Course description

Title of the Teaching Unit

European Union : History, Culture and Institutions

Code of the Teaching Unit

22MEP20

Academic year

2024 - 2025

Cycle

Number of credits

Number of hours

Quarter

Weighting

Site

Anjou

Teaching language

English

Teacher in charge

SALEH Ruba

Objectives and contribution to the program

The students are expected to :
- Improve their understanding of the EU through History, Culture, Policy and Institutions.
- Understand the structure and decision-making processes of EU institutions and to develop the skills needed for effective negotiation within an enlarged EU.

Competency Goals :

CG 1 Disciplinary Knowledge
CG4 Open to the world
CG5 Aware of complexity / Critical Mind
CG6 Communicate orally and in writing in several languages

Prerequisites and corequisites

There are no specific requisites for this course. However, students are expected to be fluent in English and to have a basic knowledge of European history and to keep one’s knowledge up to date of current European affairs.

Content

Introduction
Session 1: course organization – students are invited to define Europe on the base of their personal knowledge.

History Module (Aurélien Goutsmedt)
Sessions 1 to 5: Europe before Europe – The European Union in the Making (From the Communities to the Union) – Europe and (its) Crises

Culture Module (Ruba Saleh)
Sessions 6-7 & 10: European cultural policies – Cultural practices and project
Introduction to the notion of culture and cultural policies at European level. How culture is gaining importance at the EU level and what are the main challenges.

Institutions, Decision Making and Negotiating (Adam Steinhouse)
Sessions 8-9: The treaties and the spirit of the EU - Overview of the main institutions and the EU decision-making process - EU lobbying exercise and lobbying tips - EU enlargement and the future development of the EU, including the effects of Brexit - EU negotiation exercise.

Teaching methods

This course adopts an interactive class setting and it incorporates the following elements:
- Lectures given by the lecturers and invited experts
- 2-day workshop in December which includes preparatory readings, interventions by the students, pitch and discussions.
- Group work, debate, individual & collective reflections

Teaching activities are all in person. Presence and active participation in the course are compulsory. Students are also expected to attend the European career conference, and the two visits as follows:
-Visit to House of European History on 25 October 2024
-EU career conference on 28 November 2024
-Visit to the European Parliament on 29 November 2024

Assessment method

To measure if the students meet the courses objectives, the evaluation is made on the basis of their active participation in the class, pitch and essay.

In case of no class participation or late enrollment these students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in class and conferences and an exam in January on the subjects seen in the course.

Please note that in case of non-participation in the workshop, students will be graded down without access to the January exam.
The workshop and conference are one-time event.

History and cultural modules group work: You are expected to use AI (ChatGPT & image generation tools) for assisting you in gathering relevant information for the production of your assignments which includes exploring a topic; Find relevant sources; Translate a text or reformulate points seen in class. Please remember that AI is a tool which you need to acknowledge using otherwise you will be graded down.

Final exam: The use of AI is not permitted.

References

- Moodle: Announcements, Forum, class presentations, Handouts & reading materials
-Wooclap: Students are asked to generate a personal account with their ICHEC email mentioning their first name and name
- Miroboard: Group work & class interactions

Useful links:
www.cvce.eu/en
https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en
https://eu-historians.org/?page_id=20

Bibliography:

Walter Lipgens, A History of European Integration, vol.I: 1945-1947, Oxford, 1982.
Roy Price, The Dynamics of European Union, London, 1987.
Alan S. Milward, The Reconstruction of Western Europe 1945-1957, London, Routledge, 1992.
Norman Davies, Europe, a History, London, Pimlico, 1997.
Stuart T. Miller, Modern European History, second ed.,New York, Palgrave, 1997.
Anthony & Andrew Cowgill, The Treaty of Lisbon in Perspective, British Management Data Foundation, STROUD, Gloucestershire, England, UK, 2008.
Neill Nugent, The Government and Politics of the European Union, seventh edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 (ISBN 9780230241183).
Gabriele Suder, Doing Business in Europe, second edition, Sage, 2012 (ISBN 9780857020857).
Luuk Van Middelaar, The Passage to Europe, How a Continent became a Union, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2013.
Derek W. Urwin, The Community of Europe, A History of European Integration since 1945, London and New York, Routledge, 2014.
Meurs, W., Bruin, R., Grift, L., Hoetink, C., Leeuwen, K., & Reijnen. The Unfinished History of European Integration. Amsterdam University Press. 2018.
Pinder, J., & Usherwood, S. M. The European Union?: A very short introduction (2nd Edition 2007). Oxford Univ. Press. 2018.
Philippe Kern, The Future of Cultural Policies. Editions KEA, Brussels, 2020.
Triandafyllidou, A., & Gropas, R., What is Europe? (21st Century Europe, 8) (1st ed. 2015). Routledge, 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003278375
European Crew, The next renaissance. Culture and creativity shaping Europe. Odile Jacob, Paris, 2022.