new Master in European and International Studies at Monash having graduated from Australian National University (ANU) with a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations). Her academic interest in European studies began whilst studying French, History and International Studies at the Mac.Roberston Girls’ High School, although her personal involvement with Europe goes back much further, as she was born in the United Kingdom and counts herself as a European-Australian. She has also participated in French exchanges and recently began learning Russian at the College of Advanced Education (CAE). At the ANU, Trina studied international politics, French, history, philosophy and sociology. She undertook major research projects on European and EU studies, particularly focusing on Turkey’s accession to the EU, nationalism and globalisation in the EU and the interrelationship between integration and identity in the EU. Her achievements include invitations to an EU sponsored summer school culminating in presenting a paper on the EU’s role in promoting positive environmental practices in the recent entrant member states to the EU and in neighbouring countries. She has also recently been invited to give a paper at the Ashburn Institute in the US on the trilateral relationship between the US, the EU and Asia. Her ongoing research interests include neo-medieval models of European governance, relations with Russia and near Europe and the politics and controversies of Eurovision. Trina is a recipient of a Monash European and EU Centre scholarship. Contact details
Research details Trina’s major research project is tentatively titled Europeat the Borders: Elite/Popular Tensions in Defining the Geographical Limits of the EUropean Project. The project will discuss competing definitions of Europe’s geographical boundaries, particularly in the light of recent enlargements and future waves of accession that could extend to Turkey, Croatia and beyond. The theoretical framework of this project will use social constructivist perspectives and discourse analysis to understand the dynamics of tensions between elite and popular conceptions of Europe’s boundaries. Social constructivism offers a useful framework to assess how very different images of the same construct can emerge in complex polities such as the EU, and in the case of enlargement, there are very different images between European leaders and their population as to who should be included in the project. The project will forecast future developments in enlargement from this perspective, in order to consider ongoing research potentials in the field of border constructs in Europe. Honours studentsLinnea AnderssonHonours student Academic background
Contact details
Research details ergangenheitsbewältigung, or “working through the past”.
|
|