All good things must come to an end …

My time is almost up at the University of Washington. We are packing our bags and getting ready to return to Brussels in a couple of weeks.

The Fellowship has been a fantastic experience, and I have enjoyed sharing some of my adventures with you on this blog. A big thanks to everyone who has taken an interest in my ramblings, as well as providing useful comments and feedback! I have learned a lot and made some great new contacts – more evidence of the power of social media!

I haven’t quite decided what to do with this blog now that the Fellowship is finished. I may continue to post occasionally if I come across interesting examples of digital media and policy-making from the EU, USA and elsewhere. But I don’t think that I will be updating the blog as regularly as I have been over the last 6-9 months.

In any case, the priority for the next couple of weeks is to take a short break and visit some of the remaining places we want to see here in the Pacific North West. It really is a beautiful part of the USA and I suspect that we won’t have time to see everything on our list. We will just have to come back sometime …!

Before I leave Seattle, there are some people at the University of Washington that I would like to thank particularly for making these six months so special:

• The awesome team at the EU Center of Excellence (Director Jim Caporaso, Associate Director Phil Shekleton, and their colleagues Eva, Daniel and Mark)
• Resat Kasaba, Director of the Jackson School of International Studies
• Sabine Lang, Professor of European Studies
• Christine Ingebritsen, Director of the Center for West European Studies
• Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science and Communication
• Hanson Hosein and Scott Macklin from the Communication Leadership Program

I have also enjoyed visiting and speaking at other Universities in the region. I was grateful for the warm welcome I received at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Washington State University, University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark College, University of Puget Sound, University of Victoria, Portland State University, Capilano University and Eckstein Middle School.

Last but not least, it has been a privilege to teach a great bunch of bright and enthusiastic students at the University of Washington. Thanks to Shane, Caitlin, Louy, Claudia, Pilar, Hanne, Elsa, Teyloure, Alex, Sophie, Amanda, Anne, Dana, Delaney, Josh, Kaitlyn, Kate, Stephanie, Lea, Matt, Paige, Pema, Sarah, Stephanie, Peony, Janina, Annie and Michelle. I’m sure that you will all go on to great things. Good luck!

Filed under: Fellowship Programme

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