COURSE DESCRIPTION

            Europe is home to a bewildering puzzle of many different histories, nations, cultures and languages, with more than 450 million people now living in the European Union - a Union that argues whether it can stay together as part of the "Eurozone" or even expand eastward to include supposedly "non-Christian" countries like Turkey.

            This course will start by introducing several earlier attempts to make a more united, and presumably more peaceful and prosperous, "Europe" out of the nation-states on the continent.  Each "imagined" Europe, as we shall see, was proposed to correct problems with the nation-states - to change politics and everyday lives in particular ways.

            A recent history of post-World-War-II Europe by Tony Judt will anchor the class' original work on Europe and its member nations. Judt tells the continent's story from the point of view of the era's global power politics, and then situates individual European states within them.  Judt's text, then, provides accounts of Europe from the top-down and points to moments when those official accounts diverge for particular states and when they place individuals and groups who do not fit the national stereotypes under pressure. 

            The historical account of Europe as seen from the point of view of world politics is an interesting counterpoint to the evolution of European government since World War II, as realized in the Council of Europe and the European Union.  This part of the course will introduce the structure of European governance and its institutions and will outline its central features and challenges.

            The largest section of the course is devoted to a workshop on issues in contemporary Europe. The class will address current European political and cultural issues such as immigration, education, language policies, European politics of memory and Europe’s role in the world. Students will get an overview on these topics from a European perspective and will carry out some small research projects on a particular country.  

The course will introduce students to the most important research materials for the study of Europe such as the central academic journals that focus on European issues, European survey tools, and research by European think tanks. The assignments of the course build on each other to help students acquire a body of skills and knowledge that will aid in their personal studies of Europe and in their major courses. This course is the introductory core course for a concentration or major in European Studies at UT, but it requires no prerequisites except for the willingness to work in collaboration with others and to engage in a discovery process rather than seeking "right" answers.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this course,

• You will have a profound knowledge of the main phases and events of Europe’s history after World War Two and of its central political project, the European Union.
• You will know the relevant empirical research literature and its main findings on current political and cultural issues in Europe such as immigration, education, language policies, cultural heritage and memory, and Europe’s role in the world.
• You will know the most important academic, policy-oriented and news sources for the study of European societies and politics.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING:

• Chapter review = 20%
• Collecting information on a Webpage on one of the EU member states: 5 tasks = 10%
• Two one-hour online tests @ 10% each = 20%
• Response paper = 30%
• Final Evaluative Book Review of Postwar  = 20%

READINGS

Tony Judt.  Postwar:  A History of Europe Since 1945.  New York:  The Penguin Press, 2005.  

This course examines seminal texts and significant episodes in the intellectual and political history of Western Europe and its Atlantic colonies during the later seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries.  In doing so, the seminar aims to understand the intellectual and cultural revolution known as the Enlightenment as well as the relationship between it and the political revolutions of the period, particularly the English Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century (c. 1640-1660), the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689, the American Revolution of 1775-1783, the French Revolution of 1789-1815, and the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804.

Books:
1. Margaret C. Jacob, ed., The Enlightenment: A Brief History with Documents, 2nd edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017).
2. Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library, 2003).
3. Lynn Hunt, ed., The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1996).
4. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. C. B. Macpherson (Hackett, 1980).
5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, trans. Donald A. Cress (Hackett, 1992).
6. Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, trans. James W. Ellington, 2nd edition (Hackett, 2001).
7. Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro, trans. Henry R. Bishop (Digireads, 2011).

Grading:
Attendance and Participation (20%)
Weekly Reading Responses (15%)
Mid-Term Essay (25%)
Term Paper (40%)

In the nineteenth century waves of immigrants from several Central and Northern European countries altered the demographics of Texas significantly while accelerating both economic and cultural development of the republic and (later) state. Painted churches, dance halls, sausage festivals, etc. still speak to the cultural legacy of these immigrants in large swaths of Texas while, amazingly, pockets of bilingualism still survive after several generations. The immigrant story often intertwined with larger themes of Texas history such as frontier, Native Americans, and slavery. Contrasting attitudes and values led to conflict at times, especially during the Civil War, since many of the immigrants openly opposed secession and/or slavery.

