2025 EU Policy Forum Educator Workshop | Europe and the EU: Alone in a Multipolar World?
August 12th, 2025 9:00AM -5:00PM
A teacher workshop for Middle School, High School, and Community College Educators
Location: University of Washington, Thomson Hall Room 317, (in-person only)
Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Time: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Registration Fee: $15.00
Washington State educators are eligible to receive 8 clock hours upon full participation upon full completion of the workshop! FREE parking is available for this event. Light breakfast, lunch, and coffee will be provided as well!
The University of Washington’s Jackson School for International Studies and the World Affairs Council’s Global Classroom are excited to host our annual full-day EU Policy Forum for Educators on Tuesday, August 12th, 2025. This workshop will offer an in-depth exploration of the European Union (EU), a monumental entity whose rich history and dynamic present continue to shape the global future. The program provides a comprehensive examination of the EU’s origins, significant milestones, and current challenges, delivering critical insights into its evolution, achievements, and hurdles.
By understanding the EU’s past, present, and future, educators can prepare the next generation to navigate and address global challenges, contributing to a sustainable and interconnected world. This program empowers educators to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for college, career, and civic life, fostering meaningful connections between local and global contexts. Join us on this enriching educational journey to equip your students with a profound understanding of the European Union’s significance and its ongoing evolution. Washington State educators are eligible to receive clock hours upon full participation upon full completion of the workshop!
Lecture 1 | European Union: Past, Present and Future
Dr. Markku Jokisipilä is a Professor of Contemporary History in the University of Turku, Finland. His research interests include 20th Century and contemporary Finnish and European politics. He's also the Director of Center for Parliamentary Studies, which currently offers a one-year specialization course in European Studies. In Autumn 2025, he will be a Visiting Professor at the University of Washington, teaching the course, “Scandinavia in World Affairs.”
Lecture 2 | Data privacy vs. data protection: US and EU Strategies for Regulating Digital Privacy
Justin Petelka (PhD Candidate, UW Information School) studies U.S. and EU data privacy laws with a particular focus on individual data subject rights. In Winter 2025, he taught a course in the UW Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS/LSJ/PolSci 370), “Privacy,” exploring how online data tracking works, how companies monetize this data and expand surveillance capabilities, how this surveillance expansion creates risks for individuals and society, and how data subjects can navigate these risks through data rights, data practices, and community-building.
Lecture 3 | US-NATO Relations, Past and Present
John Johnson is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and the Diplomat in Residence at the University of Washington. Prior to this he was the Director of the Brussels International Media Hub, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Afghanistan Affairs Unit which operated out of Doha after the fall of Kabul, and the Counselor for Public Affairs in Afghanistan during the evacuation of the Embassy in 2021. Prior to the establishment of the Doha platform, Mr. Johnson was in Brussels, Belgium where he was the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Mission to NATO.
Lecture 4 | US-EU Relations, Past and Present
Amy Stern (JD, University of Virginia) served as Legal Advisor in the U.S. Mission to the European Union in 2021-2024. She led multi-stakeholder advocacy efforts to secure the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, collaborating with global partners on regulatory challenges impacting privacy, civil liberties, online safety, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.
Lecture 5 | Studying the European Union in the USA, Past and Future
Phillip Shekleton is Managing Director of the Center for Global Studies, and Guntis Šmidchens is Director of the Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, UW Jackson School of International Studies.
This teacher workshop is sponsored by the European Union, the UW Center for European Studies & EU Center, the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, the Center for Global Studies, the World Affairs Council. The workshop is hosted by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. For more information, please email the Center for European Studies at cweseuc@uw.edu.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: (206) 543-6450/V, (206) 543-6452/TTY, (206) 685-7264 (FAX), or dso@u.washington.edu.
