Wanderlust. Volume 1 | Page 6

DEAR READERS I am pleased to share with you our first edition of Wanderlust. We have named our publication Wanderlust to reflect our role as a facilitator of study, exploration, and travel. This is an exciting time for the Center for European Studies. We received two new major grants. This August, CES was awarded a sizeable grant from the Institute of International Education, funded by the US Department of Defense, entitled Project GO: Turkish. This funding will provide ROTC students Turkish language training both at UF and through a new a study abroad in Ankara, Turkey. The Center will also be sponsoring talks and special programs on Turkey, a geopolitically important state straddling Europe and the Middle East. Information and application forms for Project GO and for the Ankara study abroad program are available on our website: ces.ufl.edu. I am pleased to announce that the Center has received the “Getting to Know Europe” grant for the second time from the EU Delegation in Washington. In this grant, we will be focusing on EU peace-building efforts, particularly in divided cities, and environmental sustainability. We are collaborating with the Öko-Institut for Applied Ecology in Freiburg, Germany, Imagining Climate Change at UF, Cinema Verde International Environmental Film Festival in Gainesville, and the Harn Museum of Art. In addition to our recent grants, an anonymous donation has provided the Center with the unique opportunity to promote Yiddish culture and language in Gainesville. This year’s public series, organized in conjunction with the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica and the Alexander Grass Chair in Jewish Studies, explores Yiddish food and recipes, including an art project with Alachua County elementary school children. Students from three schools have created small clay pots that represent the pots used for cooking cholent, a traditional Jewish stew, on the Sabbath. Importantly, we continue to offer scholarship and fellowship opportunities, including full-year and paid tuition scholarships, summer language grants and research funding for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. In fact, the Center is one of nine European Centers in the US offering Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants for the study of less commonly taught European languages. We offer courses in Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Modern Greek, and Turkish. Please check out our website for more details. Since its establishment in 2003, the Center has become the functional hub for Europe-related activities at UF and in Gainesville fostering a rich academic and cultural environment. We provide broad language and area studies courses, degree options, and study abroad opportunities. The Center advises the Europe track of the UF International Studies major and offers a graduate certificate in Modern Europe, and undergraduate minors and certificates in East Central European Studies and European Union Studies. The Center, through the expertise of its faculty, affiliated faculty, and staff, strove to respond quickly to the serious crises facing