This course will examine both the causes of European emigration and the attraction of Texas as a destination. The goal is to further our understanding of the cultural and social forces in the nineteenth century on both sides of the Atlantic and to examine the legacy of the European nationalities that have been woven into the rich and colorful tapestry of the state of Texas.

Readings for classroom discussion will all come from online sources, either posted on my website or available through the Handbook of Texas online. It will not be necessary to purchase any books.

This will be a project-oriented course. We will tour the Briscoe Center for American History Studies, the Texas State Library, and the General Land Office, all located in Austin and all important repositories of primary and secondary source information. Students will do a research paper and presentation based on original research.

Please check back for updates.

This lecture course surveys the political, social, economic, and intellectual history of England (and, after the Union with Scotland in 1707, of Great Britain) from the end of the Interregnum to the conclusion of the War for American Independence. It focuses on the transformation of England/Britain from an agrarian realm characterized by an absolute monarchy, an intolerant church, and a stagnant economy into a commercial and manufacturing society characterized by a vibrant public sphere, parliamentary rule, a dynamic economy, and unparalleled degrees of civil and religious liberty. Over the course of this period, England/Britain emerged as a world power overseeing a vast commercial and territorial empire stretching across four continents. As such, the lectures place English/British history firmly within its European and global contexts.

Books:
1. Paul Kléber Monod, Imperial Island: A History of Britain and Its Empire, 1660-1837 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
2. Steven C. A. Pincus, England’s Glorious Revolution, 1688-1689: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006).

Grading:
Attendance (10%)
Two Mid-Term Essay Exams (50%)
Final Essay Exam (40%)

Please note: “Introduction to the Holocaust” is an upper-division history course with a substantial reading and writing component.

This course on the Holocaust examines the mass killing of Jews and other victims in the context of Nazi Germany’s quest for race and space during World War II.  Using sources that illuminate victim experiences, perpetrator perspectives, and bystander responses, we investigate the Nazi racial state, the experiments in mass killing, the establishment of a systematic genocidal program, collaboration and complicity, resistance and rescue, as well as the memory of the Holocaust in western culture.

Doris Bergen, War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust (2nd edition)

Marion Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany

Lianna Millu, Smoke over Birkenau

Gitta Sereny, Into that Darkness: An Examination of Conscience

Attendance and Participation: 20%

Tests incl. final exam: 35%

Essays: 45%

This upper-division research seminar takes students through Niccolò Machiavelli’s chief writings. We consider the local, regional, Mediterranean, European, and global aspects of his work. Through class discussion and short written assignments (20%), students will identify a research topic in consultation with the professor.
 
There are no prerequisites but His 343g “Italian Renaissance” (offered Spr 2016) is strongly recommended.
Readings will include:
Machiavelli: The Prince; The Discourses; The Art of War; Mandragola; Clizia; The Florentine Histories; selected letters and short writings (buy the required translations)
Black: Machiavelli (the best recent biography)
Najemy, ed.: Cambridge Companion to Machiavelli
Course packet of scholarly articles

Each student will write a historiography essay (15%); draft a prospectus (20%); and complete a major research paper (30%). Students will give two oral presentations, one at the prospectus stage (5%), and one upon completion of the research paper (10%).

Please check back for updates.

European society changed so rapidly and extensively between 1050 and 1200 that medievalists often call it a "renaissance," ( a period of rebirth not to be confused with the later Italian Renaissance.) During this period, agricultural technologies changed, new forms of religious life developed, schools and universities emerged, cathedrals were built, towns became self-governing, and royal governments experimented with new forms of administration and law. Though a reading of primary documents - including love letters, memoirs, accounts of religious visions, chronicles of urban revolts, court poetry, theological treatises, and artistic creations – this course examines a series of these intellectual, religious, social, and political developments.

The goals of this course are for students 1) to identify the important events and figures in this period of rapid change; 2) to learn to read and analyze different types of medieval documents;  3) to understand how historical arguments and accounts are constructed from the analysis of primary documents; 4) to understand the interconnections between economic, social, religious, and cultural developments; and 5) to construct and write their own historical analyses.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Dante: Fall 2018

ITC 348 (36870), same as E 366D (35815)

Cross-listed with EUS 347 (36255) and CTI 345 (29505)

TTH 11-12:15 in CLA 0.122

Professor Guy Raffa, Dept. of French and Italian

Office Hours: TTH 2-3 in HRH 3.104A

E-mail: guyr@utexas.edu; Home Page: http://guyraffa.la.utexas.edu/ 

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).

