European Studies Institute aims to center the continent for interested undergrads

Launch of the Institute and rebirth of a minor in European studies create new opportunities for student research and travel abroad.

A new European Studies Institute (ESI) has launched at Penn along with a revitalized minor available to most students who study abroad in Europe.

“The European Union is the second-largest economy in the world,” says Mitchell Orenstein, director of the institute and professor of Russian and East European studies. “It’s probably the place that students in their careers will interact with in an important way,” he says.

While many departments at Penn focus on specific European countries, cultures, or languages, the new Institute is focused on student research under the umbrella of faculty members, across the continent and its institutions.

Henry McDaniel, a fourth-year student from Philadelphia double-majoring in Russian and East European studies and history, is researching Russian “hybrid warfare”—election interference, disinformation, and infrastructure sabotage—in the western Balkans and how it affects the countries’ movements toward European Union candidacy.

McDaniel says he would recommend that any student pursue research in Europe. “Being on the ground, speaking to experts, is ultimately what is going to make us more globally minded citizens and future diplomats,” he says.

The ESI began last year with a grant from Penn Global. The next phase will be to grow the institute “into a full-fledged area center,” Orenstein says. That will include developing programs, increasing teaching opportunities, creating additional classes, adding a speaker series, and working with partners across the University, particularly on study-abroad initiatives and languages, he says.