Euroductions are one of the Center for European Studies’ initiatives to help provide quality and engaging online resources to K-12 educators. These instructional videos address various European social, cultural, and historical topics that are specifically tailored for K-12 classroom use.
Turkish Coffee
Turkish Coffee
Want a Cup of Turkish Coffee?
Rich in tradition and flavor, Turkish style coffee produced European café culture starting in Istanbul as early as the 16th century and then expanding to London and Paris. Back in its native Turkey, coffee is so important the breakfast is called kahvaltı, or a meal you put under coffee (you eat breakfast so you will drink your morning coffee). Turkish coffee is made in a special pot of finely ground coffee beans sold in the market today as Turkish/Greek/Arabica coffee. Traditionally, a coffee-drinking ritual involves public conversations, music performances, or even fortune telling. This rich, long, and strong tradition can also help us understand and appreciate how the world is interconnected – today as it was centuries past even before the term globalization was invented.
Refugees
Refugees
The EU Migration Regime: Differential Borders
Biocultural Diversity
Biocultural Diversity
Biocultural diversity is formed from biodiversity (the variety of living things) and cultural diversity (the human cultures of the world, their languages, customs, and lifestyles), and represents the important link between culture and living things. Biocultural diversity is the various ways that human cultures interact with living species in nature, including the language they use to describe these interactions. Europe’s biocultural richness is seen in its environments, ranging from the polar regions to the sunny Mediterranean coast, which give opportunities for the many lifestyles seen throughout the continent. Small-scale, sustainable agricultural systems maintain many important habitats in Europe, and the loss of traditional lifestyles threatens these habitats and the species that live there. People survived for thousands of years with traditional and local understandings of the environment, and these have much to teach us about ways to live sustainably in the future as well.
European Nutrition
European Nutrition
Europa with a Nutritionist and Registered Dietician
The traditional diet of Central and Eastern Europe is known for being abundant in carbohydrates and animal proteins. Typical carbohydrates include potatoes, bread made of ray and wheat flours, and many different types of grains including buckwheat, millet, and sorghum served as porridge and dumplings. Animal proteins are not limited to muscle meats of beef, pork and lamb but include products from the whole animal, organ meats for example, as well as milk products, poultry and eggs.