This is the second half of a two-semester survey of Jewish civilization. It begins with a brief discussion of Jewish history from earliest times, but focuses on the period from Spain’s Expulsion of the Jews in 1492 to the present. We will examine the major movements of Jews within an expanding diaspora, the impact of the Reformation, the changing attitudes to Jews, the breakdown of traditional authority in Jewish communities and the trend toward secularization. It will deal with the following transformative events: the rise of eastern European Jewry, the spread of kabbalah (a form of mysticism), the entry of Jews into a capitalist economy, Hassidism, Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), emancipation, modern antisemitism, Zionism, Jews in the Muslim world, the rise American Jewry, the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The thematic core of the course will be the concepts of exile and return – their various meanings and interpretations over time, in a variety of historical contexts.

Texts:

Eli Barnavi, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People: From the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present. 

Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History.

Grading:

Two quizzes (20%), first mid-term (20%), second mid-term (20%), final exam (40%).

In Fall 2017 we observed the quincentennial of the beginning of the Protestant Reform initiated by Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) 95 theses. Luther was one of the seminal figures of the second millennium whose impact is felt today. We will examine his writings and his activities, the conditions that lead to his rise, and the impact he had on the world after him. Just as importantly, we will study the historical, cultural, and social context in which he lived and whose product he was.

In a broader sense, this course focuses on the transformation of European culture (with special emphasis on Germany) from the late Middle Ages to the early modern age (1450-1600), roughly during Luther’s life time. Humanism and the Protestant Reformation will be the main focus of this course, but we will also discuss political, social, economic, scientific, and philosophical developments as well as architecture, art, music, and literature of the time period. At the end, students will have a good understanding of German and European culture at this particular crossroads.

We will break down the course into the following themes:

*          What is Humanism? Renaissance?

*          The printing press and the first information revolution

*          A new urban culture (literature, architecture, music)

*          Political power and social order

*          Heliocentrism and discoveries: America, Cape of Good Hope

*          Trade networks: the first age of Globalization

*          The Catholic church and monastic life before Luther

*          Luther’s life

*          Luther’s theology: his writings

*          The Protestant Reform: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and others

*          Catholic responses

*          Social and political impact of the Reformation

*          How Luther changed the world

Grading:

Attendance, Participation                             10%

Quizzes                                                           10%

Oral presentation                                          10%

Two short writing assignments                   20%

Two examinations                                         50%

Description:

This course will offer a survey of the Ukrainian authors from the 1920s through the present. We will examine the writings from the times of the “executed renaissance,” underground literature, and postmodernism. We will focus specifically on works that, in one way or another, challenge the set paradigm of socialist realism, either ethically or aesthetically, by discussing forbidden subjects (famine, religion, Gulag), or even simply accentuating the themes that are not considered “major” (personal life). Book excerpts and articles will supplement literary works, to enable better understanding of the historical context.

Grading:

Presentation:  20%

Participation: 10%

Short papers (2): 30%

Term (final) paper prospectus: 15%

Term (final) paper: 25%

Globalization is a historical process of worldwide integration that has both economic and cultural dimensions. As Europe's largest economy and labor market, Germany has experienced both economic and cultural globalization in ways that have transformed a society long associated with mythic ideas about German nationhood and identity. The new economic order of the European Union, characterized by multinational corporations and the free flow of capital and labor, has changed German society by internationalizing the products, services, travel opportunities, and mass media that are now available to all Germans. One aspect of this process has been the arrival of foreign workers that began during the 1950s. In recent decades the presence of 8,000,000 foreign residents, including 3,000,000 Turks, has forced the German myth of national identity to change toward a more multiethnic model. This model is now in crisis following the arrival in Germany of huge numbers of non-European refugees. The racial view of nationality based on bloodlines rather than a liberal, republican view of citizenship is, after a long postwar decline, now making a comeback on the German political right. The influence of xenophobia in Germany is currently one aspect of a “new normal.” At the same time, the postwar transformation of Germany's role in the world is evident in the fact that the prime movers of the European Union have been the politically conservative German Chancellors Helmut Kohl (1982-98) and Angela Merkel (2005-). German leadership within an unstable European Union confirms its international orientation in today’s world.

