Junior Freshman
The freshman cycle consists of the first two years of study: the common Junior Freshman year when, with the exception of languages, all students follow exactly the same courses; and the Senior Freshman year when students make a choice between history, economics, politics and sociology for their optional course.
1. Languages
Students take two languages from French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish. Italian, Polish, Spanish and Russian are offered from beginners level. No student may take more than one language as a beginner. Students study each of their languages for an average of six hours a week. In addition to work on the grammar and structures of the language, there are classes in written and spoken expression, comprehension and on the culture and society of the respective countries.
2. Disciplines
Three compulsory modules in History, and History of Ideas and Introduction to Social Science make up the common foundation year.
2.i 'Europe, c. 1500-1700: Power and Belief'
This module covers the intellectual, social and political history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in particular on the impact of religious reform in the sixteenth century and the development of state power and political and military rivalry between European states during the seventeenth century. Students will understand the central developments in European history during the early modern period. They will analyse primary sources relating to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European history. They will engage in class discussions, give presentations and write about key themes of the period including intellectual changes during the Renaissance and Reformation, the emergence of rival churches across most of the Continent, the impact of the printing revolution, the increasing power of territorial states, the expansion of states into new colonial spaces, and military and political rivalry between states.
2.ii Introduction to Social Science
This module offers European Studies students an introduction to the significant issues in the three main fields of social science: politics, economics, and sociology. Each discipline will be taught for 7 weeks (2 classes per week), resulting in three main sections for the course.
The first section of the course introduces key debates in sociology about European social structure. It begins by discussing the extent to which ‘Europe’ is actually different from other advanced societies. In particular the contrast with the USA allows us to assess the extent to which there really is a ‘European Social Model’. On this basis we then discuss migration within Europe, highlighting the different responses to immigration in the major West European societies. Finally we examine the continued crisis of the European Union and the role of European identity and citizenship. The second section provides an introduction to main issues in political science of significance to students of European politics. Concretely, three areas will be covered:
- An overview of the historical development of the EU and the Member States
- An examination of the concept of ‘institutions’ in political science as well as an analysis of the main institutions in the EU: The Commission, the Council, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.
- Analysis of the importance of public policy in the political science literature and examination of the main elements of EU public policy
The third section builds on the first two sections by paying attention to issues surrounding the economics of the EU. The economics section is divided into two parts. Part I (4 Weeks) considers macroeconomic principles in the European Economy. These include: unemployment, inflation and interest rates under EMS and EMU. Part II (3 Weeks) then turns to Microeconomic Principles, with a specific focus on developments in Central and Eastern Europe which are of prime importance given the recent EU expansion in 2004. Attention will be paid to resource allocation during the transition to a market economy.
2.iii Introduction to the History of Ideas
Introduction to the evolution of European thought in the 20th century and to the techniques of analysing texts in their historical context. This module examines the intellectual and cultural climate in Europe before and after the two World Wars: emphasis is put on the question of how intellectual and cultural trends reacted or contributed to the threat of war and how they dealt with the catastrophes in their aftermath. Topics covered include: the Fin-de Siècle mood around 1900, the pre-war crisis of values, social Darwinism, the urban culture of the European metropolis; socialist ideologies and the upsurge of right-wing thought after the First World War, the cultural climate of the "Roaring Twenties", exile as a European phenomenon; the idea of Europe after 1945, the role of art and philosophy in coming to terms with the past.