Elizabethtown College students enrolled in Professor of Political Science, Endowed Chair of International Studies, Oya Dursun-Özkanca’s European Simulation course recently traveled to Washington D.C. for the annual three-day Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation exercise. A group of 14 Blue Jays joined more than 150 college students from around the region to take part in the exercise, which continued a more than 20-year tradition of Etown students participating in the event.
“This exercise is an exceptional experiential learning opportunity for our students, allowing students to practice what we’ve been learning since the beginning of the semester in real life,” Dursun-Ozkanca said.
This year, Etown’s delegation represented the Republic of Romania and European Commission members. Each Blue Jay represented a member of the Romanian Cabinet, a member of the European Parliament, or a member of the European Commission as they debated the reconstruction of Ukraine and energy security. Etown students also attended a briefing session at the Embassy of Romania in Washington D.C. where they were afforded the opportunity to ask Romanian diplomats questions about debate topics.
Etown students represented the Republic of Romania and European Commission members at the simulation.
Throughout the semester, students in Dursun-Özkanca’s European Union Simulation course learned about the history of European political development and the structure of the European Union, and they acquired the skills necessary to become insightful interpreters of European politics. This conference gave the students a chance to experience the EU decision-making processes in person and helped to practice their interpersonal communication, bargaining, negotiation, and mediation skills.
“After spending a semester learning about the ins and outs of the European Union, it was really rewarding to get to put it all into practice,” Nicholas Wiley ’25, a Political Science major, said. “The simulation required me to use almost all the skills I’ve been building to help in my major, including amending legislation, speaking publicly and even running for office.”
Aurora Lefever ’25 was elected to a leadership position in the European Parliament, and two other Etown delegation members, Ryan Strzelecki ’25 and Ryan Horst ’24 worked as European Commissioners, along with five other students, to draft legislations that attendees discussed and amended.
