European Studies

Borders within and surrounding Europe have moved repeatedly throughout history, but rarely so frequently or so violently as during the 20th century. This class examines how processes of bordering and de-bordering since the First World War have shaped European states and peoples. It explores notions of territoriality, the construction and dismantling of borders, migration and forced migration, subversive social practices and ambiguous identities in borderlands. Case studies covered in class and in further readings focus primarily on East-Central Europe, including the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires, German-Polish borderlands, divided Cold War Germany, and the European Union.

The course examines how Europe (the EU, in particular) and Spain have responded to social inequalities, global pandemic pressures, gender inequality, migrations, nationalism(s), climate change, and sustainability. It provides a critical overview of these current challenges at the transnational, regional and national level. The course combines analytical tools and categories stemming from political science, international relations, economics, European Integration studies, public policies analysis and development economics.

The course provides an introduction to the modern German polity. In the first part students survey the historical and cultural contexts in which German politics is embedded. The second part turns to the institutions and policy-making processes in the Federal Republic, including the Europeanization of German governance. The third part focuses on policy content by discussing important issues and policy fields in greater depth. This course is about key debates and arguments relating to German politics and society. It is assumed that students familiarize themselves with the basic elements of the German polity. 

This course explores selected topics in European politics and international relations, including the rise of modern states, revolutions, international orders, alliance politics, geopolitics, military strategies, strategic competition, political reforms, regional integrations, democratization, foreign policy, and sovereignty. Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions. Through their oral and written presentations, they are expected to be able to understand broad themes in European politics/international relations.

In this course, students view and discuss films that are widely recognized as outstanding or innovative and place them in a European and global context through the framework of manipulating, constructing, and regaining memory. At the same time, the course provides a critical and theoretical introduction to film analysis focusing on narrative form, mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound while providing students with analytical tools needed to interpret and write about films by identifying the elements of film art and the terminology to discuss film techniques.

This course is about political, social, cultural, and economic change in the Benelux-countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) from the inter-war period to the present. Among the themes covered are the crisis of democracy in the 1930s; collaboration, resistance and accommodation during the German occupation of World War II; decolonization; Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourgian post-war politics; the Cold War and European integration; development of the modern welfare state; cultural revolution and new social movements in the 1960s; linguistic and inter-communal tensions and federalization of Belgium; immigration, the polder-model, the "crisis of multiculturalism," and the recent rise of populism in the Netherlands.

In 1951, six European countries signed the Treaty of Paris to form the European Coal and Steel Community that laid the foundation for what is known today as the European Union (EU). Since its humble beginnings, the EU has played a crucial role in the political and economic development of Europe and the globe and has evolved into an ‘ever closer union’ of currently 27 member states that have pooled their sovereignty to a historically unprecedented degree. Today, the EU constitutes one of the most complex and intriguing political and economic systems in the world, and as the European integration process remains in flux, the EU remains a moving target for those who study it. This course focuses on the scientific study of the EU and EU politics. It offers you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of the EU’s institutional actors and decision-making procedures, to actively analyze EU politics and policy-making, and to find answers to the various theoretical and empirical questions that are raised by the EU’s existence and developments. To provide you with a more tangible feel for the EU and the problems of EU policy-making and to make your learning experience as interactive as possible, the course complements regular class meetings with simulations of the Council of the European Union.

This course offers an introduction to the historical and cultural aspects of Medieval European Civilization by drawing parallels between modern-day societal, economic, and cultural occurrences and the Medieval past.  The course explores weekly themes that reflect contemporary societal issues that lend themselves to a (historical) comparative analytical approach. Themes include modern misrepresentation of Medieval culture, the ‘White’ Middle Ages, modern reflections on Medieval pandemics, revolts and political order in the Middle Ages, and minorities and persecution in the Middle Ages. The course consists of lectures and tutor groups. Students are evaluated on their participation, presentation, scientific paper, and written exam. Prerequisites include any course in history or sociology or substantial high school knowledge in history.

This course introduces students to the main political economy issues that have driven the process of European integration from the aftermath of WWII to an uncertain present. Students investigate the European economic integration by revealing the interactions between economic efficiency and socio-political interests. To do so, the course first provides a historical and institutional background on the early formation and later evolution of the European Union. It then covers in more details specific EU policies and areas of interest related to both macroeconomics (monetary and fiscal policy, with a focus on crisis times) and microeconomics (trade and competition in the single market, distributive issues, labor market, and welfare policies). Students apply theoretical knowledge from alternative schools of thought (neoclassical economics versus critical political economy) to explore different angles and appreciate the complexity of EU economic policy-making.

The course provides an introduction to the politics and economics of European integration. It draws upon theories of international relations, political economy, and governance to assess the origins of the European project and the politics of market integration after 1945. Students analyze the EU’s evolving institutional framework by charting the constitution-building process and mapping the distribution of executive, legislative, administrative, and judicial functions over time. The course then explores the expansion of EU power and legal competence in key policy fields over the past two decades. It begins by considering the history and theory of economic and monetary union, as well as the causes and consequences of the Eurozone crisis. The course also explains the rapid development of the EU as an internal and external security actor in the post-Cold War era through cooperation in asylum and immigration policy, and foreign, and defense policy. It ends by reflecting on the scale and pace of the EU enlargement process and the wider political implications of the EU’s democratic deficit.