When: Spring Break 2010
Johannes Kepler University and Prague School of Economics join with the College of Business to offer a program that focuses on Austrian and Eastern European culture and history, cross-cultural communication and management, and developing market economies of Central and Eastern Europe in the post-communist era. The program includes UC and Austrian students. Company visits in Austria have included Rosenbauer, producer of high-end fire engines and fire fighting equipment, Brau Union, Austria's leading brewer, and GE's imagining division, Krietztechnic. In Prague, company visits have included auto maker Skoda (now a division of Volkswagen) and Ruckl, a producer of fine crystal.
Linz, Austria
Linz (population 184,000), the provincial capital of Upper Austria, straddles the Danube and is about two hours by train west of Vienna and two hours east of Salzburg. The city dates to Roman settlers who valued its strategic location – a recurrent theme in the history of Linz. It is Austria's third largest city and has a strong manufacturing base (steel and chemicals) and arts history. The city has an outstanding neo-Gothic cathedral and the center of the city features a variety of Baroque and Rococo architecture. Linz briefly played home to Mozart, but is best known among classical music lovers as the home of Anton Bruckner.
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague is a city at the crossroads between east and west, and between communism and capitalism. The city has a long and illustrious history in politics, education, religion, commerce and the arts. The Christian reformer Jan Hus who preceded Martin Luther by nearly one hundred years studied and preached in Prague. Charles University is the oldest in Central Europe and one of the oldest in all of Europe. Under the Hapsburg rule, Prague thrived as a center of arts and commerce. Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, Smetna and many others found support and receptive audiences in Prague in the 19th and early 20th century. The city's architecture is truly outstanding, from the landmark Charles Bridge to the Old Town Square.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain and communism in 1989, Prague and the Czech Republic got off to a fast start moving to a market-based economy. The Czech Republic became a European Union (EU) member on May 1, 2004. With the EU, most barriers to trade in industrial goods fell in the course of the accession process. The process of accession had a positive impact on reform in the Czech Republic, and implementation of EU directives and regulations continues. Free trade in services and agricultural goods, as well as stronger regulation, will mean tougher competition for Czech producers.