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

Description:

This course will follow some of today's and history's most visible "public spectacles" from Northern and Central Europe.  It will show how scholars deal with public exhibitions (like World's Fairs), museum spaces, memorials, pubic images and scandals to introduce questions about how public spaces are used to create and recreate national histories, public memories, identities, and media power. 

The work in this course will allow you to evolve your own project on public memory or spectacles in Northern and Central Europe, which might include (but are not restricted to) iconic buildings (Berlin's TV-Tower, Stockholm City Hall), war monuments, world fairs, museums (Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands, Art museums in other major cities), museum exhibitions (Vienna 1900), and public media identities claimed by the public media in demonstrations and the media (Love Parade, Jörg Haider, "Baader Meinhof").

Readings:

Carl Schorske, Fin de siècle Vienna

Foote, Kenneth E. Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy

Lefebvre, Production of Space

Boym, Future of Nostalgia

Websites for public art and museums

Grading:

Site analysis:  short precis  --3 x 5% of grade

Annotated bibliography:  15% of grade

Short presentation (5 pp): 20 % of Grade

Project proposal and research plan (5 pp): 20% of Grade

Final Paper: 30% of Grade

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

DESCRIPTION:

 Today's Anglo-American Analytic Philosophy grows out of the tradition of Logical Positivism/Logical Empiricism as it evolved in the circles around Wittgenstein in England after the Second World War, and it positions itself over and against Continental Philosophy.  That positioning, however, obscures how Wittgenstein and the group that Viktor Kraft, the first historian of the Vienna Circle of Logical Positivism, took over a much broader cultural project that is echoed in the work of twentieth-century theorists and philosophers from Walter Benjamin through Ernst Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms.  Just as significant, the Vienna Circle's work parallels today's philosophy of science as practiced by figures like Bruno Latour.

This class will combine perspectives from philosophy and the history of philosophy to undertake a project in "historical epistemology":  it will trace how Logical Empiricism  actually came into being out of a set of methodological arguments about the philosophy of science and hermeneutics that were widespread in the late nineteenth century (and which find their echoes in figures as diverse as Nietzsche and Heidegger).  The new genesis narrative we will trace reverberates with problems of forced migration and emigration, as a generation of theorists and philosophers were forced out of continental Europe and to the US and Great Britain by the Nazis.  And in order to find their feet, these émigrés took up new projects and redefined their work for new audiences, offering a set of cases of culture transfer -- cases where philosophical logics responded directly, if tacitly, to politics and culture.

No background in philosophy is required for this course, and all readings will be available in English on the class blackboard site.    Background reading on the history of science will ground our readings of primary texts, and each student will be responsible for evolving a semester project in writing a specific philosopher or project into a new kind of intercultural history of ideas.

CLASS READINGS WILL INCLUDE (all in excerpts):

Ludwig Wittgenstein:   The Blue and Brown Books

Nietzsche:  On the Genealogy of Morals

Essays by Windelband and Rickert on the "science debate" of the nineteenth century.

Wilhelm Dilthey, On the Crisis of the European Sciences

Husserl, The Idea of Phenomenology

Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms

Benjamin,

Viktor Kraft, The Vienna Circle

Janik/Toulmin, Wittgenstein's Vienna

Friedrich Stadler, The Vienna Circle

Wittgenstein, Waisman, The Voices of Wittgenstein

Lakatos/Feyerabend, For and Against Method

Essays by Carnap, Neurath, Latour

ASSIGNMENTS:

Daily readings

Three one-page précis (analysis of individual texts) = 3 x 5% of grade =15% of grade

Midterm writing assignment = 10 % of grade

One comprehensive final essay test = 25% of grade

One semester project, done in stages (history/biography section [5% of grade], bibliography/research plan [5% of grade],  close reading of a text [15% of grade], plus 10-page paper presenting one issue from the texts read in class together with individual work [25% of grade]).

