EUROPEAN 100
Europe and the World
Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for EUROPEAN 100.
Description
What is the European Union? What are the advantages and challenges facing the EU?
Elections for the European Parliament on 26 May 2019 were eagerly watched throughout the world because of recent international upticks in populist parties, that is, anti-EU parties. Results: the traditional centre-left and centre-right parties lost their majority for the first time, reflecting a tendency seen in in national elections throughout Europe. Greens saw gains, as did Eurosceptics and far-right populists, although the populists did not reach their goal of 1/3 of all seats. But this does not mean that the EU is out of trouble.
Throughout the semester we will follow a number of themes to better understand current problems. The course, an introduction to European Studies, plunges students directly into the most pressing issues facing the mass of cultures and countries (and of course the supranational entity under which they are organized, the European Union) that make up modern Europe. Using a chronological approach, the course helps students grasp and react to the long history of this troubled and fascinating continent.
Weekly lectures will take us from the first humans to enter Europe before the last ice age to the modern populations co-existing, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not, in that same space.
Combined with lectures, readings from all variety of publication, video clips, and films will bring the will bring the past to life. We will see that the “past is never dead; it is not even past,” as we discuss the material from a series of perennial perspectives: Empires, nations and states; Constructions of identities; Science, religion, and technology; Gender; and Borrowings from the Outside world.
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Availability 2021
Semester 1
Lecturer(s)
Lecturer(s) Associate Professor Tracy Adams
Dr Lindsay Diggelmann
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Points
EUROPEAN 100: 15 points