Cultural globalization during the postwar period has been driven primarily by an American "cultural imperialism" that includes the sheer power of the English language to infiltrate virtually all aspects of modern experience. Popular music, television programming, and Hollywood films exemplify the appeal of American cultural models in Germany and in other modern societies. The German language is absorbing American vocabulary ("Team," "Insider," "Know-How," "Power," etc.) at a breathtaking rate, a cultural process that has been accelerated in recent years by the ubiquity of a computer technology of American origin. All of these trends make German society an important case study in the epochal contest between cultural self-preservation and globalization that is taking place around the world.

The French revolution is one of the most famous events in global history. We have still not resolved the fundamental questions it raises. Why does a regime collapse? How is a new state built? Why are some revolutions peaceful while others become protracted and violent? The human drama of this tumultuous decade and a half is irresistible. How were extraordinary careers made and then lost? How did people take sides? How did ordinary people survive?We will use the French revolution to think about all these questions concretely.

We have three aims. The first is to master the major developments of the revolution itself. The second is to understand how those events have produced classic political arguments about the conditions for democracy, the sources of rights, and the process of historical change.  Third, we consider how the revolution has shaped the world, and how it compares with other revolutions, including ones going on right now.

Texts:

Rousseau, The Social Contract

William Doyle, The French Revolution: A Very Short History

Timothy Tackett, When the King Took Flight

Timothy Tackett, The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution or R.R. Palmer, 12 Who Ruled.

David Bell, Napoleon, A Biography

Requirements:

• 2 4-5 page take home papers (25% each) (total 50% of grade**)
• 1 comprehensive test (25%)
• group political club assignments (25%).

Description:

‘Globalization’ is a term that we hear or read about almost everyday in the media. Some say globalization is inevitable and good for the economy and should, therefore, be encouraged; others argue that globalization is detrimental to society and must be regulated or even stopped. The rise of so-called populist parties in the United States and Europe has renewed debates over once-chastised notions like economic nationalism, protectionism and national sovereignty. But what exactly is globalization and how should we measure it? Is globalization slowing down (“slowbalization”) or even reversing (“deglobalization”)? What are its causes, its symptoms and its consequences on economics, politics and society? How does globalization affect workers in developed and developing countries? How to disentangle the forces of technology and trade? Who are the movements contesting globalization and why? What reforms, if any, should be adopted to “make globalization work?”

 This course will stimulate students’ critical thinking around these questions and many others with three objectives in mind:

• Clarifying the meaning of this multi-faceted phenomenon by distinguishing between the intensity, extensity, velocity and impact of the different flows structuring the process of globalization;
• Analyzing the current debates surrounding its political, socio-economic and environmental impact in the US and elsewhere;
• Understanding the dynamics of antiglobalization and alterglobalist mobilization.

 SELECTED READINGS

Baldwin, Richard (2019), The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work, London,Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Clapp, Jennifer, and Eric Helleiner (2012), International political economy and the environment: back to the basics? International Affairs, 88: 485-501.

Dicken, Peter (2015). Global Shift: Mapping the Contours of the World Economy. New York: Guilford Press, 7^thed.

Eichengreen, Barry (2018). The Populist Temptation. Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era. Oxford University Press.

Held, David, Anthony McGrew, David Goldblatt & Jonathan Perraton (eds) (1999). Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Rodrik, Dani (2018), Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Van der Zwan, Natascha. “Making sense of financialization,”,Socio-Economic Review (2014) 12, pp. 99-129.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Course preparation and oral participation (20%)

Midterm exam (30%)

 Research paper (50%)

Examines attempts to find a measure of justice after the Holocaust, with themes of human rights and international law. How did Jews and non-Jews pursue reconstruction, restitution, and restorative justice after genocide? Focuses on the restitution of property looted by the Nazis, cultural reconstruction around the world, and continuing efforts to garner reparations for Holocaust survivors and search for looted artwork. Ultimately, we will think about the Holocaust and questions of restitution and justice within a wide comparative frame, considering attempts at transitional and restorative justice for other twentieth-century genocides and changing approaches to looted property and reparations.