EUS 348 / GOV 365N:

The Comprehensive Notion of European Security

Fall 2018

Center for European Studies / Department

The University of Texas at Austin

Unique ID: 36280 / 38600

Course concept

International security, a subfield of international relations, examines the nature of the international states system. It specifically focuses on what is known as the ‘security dilemma,’ the idea (or myth, depending on your theoretical predilection) that states in the international system desire above all to remain secure and extant, and will do whatever necessary to avoid becoming less secure or even disappearing entirely. Questions of how or whether it is necessary or even possible to cooperate to achieve security were seen as peripheral.

Recently, many scholars and practitioners have begun to question the state-centric approach to international security, as well as its focus on power, rivalries, and conflict. Instead, these scholars and practitioners have begun to speak of  ‘comprehensive’ security, or the ‘comprehensive approach’ to international security. Besides being a good catchphrase, what does comprehensive security mean? What does it entail? “Comprehensive security” has a variety of connotations, depending on the context in which the idea is presented, but generally most agree on the idea of a more all-encompassing, holistic understanding of ‘security’ than that embraced by traditional international relations theories. Part of the rationale for this course is to unpack some of the themes underpinning the various ‘flavors’ of comprehensive security, (among others, its human, economic, environmental dimensions).

One of the regions of the world where the notion of ‘comprehensive’ security has been most explicitly theorized and implemented is in Europe. Now more than ever, this notion is under fire. Thus the course pays special attention to this region of the world and examines the practical aspects of comprehensive security via the institutions charged with implementing it: the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Part One: Theories of international security (three weeks)

This part of the course investigates the underlying theoretical premises of international security, with special emphasis on:

• Theories of conflict and cooperation, covering topics such as realism, institutionalism, constructivism, democratic peace theory.
• Theories of influence, covering topics such as soft power, deterrence & coercion, domestic politics and influence, credibility, norms and institutions as influencers of behavior.

Part Two: The idea of comprehensive security (three weeks):

This section of the course takes the theoretical precepts gained from Part One and applies them to the newly emerging idea within international security that true international (and regional) security must take into account factors beyond mere state survival. To that end, the idea of ‘comprehensive’ security is raised, bringing into play a more nuanced view of international security. In this section, we will examine various ways in which comprehensive security has been thought about. Primarily, we will explore the idea of ‘human’ security that developed out of the 1994 UN Human Development Report, which has seven constituent elements:

1. Economic security
2. Food security
3. Health security
4. Environmental security
5. Personal security
6. Community security
7. Political security

The section will begin with a survey of the general concept of human security, then move to a treatment of four of its components: economic, health and environmental, and community security. The section will conclude with a discussion of security sector reform as the means to establishing lasting peace in post-conflict societies, a key facet in any discussion of post Cold War comprehensive security.

Part Three: The practice of comprehensive security in Europe: case studies (ten weeks):

In Part Three of the course, we look at ways in comprehensive security has been implemented in Europe.  We look specifically at European notions of comprehensive security, focusing on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the European Union (EU).

Readings:

There is no required textbook for this course. Rather, each week has a series of readings assigned that are to be read before the class meets each day. The readings will be accessible via Blackboard and the average reading load per class is between 40 and 60 pages.

Assignments and grading

Your course grade will consist of a midterm exam grade, a take-home final exam grade, a short paper grade and a discussion/participation grade:

Exams: 75%

As this class is an upper-division course, a major portion of the grade for the course will consist of exams, consisting of two midterm exams and a take-home final exam. Both midterms and the final will each count for 25% and the take-home final exam will be worth 25% of your course grade.

Attendance / Participation / Discussion Questions: 15%

Class discussion in a an upper-level seminar is more than expected; it is a given. Everyone has his or her own style of discussion, and I do not expect to turn those who prefer not to speak often in class into debate champions. Participation will be divided into two sections:  Discussion questions and in-class participation. Since not everyone enjoys speaking in class, discussion questions will count for more than in-class participation. Discussion questions will count for 10% of your course grade, while in-class participation will count for 5% of your course grade. 

