Research
Hannah Moscovitz
Territorial Identity Promotion in Multi-Scaled Polities: assessing the role of knowledge policy in Wallonia and Quebec
This study assesses the link between higher education and research policy and territorial identity promotion in multi-scaled contexts. Specifically, the research examines the manner in which political actors utilise the knowledge policy sphere to cultivate and foster territorial identity. The focus in on the subnational scale, highlighting the cases of Wallonia and Quebec, two subnational entities within larger multinational federations.
Hila Zahavi
The Normative Power Theory and the Othering Theory in International Relations: How can the Global Strategy of the Bologna Process Contribute to the Theoretical Development?
In her research, Hila Zahavi examines the interests of the EU in the external dimension of the Bologna Process. The research claims that the EU uses the Global Strategy (external dimension) of the Bologna Process to strengthen certain elements in its own internal and external policy. The research reveals the manner in which the EU uses the Global Strategy of the Bologna Process to enrich and strengthen its non-military modes of power, such as soft power, civilian and normative power, shedding light on the connection between the Bologna Process' Global Strategy and the foreign relations of the EU. Using the Othering theory, the paper further demonstrates how the external image of the EU, affected by these non- military modes of power, is translated into self-image, and thus, shapes and affects the creation of a European identity for the citizens of the EU.
Yoav Friedman
The European Higher Education Area and the Normative Power of Europe
The study asks to investigate the EU's ability to exert its normative power on regions beyond its borders. The research shows that by applying elements of European Regionalism, the EU managed to turn the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to a Regional-International Higher Education Regime by using the Bologna Process. The research is built out of two phases: The first phase of the study asks to define the Bologna Process, the political tool which was established for the creation of the EHEA, as a Regional-International Higher Education Regime. The second phase examines the Normative Power Europe theory by tracing the implementation of the Bologna Process in countries which are not members at the Bologna Process (Australia, Canada and Israel), asking to examine the EU ability to effect foreign countries' policies without the use of coercive means.
Tal Rippa
Becoming a Citizen: Civics studies in Israel through the prism of the 'cultural filter'
My research focuses on the analysis of perceptions and mis-perceptions shown in Israeli Civic studies textbooks towards Europe, the EU and the Union's member states. My study examines the way to deepen the discourse on the "Cultural Filter", a theoretical framework that was developed by Catarina Kinnvall in 1995, which was later used by Ian Manners in his 2002 research titled: "Normative power Europe (NPE): a contradiction in terms". The main hypothesis of this paper is that the Israeli Civic Studies textbooks, are being used as "Cultural Filter" that affect Israeli High School students' national identity, not only on the local level, but towards Europe, categorizing certain democratic values as "European Values", thus compiling an artificial connection between the Jewish character of the state of Israel and Democracy, while relying on a European model of both.