Please check back for updates.

Description:

The social, cultural, and political development of post-war Germany can hardly be thought apart from the protests that erupted in the streets in the 1960s. What initially began as a demand for a reform of the university system quickly became an outright challenge to the West German government. Issues ranging from the Nazi past, the Vietnam War, and German rearmament, to criticisms of the media and the politicization of literature and film became central concerns for a generation that viewed itself as a revolutionary force capable of effecting significant change. As the sixties together with the large-scale protests that characterized the decade came to an end, however, other movements arose in their wake. The rise of the Green movement, feminism, and terrorism in the 1970s as well as the anti-nuclear movement, anti-fascist (antifa) demonstrations, and the recent Occupy Germany movement all, in some way, owe a great deal to this pivotal moment in West Germany. 

Throughout this course we will engage a wide variety of materials (film, literature, theoretical texts, and the internet) in order to examine the influence of protest, revolt, and revolution on post-war German society from the 1960s to the present. To what extent is the “spirit of the sixties” still alive and to what end? What are the legacies, and perhaps myths, that coalesce around such movements in the contemporary imagination? How does this triumvirate continue to shape Germany today?

Grading:

Participation (including attendance and homework):                             30%

2 response papers (3 pages):                                                             20%

Final paper:                                                                                      40%

Presentation:                                                                                    10%

Our stereotypical image of an early modern woman is a witch - for some good reasons because thousands of witch trials took place.  In this course, we will look beyond that perspective to explore the complex of material, political, and cultural factors that shaped experiences of gender and family and that shaped attitudes about gender and power in early modern Europe.  The early modern centuries between about 1500 and 1800 were years of tremendous change in many ways – including religious reformations, more powerful governments, global colonial empires and the domestic impacts of colonialism that included growing populations of free and enslaved people of color, and the economic transformation we call the transition to capitalism.  Some features were slower to change, however, especially with regard to family life. We will explore how women's experiences compared to men's - whether as workers, consumers, criminals, political subjects and political actors, peasants or nobles, members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities, spouses or parents.  Along the way, we will explore why some of these dynamics fed into a proliferation of "witches."

Discussion of the assigned readings (see below) will be an important element of this class: you will learn more effectively when you take an active part in the analysis of the material to be covered. Consequently you must expect to read every reading assignment very carefully and thoughtfully. You should come to each class ready to ask questions and contribute observations.

You will need to demonstrate mastery of the readings to do well on the exams.

Warning: absence from class will inevitably have a serious impact on your grade because you cannot participate if you are not present. Each of you may be absent twice with no penalty. For every absence after that, three points will be deducted from your participation grade for each absence not justified by a written explanation. Please note, however, that attendance is the only the first prerequisite for participation, so that perfect attendance and complete silence will result in a grade that reflects only partial fulfillment of participation.

Daily class readings are available on Canvas or online through the Library Catalogue. (Deleted last section here.)

Grading:

Midterm 25%

Final 35%

Reading grids 20%

Witchcraft group projects 10%

Preparation and engagement 10%

The City of Light has long served as both a haven and a source of inspiration for scores of expatriate Americans. With Paris and its cultural patrimoine as a backdrop, this course will analyze the writings of multiple generations of travelers, from the bohemian to the bourgeois, who have made Paris their home.  Taking expatriation and exile as two of our main themes, we will examine major social and political trends, events, and debates that have informed the works of artists living and working both at the margins of Parisian society as well as in its most celebrated salons. This course invites students to interpret texts as artifacts that reflect the historical, social, and cultural circumstances of the environment that inspired their creation and to reflect upon their role in the cultural symbiosis between America and France.   All readings and discussion will be in English.

Dante: Spring 2020

The Divine Comedy offers a remarkable panorama of the late Middle Ages through one man's poetic vision of the afterlife. However, we continue to read and study the poem not only to learn about the thought and culture of medieval and early modern Europe but also because many of the issues confronting Dante and his age are no less important to individuals and societies today. Personal and civic responsibilities, governmental accountability, church-state relations, economics and social justice, Dante's influence on artists and other writers, benefits and limitations of interdisciplinarity—these are some of the themes that will frame our discussion of the Divine Comedy. Although you will read the poem in English, a bilingual edition will enable you to study and learn famous lines in the original Italian. The course is taught in English and contains flags for Writing and Global Cultures.