Discussion postings can be drawn from the readings; in this case, they should reflect any questions, comments, or cries of outrage you may have regarding the arguments set forth by the authors. They most definitely will help you get the most from the class. Postings may also be brief synopses of newsworthy events. In this case, you must post both the link to the news story and a brief (50-word) précis of what the article discusses. Finally, postings may be replies to others' questions or news stories, as long as they are informative replies and not merely agree/disagree posts. One post (or a thoughtful reply to a post) counts as your post for that week.

There are no discussion postings necessary for midterm week. The total number of discussion postings will be counted at the end of the semester, and also will be examined throughout the semester for evidence of consistent posting. Do not expect to “catch-up” post only at the end of the semester and receive full participation credit.

• 12-15 postings: Full credit
• 8-11 postings: 70% credit
• 5-7 postings: 50% credit
• Less than 5 postings: No credit

There is also a distinction between attendance and participation. Attendance will be managed through Canvas and will take place at five random intervals throughout the semester. Each of these five attendance days will count for 1% of your course grade (for a total of 5%).

In-class participation will be graded as follows:

• Attending every day, but not participating in class: 80/100
• Attending every day, participating via question answering (from instructor): 90/100
• Attending every day, participating via question answering and active learning (extending discussion, asking follow-up questions): 100/100

There will be one group assignment in the class. This assignment will take place over the course of the semester and will be detailed in the first few weeks of class. The group assignment will count for 5% of your overall course grade.

** A word on late or missed assignments. Over the course of the semester, it is inevitable that some event will cause a time management issue, which might lead to a missed assignment deadline. Though normally handled on a case-by-case basis, there are some baseline penalties for missed or delayed assignments, detailed here:

• Late topic choices will receive a 1% deduction per day before grading.
• Late topic outline and list of references will receive a 2% deduction per day before grading.
• Late paper drafts will receive a 5% deduction per day before grading.
• Missed exams will receive a 5% deduction per day until made up.

Extra credit (up to 6 points):

Students who attend an academic lecture/event dealing with an international/global issue and hand in a typed, one-page summary may receive a 3 point increase on an exam grade.  The maximum extra credit for the semester is two lectures/events (a total of 6 extra credit points).  Summaries must be turned in within 7 days of the event.

Grading Standards:

Important Information

Plagiarism / academic misconduct:



Don’t do it. Minimum penalties for cheating are zeros on quizzes or exams where the cheating takes place, and a grade of F on a paper that has been plagiarized. Questions about what constitutes academic misconduct should be brought to my attention.

Undergraduate Writing Center: 

The Undergraduate Writing Center, FAC 211, 471-6222: http://www.uwc.utexas.edu/) offers free, individualized, expert help with writing for any UT undergraduate, by appointment or on a drop-in basis. Any undergraduate enrolled in a course at UT can visit the UWC for assistance with any writing project. They work with students from every department on campus, for both academic and non-academic writing. Their services are not just for writing with "problems." Getting feedback from an informed audience is a normal part of a successful writing project. Consultants help students develop strategies to improve their writing. The assistance they provide is intended to foster independence. Each student determines how to use the consultant's advice. The consultants are trained to help you work on your writing in ways that preserve the integrity of your work.

University of Texas Honor Code:

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.  Any student found guilty of scholastic dishonesty may receive an “F” in the course and be remanded to the appropriate University of Texas authorities for disciplinary action.  For more information, view Student Judicial Services at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs.

Religious Holidays:

According to UT-Austin policy, students must notify the instructor of an impending absence at least 14 days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If a student must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, the student will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

Student Privacy: 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that student privacy be preserved.  Thus the posting of grades, even by the last four digits of the social security number, is forbidden.  All communication will remain between the instructor and the student, and the instructor will not be able to share details of the student’s performance with parents, spouses, or any others.

Documented Disability Statement:

The University of Texas will make reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations.

