Me and my Academic Paper

Ho ho ho.

To be honest, I'm not making much progress at writing my academic paper about the Design of the Euro Banknotes. It is one of the points on my Christmas-Break-To-Do-List, because right at the moment I have to focus on various other projects that have to be finished until Christmas. But during the holidays, motivation will knock on my door and overwhelm me with consistent presence. Hopefully. :)

I think the best way to explain what I'm going to write about is posting my introduction, so here it is:

The Design of the Euro Banknotes

The euro is the official currency of 17 countries within the eurozone and therefore it was of great importance to create a design meeting all country’s expectations and representing both multiculturalism and unity. The purpose of this paper is to cover three key points to display the process of how the euro banknotes got were designed. First of all, the design of the currency sign will be introduced as well as the competition launched in 1996 at which a range of possible designs of the banknotes were presented and valued. A summary of the main features the banknotes must contain according to the ECB will be given as well as the reasons for the choice of the actual layout, which was designed by Robert Kalina. The second part of this paper will give an overview of the illustrations, symbols and other elements the actual design of the banknotes comprises. Since the design of all euro banknotes gets modified and refreshed within the next few years, the third part of this paper will cover the reasons and main alterations of this changeover. Finally, it will be scrutinized if all countries and different cultures of the eurozone are represented and displayed as equal by the design of the euro banknotes.

Surprising Europe: Culture Shock

SURPRISING EUROPE: CULTURE SHOCK

intercultural differences expressed through music

Riedl Natalie, Kaspar Heimo, Haunschmid Sonja

Africans who come to Europe have to face a variety of problems - racial prejudice, xenophobia and identity crisis are only a few examples. How do they deal with that? Many of them try to give vent to their grief with music as it is a common way to express their feelings, raise awareness and overcome racism. 

Wonda Wendy, a French musician raised by Gabonese parents, is a perfect example for intercultural music experience. Even though she was born in Paris, she considers her „culture to be totally African“. To find out about her own roots, Wonda Wendy lived in Gabon for a while — now she describes this part of her life as the time she learned most about herself. She points out some differences between the European and the African culture: While in Africa there is always someone around, for example to take care of your baby, you have to pay for favors like that in Europe. She advises Europeans to learn something from the African culture. Wonda Wendy, caught between two completely different cultures, processes and expresses her feelings through her music, a mix of Hip Hop, Soul and some elements of Reggae. Her lyrics speak of identity, comparison and pride: “it expresses the best of me: My African roots and my Parisian neighbourhood; I keep the mix, I exchange, the words of angels, my past; Europe is progress, individualism; Africa is respect and ‚sorealism‘“

Not only Wonda Wendy noticed such clear differences between the European and African culture, but also Mousse from Senegal, who now lives with his family in Amsterdam, experienced the same. In Europe, everything is faster, everything is planned, everything needs to be organized. People usually do not take time for someone in order to have just a nice conversation with others. Performing in the streets of Amsterdam is for Mousse a perfect way to preserve his African roots and to reduce xenophobia, which seems to be a timeless phenomenon.

Talking about racism - Ade Bantu, a musician from Nigeria who lives in Germany, has gathered a group of black musicians , known as The Collective Brothers Keepers, in order to combat racism. The reason for the foundation of this group was the tragic case of Alberto Adriano. He was a black African  who became victim of a racism motivated murder. As a tribute to his cruel death they dedicated a whole song to him to tell the story of an unfair fight. Adriano‘s case again shows us the power of music and its relevance for all of us. 

“Europe is progress, individualism; 

Africa is respect and 

‚sorealism‘“

Wonda Wendy

EU Paper Topics

1. How the euro got its design
Since I am a graphic designer I am fairly interested in the procedure of how the design of the euro was chosen. I heard about it at school but I would like to go deeper into this topic. Next to that, I think this topic is focused enough to not get lost in general facts.

2. Translating for the EU parliament
I guess it's obvious why this topic is on my list. Right now I do not know much about the daily routine of a translator of the EU parliament so writing a paper about it would be a great chance to find out about it ;)

3. European Award for Pop Surrealism and Urban Art
I love art - especially Surrealism. I would concentrate on the criteria of how a winner is chosen, where the whole event takes place and so on. But have I mentioned the main reason for choosing it yet? - I love art. ;)

4. Future Enlargement of the European Union
What are the plans for the near future? What about the recognized candidates as Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey? What is left to be done until these countries can become part of the EU?

5. EU response to the Arab Spring
Visits, civil protection, and support for partnership, poorer areas and reform - by choosing this topic I'd like to give a shot overview of how the EU responded to the events of the Arab Spring. For a better focus I would concentrate on one specific country of the Middle East.


I could imagine writing a paper about all of these topics but one of them is already my favorite. But we'll see :)