March 23, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — DePauw University junior Macie Mull was among more than 50 students and speakers from North America and Europe who gathered for a three-day conference in Strasbourg, France, to discuss differences in U.S. and European environmental policy. Mull, who is currently studying in Barcelona, Spain, was awarded a fellowship to attend the 8th annual BCA Student Conference, "Differing Perspectives
on Environmental Issues," March 11-14.
Mull joined students from Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey, and other American students from 20 U.S. colleges and universities studying abroad in England, France, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain at the conference.
The
event was co-sponsored by the Foundation for International Education,
the University of Strasbourg and AEGEE - the European Students' Forum.
Speakers, who came from several European countries including England,
France, Germany, Ireland, and the U.S., provided students with the
current state of environmental policy in the initial part of the conference. In the second half, students from Beyond Europe, the
flagship project of AEGEE, facilitated and helped to organize student sessions so that they could further explore their own perspectives and
questions about these issues. 
The opening plenary lecture in the Palais Universitaire of the University of Strasbourg was given by career U.S. diplomat Vincent Carter, the United States Consul General in Strasbourg, on the topic "The U.S. and the EU: Indispensable Partners." Among other sessions, the students were also treated to an audio and visual presentation of the Hard Rain Project by renowned British photographer, Mark Edwards, whose photographs -- enhanced by the music of Bob Dylan’s famous song, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, challenged students to "reinvent the world so that it's compatible with nature and human nature."
BCA is one of the nation's oldest independent organizations committed to promoting international understanding and academic excellence through college study abroad programs for U.S. students. Since 2004, BCA has sponsored the annual conference so that students can explore the character and future of U.S.-European relations, as well as the fundamental differences between the European Union and the United States both structurally, and on important international issues.