European Studies

This course offers a cultural history journey of the Mediterranean, employing the lens of food as a unique entry point. Through critical reflection on the intricate interplay of tradition and innovation in food systems within Syracuse, Florence, and Istanbul, the course traverses the Mediterranean's evolution from antiquity to the modern era. The exploration analyzes the social history of exchanges, interactions, and cultural encounters, emphasizing their pivotal role in shaping sustainable food practices. Drawing upon the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a guiding framework, the course facilitates an understanding of the relationship between innovation and sustainability in contemporary food systems. Key themes covered in the course are as follows: 1) Relational Dynamics: Explore regionalism, cosmopolitanism, and orientalism as distinct forms of relationality that shape cultural encounters within the Mediterranean. These dynamics, whether resulting in rapprochements or conflicts, provide a conceptual toolbox for comparative analysis across the three city modules. 2) Historical Impacts: Discuss the transformative impact of the opening of the Atlantic and the Columbian exchange on food systems and Mediterranean trade relations. Critically analyze imperial networks within the Mediterranean, highlighting the pivotal role of port cities as hubs for economic interactions among diverse cultures. 3) Cultural Encounters: Study various forms of cultural encounters and their implications for the development and transformation of regional and local identities. Through this exploration, students gain insights into the intricate dynamics that have shaped the cultural tapestry of the Mediterranean.
 

This interdisciplinary course discusses the identities of nations in European space that have served as a crossroad of ideas and ideologies, as well as wars and totalitarian regimes. The course covers masterpieces of Russian, Hungarian, German, French, Georgian, Polish, and Czech cinematography, focusing on several crucial periods of history, in particular WWII, its aftermath, and the Stalinist years. Students are exposed to often controversial works of film art focusing on the moral dilemmas of individuals under the stressful times of history. Students map the European space through the means of film, analyzing the individual’s approach to historical events, and gain a general picture of Europe in its crucial periods of history. Students participate in open discussion sessions following each screening.

The course begins with a study of the rebuilding of Europe and the stark division of the continent following the Second World War. It compares how countries across Western Europe embraced varying combinations of liberalism and socialism while the 'Iron Curtain' sealed Eastern Europe within Communism until that system's stunningly peaceful collapse that climaxed in November 1989 with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. It also traces the evolution of the European Union, despite references to the 'United States of Europe', dating back to the earliest visions of European integration. The course analyzes how the European Union has been developing on a fundamentally different path from the United States of America and any other political system.

This course equips students with some of the knowledge and skills needed to work in international organizations. The first part of the course provides an overview of the core notions of International Law needed to understand the functioning of international organizations such as the sources of international law, the making of international treaties, or the areas of action of international law. The second part of the course examines the concrete functioning of international organizations by discussing the work of five global and regional organizations (with a focus on Europe and America), namely the Council of Europe, the European Union, the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The third part of the course provides a few practical tips for working in international organizations. The course includes guest lecturers with experience in working for/on international organizations.

Where do we pick up after the complete moral, physical, and psychological devastation brought on by World War II? How do we compose poetry in the shadow of the Holocaust, a genocide beyond imagination? How do we write poetry in a language that was used by the Nazis to justify an unjust war and the murder of millions? What forms can suffering and trauma take in literary texts? Young German writers asked themselves these questions starting in 1945 and proposed a number of solutions – or produced a number of attempts – that today are known as "Kahlschlagliteratur" (the literature of clear-cutting) or Zero Hour Literature. This course reviews texts of various genres in translation, considers them in their historical and literary contexts, and identifies common properties and tendencies. The course also questions the validity of the label "Zero Hour," along with its implicit assumption of a complete reset. The focus is on better-known writers (whose texts are available in English), such as Wolfgang Borchert and the Nobel-prize winning Heinrich Böll.

This course introduces theoretical approaches and methodological tools to analyze the role of the European Union as a global actor across policy areas and over time. It investigates the legal, political, and economic determinants of European Union "actorness" in domains such as trade, environmental protection, promotion of human rights, and civilian and military assistance. Considering the current geopolitical context, the course discusses the extent to which the war in Ukraine shapes EU foreign policy. It identifies the main conceptualizations of the European Union as a power and the main actors involved in EU foreign policy, and covers the central features of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). The course includes an opportunity to analyze a case study concerning EU external action using the theoretical and methodological elements seen in class.