Undergraduate Students Go on a Field Trip to Brussels

Students enrolled in the Arcadia/AGS study abroad in Paris program went on a two-day trip to Brussels, Belgium (November 8-9). This trip is organized every year in the Fall as part of the undergraduate program on the history, politics and diplomacy of Europe and the European Union. The highlight of the visit was a private guided tour of the European Parliament followed by a meeting with one of the MEPs (Members of the European Parliament), Kartika Liotard from the Netherlands.

Jennifer Wright, who coordinates the study abroad programs at AGS in Paris and organized the visit, says: "Being able to tour parts of the Parliament that are usually not accessible to the public and sitting down for coffee with MEP Liotard was a great privilege and was extremely informative. We were given firsthand insight into the inner workings of the Parliament. We organize this tour every fall and students always feel that they get to go back with a clearer idea of how the EU Parliament - such a powerful legislative institution - operates."

Students also had the opportunity to walk through the streets of Brussels, and visit some of the landmarks of the city, including the Grand Place, the Beer Museum, the Manneken Pis statue, and the Brasserie de la Roue d'Or restaurant where they enjoyed a typical Belgian meal.

The Arcadia/AGS study abroad programs offer undergraduate students from all countries and from all institutions in the US the opportunity to study in Paris for a summer, a semester or a year, and transfer back credits to their home institution. More information here.

Kartika Liotard is a member of the European Parliament's Committee of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety as well as of its Delegation for Relations with Japan. She co-authored a book with AGS Senior Associate Professor Steve McGiffen: The EU and Water Privatisation (London: Pluto Press, 2009).