Teaching the EU Inside and Outside Europe Through Model EU Role-Play Simulations. Experiences with European, American, and Canadian Students

Over the last decade, the Model EU simulations (MEU) have developed into an effective learning method to teach students about the evolving European Union (EU) system of governance. The complex role-plays in which students simulate the institutional complexity of the EU, are recognised as an effective tool to actively engage students in understanding EU institutions, their functioning and policy advancements. This paper aims to contribute to the current debates by exploring the effectiveness of this tool in advancing the knowledge of the EU among non-European students as compared with European students. The paper will compare the experiences of a MEU organized by prof. Balas twice online as part of Blended Intensive Programs at Babes-Bolyai University (Council of the EU, and European Parliament legislative process) with 150 European students each time, with those of approximately 110 American Students in the Global Model EU Conference (negotiations in four different EU Councils -European Council and 3 Council of the EU configurations-), and with those of the Pan-Canadian MEU in Canada (European Council) with 60 Canadian students. Prof. Balas developed the role-play simulations used in all the settings mentioned above. This study aims to understand what is the impact of these “tailored” role-play simulations (tailored - topics chosen to fit the general interests of the European, American and Canadian audiences). The paper will respond to the research question: Are Model EU simulations an effective tool to teach the EU to European and non-European audiences? I expect to find that MEUs are an effective tool to teach the EU, especially to those students who know the least about the European Union before joining a MEU course and/or conference. Also, I expect the variation in the conference settings (fully online, fully in-person, and hybrid) to play a role in the learning outcomes. For Model EU conferences, students are asked to use digital resources as much as possible. I use surveys and interviews to answer the research question.