Danteworlds (http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/): In addition to detailed entries, audio recordings, and study questions, this Web site contains hundreds of images from works by Sandro Botticelli, an anonymous 16th-century artist, John Flaxman, William Blake, Gustave Dorè, and Suloni Robertson.

Through close reading, class discussion, and the use of Danteworlds, you are expected to identify and explain the significance of major characters, references, and ideas in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise) and Vita Nuova. You will be tested on this ability in responses to study questions (a low-stakes writing assignment) and two in-class exams. An essay, which you will rewrite and expand based on my feedback, will assess your ability to support an interpretation of a specific aspect of Dante's poetry with detailed textual analysis and scholarly research. A peer-editing activity will help you to revise and edit your own work. I expect you to have read the assigned cantos and reviewed the corresponding material in Danteworlds (including the study questions) before class.

Required Texts: (you must use the editions of these texts ordered for the class)

            Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso (Trans. Allen Mandelbaum)

            Vita Nuova (Trans. Barbara Reynolds)

Recommended Text (also ordered for this class): The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the "Divine Comedy" (Raffa)

Canvas: We will use the CANVAS learning management system to organize and provide course content on-line. When you log in to Canvas (http://canvas.utexas.edu/) and select the course, you will have access to the syllabus, assignments, lecture presentations, grades, and a discussion forum. You will be required to submit most assignments on-line using Canvas. For assistance, consult the student tutorials (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/student-tutorials) or contact support staff (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028).

Assignments and Computation of Grade:

10%: 1500-word essay on the Inferno (credit for successful completion)

25%: Rewrite and expansion of this essay incorporating scholarly research (graded)

5%:   Annotated bibliography of research sources (credit for successful completion)

5%:   Peer-review (credit for successful completion)

10%: Responses to study questions in Canvas Discussion Forum (credit for successful completion)

30%: Two in-class examinations  (graded: 15% each)

15%: Classwork and participation                    

Attendance Policy: Your attendance, which obviously influences your classwork and participation grade, is expected at all class meetings. You are expected to arrive on time to class and to stay for the entire lesson. Repeated late arrivals to—or early departures from—will count as absences. For every class that you miss (for whatever reason) after the fifth absence, your classwork and participation grade (on a 100-point scale) will be reduced by 5 points.

Late Work: Late work will lose a full letter grade for each day it is late except in the case of documented emergencies (e.g., serious illness, death in the family), religious holidays (see university policy below), or university-sponsored events (with prior notification).

Writing Flag: This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Global Cultures Flag: This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.             

Grading and Plagiarism: All graded assignments will be marked on a 100 point scale and converted to letter grades consistent with university policy:

A (94-100) = 4.0, A- (90-93) = 3.67, B+ (88-89) = 3.3, B (84-87) = 3.0, B- (80-83) = 2.67, C+ (78-79) = 2.3, C (74-77) = 2.0, C- (70-73) = 1.67, D+ (68-69) = 1.3, D (64-67) = 1.0, D- (60-63) = 0.67, F (below 60) = 0.0

Plagiarism, intentional or not, will result in an automatic F on the assignment—the numerical grade (0-59) depending on the extent of the plagiarism and the quality of the non-plagiarized portion of the essay—as well as possible disciplinary action. For the definition of plagiarism, see: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/rhetoric/RHE%20306/plagiarismcollusion.php

For the University's policy on academic integrity (including plagiarism), see: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/conduct/academicintegrity.php

Please check back for updates.

