Studying European Studies at Coleraine

Why should we study Europe? Europe is important. Membership of the European Union governs to an ever-increasing extent the daily lives of the people of these islands. Our level of prosperity and our opportunities for finding jobs and doing business with other countries depend essentially on the European Union. European regulations affect many aspects of our daily life such as welfare, legal rights, business competition, agriculture and many more. European grants have played a large part in the development of the regions. The Union also stands in the forefront of the changing relations between East and West and between Europe and America, and of the dialogue between the world's advanced industrial states and the developing countries. How is the course organised? European Studies is not a degree course in itself, but part of the Combined Arts degree. It can be combined as a major, joint or minor subject with many other subjects, for instance History, English, Media Studies or a language.

What is in the course?
The aim of the option is to give you a broad understanding of modern and contemporary Europe, with special reference to the process of European integration and the place of Europe in the wider world. It aims at combining two general tendencies. On the one hand, it gives detailed knowledge of the contemporary political and social situation of Europe, with especially close coverage of the European Union, its institutions and policies and its likely development. On the other it gives you the chance to study the works of literature and films that show you how Europeans feel about their nationality and the big issues of the modern world, such as ecology, scientific progress, democracy, feminism, minority rights and national identity.

In the first year there are two modules. The first one traces the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since the eighteenth century, with a view to showing the kind of questions that have concerned European thinkers for a long time and which have contributed to giving Europe a distinct character unlike that of other parts of the world. The second considers the creation of the European Union and its present character and the problems which face it; then it studies three European countries, France, Germany and Spain, and tries to define the main characteristics of social and political life in each. These two modules together give you an idea of the lasting qualities of European life and of the current problems and achievements of Europe.

In the second and final years there are a number of modules exploring more specialised aspects of European experience, including study of more recent cultural developments, of contemporary politics, of the specific impact of the European Union on the individual countries of Europe and of the recent history of particular countries. Amongst other topics, there are modules on the way the Second World War has been presented in films, showing how attitudes to war have changed since the 1940s, and on the collapse of Communist regimes in Europe in 1989-91, probably the most important single historical event in Europe in the last fifty years. At the end of the second year there is a visit to Louvain, in Belgium, where you can learn about the current issues in Europe from highly placed officials of the European Union. A dissertation on a topic agreed with staff is part of the final year course.