Banner Viadrina

Teaching

The objective of teaching at the chair "Political Science 3: European Studies" is to analyse the institutions and processes of European politics. Europe is geographically understood as covering the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains (Charles de Gaulle). Therefore, although European integration is often considered the main focus of European Studies, it is only one of the central aspects of politics in Europe.Discussions concerning Politics in Europe take place on many levels:

 

  • The nation-state is often thought to be an historical starting point, however the various nation states within Europe differ significantly in both their political shape and social embeddedness.

  • In Western Europe, and later also in Southern and Central Europe, national-level politics are in the process of being overtaken by transnational politics. Multiple areas of national politics can be seen as involved in an interplay with transnational organisations. The EU and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are good examples of this kind of political exchange.

  • Within transnational politics, the EU is a special case which calls for critical examination in order to understand and analyse its shape and dynamics.

  • In Eastern Europe and on the edges of institutional Europe, differences emerge in light of the socialist past of many states, which in turn create a number of challenges in both national and transnational politics.

 

The courses taught at this chair can be divided into these four parts.Furthermore, specialised lectures and seminars in the faculty of Cultural Science are offered on a regular basis, particularly in the Bachelor of Cultural Studies (BA Kuwi), the Master of European Studies (MES) as well as the Master of Sociocultural Studies (MASS). An additional focus of courses offered concerns training for doctoral students and their participation in the post-graduate seminar "External Democratisation and Civil Society".

 

The following courses are offered on a regular basis:Winter Semester:

  • BA Cultural Studies:Introduction to Social Science or Introduction to Comparative Political Science

  • BA Cultural Studies: Politics and Culture or Transnationalisation of European Politics

  • MA (MES and MASS): Political Institutions and Processes in the European Union

  • Master and Post-Graduate seminar

  •  

Summer Semester:

  • BA Cultural Studies: Introduction to Cultural Studies (offered every second Summer Semester)

  • BA Cultural Studies: Political Institutions and Processes in Post-Socialist States or Politics in the European Union (both offered as advanced courses)

  • MA (MES and MASS): Political Institutions and Processes in Post-Socialist States

  • Post-Graduate Seminar