DESCRIPTION:

The life and writings of Saint Birgitta of Sweden, fourteenth-century visionary, religious reformer and pilgrim, will be examined and compared with her predecessor Hildegard of Bingen (Germany) and her successor Margery Kempe (England).  Social and historical contexts for all three visionary women will be explored in depth, particularly the factors behind Birgitta’s emerging as such an authoritative voice, both political and religious, within the milieu of fourteenth-century Europe.  Other related figures, predominantly Julian of Norwich, but also Christina of Markyate, Christina Mirabilis, Angela de Foligno, Jeanne d’Arc and Catherine of Siena may be visited.  We will also explore varieties of spirituality and spiritual thinking including: anchorism and asceticism; Marian piety and Goddess-imagery; virginity and female creativity; and  bridal imagery.  Any theoretical framework – religious; scientific; theological; medical; archetypal; or any other – will be allowed.  No single orthodoxy or heterodoxy should become primary in our investigations: all may have a voice (and it need not be a consistent one).  We will try to allow the past to speak for itself, always realizing that we, the readers/listeners/watchers, will necessarily apply some kind of “spin” based on our own backgrounds. 

Two things to remember when you investigate the lives and thought of people of the past: 1. They were vastly different from us; and 2) They were uncannily like us.  Both 1) and 2) are entirely true.

GRADING:

This course is a Writing Flag course, and most of your grade will come from the evaluation of writing-related activities.

The breakdown is like this:

Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):    10 %

Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each =   30 %

In-class peer review activities on these papers:    10 %

Reading Journals (turned in every other Wednesday)    15 %

One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4):    15 %

One six-page research paper:      20 %

“What kind of music do you listen to?” can be a loaded question. Based on your taste in music, others will invariably place you in a specific (sub)culture, class, lifestyle, and even speculate about your political commitments. Your taste in music can make or break a friendship, produce feelings of camaraderie as well as of repulsion.

For some time now, scholars have viewed popular music as a dynamic cultural field, where various social meanings—attached to race, nationality, gender, and sexuality—are constantly being produced, contested, and negotiated among different communities of listeners.

This insight into music as crucial site of political struggle and collective identity formation will be the starting point in our analysis of popular music genres in the Balkans, a region of Europe that has undergone sweeping historical changes in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, including the fall of Communism and—in the case of former Yugoslavia—the formation of seven new nation-states through a series of bloody and brutal wars. We will begin the class by examining the emergence of Western pop genres, such as punk and new wave rock, in late socialism (in the 1980s), which became associated with urban youth subcultures, sophisticated irony, and liberalization of the one-party state.  From there, we will move to the analysis of “turbo-folk,” a curious mixture of contemporary electronic and traditional folk music that became extremely popular in the 1990s, when the conflict in Yugoslavia was at its peak. Featuring extravagant and scandalous Balkan divas, roughly equivalent to Rihanna and Lady Gaga in the U.S., turbo-folk was (and still is) connected with nationalism, the new mafia elite, and general cultural decline. We will watch videos, examine arguments for and against turbo-folk, and try to pin down its political functions, cultural meanings, and recent transformations. We will end the class by examining new trends in Balkan popular music, such hip-hop and Balkan brass, and their relationship to recent protest movements, minority politics, and claims of cultural (in)authenticity.

In addition to scholarly literature, we will make a substantial use of a class Tumblr blog, featuring music videos, song lyrics, links to other blogs, album covers and other visual and audio materials, which will allow us to fully immerse ourselves in different sounds, scenes, fashion styles, and communities we will be studying throughout this course.

Grading:

10%-class participation and attendance

10% map quiz of the Balkan countries/major historical events

25%-weekly discussion post (250 words or more)

25%-take-home midterm exam (short essay format)

5%-abstract and outline of long essay

25%-one long essay (8-9 pages) or multimedia project

Please check back for updates.

Description

This course will examine works of a number of Eastern European women writers such as Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus), Oksana Zabuzhko (Ukraine), Dubravka Ugresic (Croatia), Herta Muller (Romania – Germany), Sofi Oksanen (Finland), and Ludmila Petrushevskaya (Russia), and trace their role and involvement in resisting not only political regimes but also gender-based oppression. We will also read supplemental articles, interviews, and secondary sources to provide a general understanding of contemporary politics and ethnic conflict as well as gender roles in Easter Europe. Through class discussion, students will discuss the many forms and repercussions of women’s resistance to recent issues and events within this strategic region.