Emergency Evacuation Policy:

In the event of a fire or other emergency, it may be necessary to evacuate a building rapidly.  Upon the activation of a fire alarm or the announcement of an emergency in a university building, all occupants of the building are required to evacuate and assemble outside.  Once evacuated, no one may re-enter the building without instruction to do so from the Austin Fire Department, University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office.  Students should familiarize themselves with all the exit doors of each room and building they occupy at the university, and should remember that the nearest exit routes may not be the same as the way they typically enter buildings.  Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructors in writing during the first week of class.  Information regarding emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/emergency.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

GOV324L / EUS 350

Government & Politics of Western Europe

Fall 2018

PAR 301

M-W 1:00-2:30pm

Professor: Zeynep Somer-Topcu, PhD

zsomer@utexas.edu

Office:  BAT 3.124

Introduction

This course provides students with a general introduction to the political institutions, voter behavior, and issues in West Europe. The objective is to equip students with a broad overview of the politics and political systems of Western Europe, as well as on concepts, methods, and tools to understand and analyze contemporary developments. The course is organized thematically (rather than in a country-specific way) around a framework that emphasizes the political determinants and policy consequences of institutional differences.

We will start the course with a short overview of the countries and the history of Europe. We will then look at political institutions in Europe—ranging from the executive power to the parliaments and electoral systems. Next, we will discuss the European party systems and political parties (where do they come from, how do we explain the differences across countries, how do parties elect their leaders and get funded, etc.).

In the second half of the course we will discuss the important issues/problems Western European countries face: (1) regionalism, (2) the European Union, (3) lack of voter interest/knowledge, (4) immigration, (5) the rise of anti-immigrant politics and challenges the mainstream parties face, (6) political corruption and scandals, and (7) European foreign relations and security issues.

Course Requirements:

Quizzes                       10%

Two short papers      15% (each)

Three Exams             20% (each)

Attendance and Participation

Attendance is NOT required. However, the exams will heavily rely on what we will discuss in class. There are more details beyond the slides we will discuss in class, and you will be responsible of those details in the exams. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to come to class.

Class participation is different from attendance. Throughout the course students are encouraged to raise questions and relevant discussion topics in class, and expected to contribute to class discussions. Students are expected to do the assigned readings before we discuss the topic in class, and arrive at class ready to discuss the readings.

While there is not a participation grade, I will use my personal judgment based on your in-class participation to bump your grade up if your final grade ends up very close to the higher letter grade.

Quizzes (10%)

There will be about 10-12 quizzes throughout the semester. I will announce most of these quizzes in advance but also reserve the right to administer pop quizzes.

These quizzes will ask a short question about the readings assigned for that class.

You must have a piece of paper and a pen ready for each class in case we have a quiz. I will put the question on the board and will give you 3-5 minutes at the beginning of the class to answer the question. If you arrive late, you will not be allowed to take the quiz.

You will receive a grade out of 10 for each quiz. We will post the grades on Canvas but not hand back these quizzes. you miss more than 6 quizzes you will automatically fail the class.

Short papers (15% each):

There are five topics with deadlines scattered throughout the semester. You have to choose two of these topics and write short papers. These short papers should not be longer than 6 pages (double-spaced), or shorter than 4 pages (double-spaced), excluding the title page and the bibliography.

In these assignments, you will provide the facts about the question asked. However, you can receive full grade only if you provide a critical analysis for the question. You have to have a bibliography part and show your research. Wikipedia is not accepted as a scholarly citation.

The papers are due at the beginning of the class (1pm) on the day they are due. You must bring hard-copies to the class. Emailed or late submissions won’t be accepted, and you will receive a grade of F for that paper.

Exams (20% each)

There are three exams scattered throughout the semester. Each exam will be a combination of multiple-choice questions, short or bullet-point answer questions, and a few long (one-page) essays.

Grading Scheme:

In this course I will use the following grading scheme:

A         100 - 93.34

A-        93.33 - 90

B+       89.99 - 86.67

B         86.66 - 83.34

B-        83.33 - 80

C+       79.99 - 76.67

C         76.66 - 73.34

C-        73.33 - 70

D+       69.99 - 66.67

D         66.66 - 63.34

D-        63.33 – 60

F          Below 60

Required Text:

The following book is available for purchase at the bookstore:

Gallagher, Laver and Mair. 2011. Representative Government in Modern

Europe: Institutions, Parties, and Governments. McGraw Hill. 5th Edition. (Make sure you have the correct edition)

There will also be required news articles or editorials assigned for each class period. These will be based on the current events for the topic under discussion. We will post them on Canvas on Fridays before each week.

There will be additional required articles/chapters for some classes. These readings are denoted with an asterisk (**) in the syllabus, and will be available on Canvas in advance.