Grading

Journals, 1-2 page long, on authors of choice (4) 20%

To in-class exams 20%

Final paper (may be based on one of the journals) 30%

Presentation 20%

Participation 10%

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Course Description

This course is a study abroad program in Poland in June 2020. While in Poland, students will

have the opportunity to specialize in one of two themes: democratization or security. Both

themes involve classroom lectures with in-country experts, extracurricular activities throughout

Warsaw, and cultural excursions to other Polish cities. For their final assignment, students will

submit a revised mock Fulbright application (or something comparable). The proposal will allow

students to situate Poland (or Central-Eastern Europe more broadly) as a case study of a

substantive topic of their interest.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for the course. Note, however, that students wishing to enroll in this

class must simultaneously enroll in LA 119 (Maymester Seminar: Poland) – a course designed

to prepare students for their trip to Poland.

Grading Policy

The final grade is composed of the following five parts:

1. In-country course assessment (varies by theme): 20%
2. In-country extra-curricular activities: 20%
3. Cultural excursions: 20%
4. Mock Fulbright application (inclusive of meetings with professor and in-country

experts): 30%

5. Appropriate behavior (per university and sponsor guidelines): 10%

Sport and other forms of physical culture have played important political roles in German history over the past two centuries. The gymnastics movement of the early 19th century promoted an intense German nationalism based on racial/ethnic identity. The late-19th century gymnastics movement was both politically conservative and engaged in an unsuccessful struggle with the foreign “sport” culture that eventually conquered the world in the form of the Olympic Games and global soccer. The 1936 Berlin (“Nazi”) Olympics promoted Hitler’s foreign policy objectives by serving as a propaganda platform that persuaded much of the world that Nazi Germany would not go to war. An anti-Nazi boycott effort in the United States did not succeed. The next German dictatorship to adopt sport as a political strategy was East Germany (1949-1989), which produced huge numbers of internationally successful athletes by creating a system of early recruitment, expert coaching, and a secret doping program that fed anabolic steroids to thousands of young men and women, including children: criminal medicine in the service of sportive nationalism. In recent decades, democratic Germany has pursued a very successful program to become a world soccer power. The 2006 World Cup competition in Germany marked a turning point by producing a politically acceptable form of German nationalism. The German victory at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil has confirmed traditional stereotypes about German efficiency that reflect well on Germany’s political system. The inclusion of players of non-German origin on the national team serves as a symbol of German multicultural policy in an era of troubled race relations across the face of Europe.

Grading:

Examination #1 (25%)

Examination #2 (25%)

Quizzes (5 worth 5% apiece)

Term paper (25%)

Europe has experienced a remarkable transformation in the last century: from the mass destruction of World War II to the emergence of prosperous multiparty democracies, from the erection of the Iron Curtain to the fall of the Berlin Wall, from centuries-long divisions to a European Union of 28 states that stretches from Lisbon to Bucharest to Helsinki. Many of us know this recent past from history books, others have visited the other side of the Atlantic for vacation or study. But despite our apparent familiarity with our transatlantic neighbors, the governments and politics of Europe often remain unfamiliar. How exactly does a parliament work? Why are there so many political parties? How can governments just call new elections? How do European democracies compare with one another, and with the United States? European politics becomes even more mystifying when discussing the European Union, an entity encompassing 28 member states, over 500 million people, and one of the world’s largest economies. What is the European Union exactly? Is it an international organization, a federation of countries, or something else entirely? Who actually makes the decisions for Europe today?

This course will seek to answer to all of these questions by focusing on the major political, social, and economic dynamics shaping contemporary European politics. In the first part of the course, we will examine the historical origins of contemporary European politics, the features of parliamentary government, multiparty democracy and electoral systems, and other essentials of European politics today. We will highlight how these operate in a number of country contexts, but especially Great Britain, France, and Germany. The second half of the course will provide students with a detailed introduction to the European Union, including its tumultuous history, its decision-making institutions, and its relations with member states and the international community. Finally, the course will conclude with an investigation of some major policy issues and challenges in Europe today, notably the Euro crisis, European integration and enlargement, immigration, and European foreign policy.