History 420/520 The Idea of Europe

Course Description

"The Idea of Europe" is an interdisciplinary course designed by a team of faculty specializing in European fields across campus. The course was created in 1993 to study Europe in a new way, one that took account of the changes occurring in Europe since the end of the Cold War. These changes raised profound questions about European identity and about the shape of Europe in the future, and have challenged our standards ways of thinking about Europe, especially in our teaching and learning of Europe in the classroom. "The Idea of Europe" is the result of collaborative faculty efforts to develop a different kind of course experience for students, inspired by these new questions about Europe. The course emphasizes creativity and the articulation of individual perspectives in a shared search for the meaning of Europe. It does so through a careful examination of selective issues, moments and texts from the entire European tradition, both past and present.

Faculty from a wide range of disciplines and areas of expertise on Europe offer students, through lecture and selected readings, an exploration of an aspect of Europe that speaks to them most meaningfully about questions such as the following: "What is Europe?" and "What is it, about Europe, that excites me most or troubles me most?" Students are invited to share in the process of raising these questions and providing their own responses. Students are especially encouraged to think creatively and even unconventionally about issues of all kinds which have emerged in the European tradition and which capture their interest. The intent of the course is not primarily the assimilation of information about Europe, but rather an encounter with a range of specific topics and texts that are thought-provoking. Every student in the course should expect to be challenged beyond his or her comfort zone of previously acquired knowledge. For instance, students of history, geography, political science, economics, and anthropology should expect to encounter unfamiliar passages from literary analysis and philosophical investigation, while students in the humanities and the arts should expect to find material, themes, and ideas about matters which are not their normal fare -- ideas of geographical understanding, institutions of political order and economic management, broad sweeps of historical inquiry. "The Idea of Europe" course, in other words, has as its main purpose the intellectual awakening of students towards new horizons and creative thinking, using Europe in its broadest sense – the entire legacy of Europe’s culture, history, and political and social institutions – as the prime subject matter for this learning experience.

Course Policies

The course meets in two sessions each week (Tuesday and Thursday, 12 noon to 1:20) for presentations by different faculty in European fields. Normally one session every two weeks will be devoted to group discussion of presentations of those two weeks. These discussions are mandatory, will be organized in a manner to facilitate involvement of all students, and will count toward the grade for the course. Students keep a weekly journal of their personal reflections and analyses of the content of lectures and readings. In these journals, they are encouraged to be creative and personal in expressing their insights and reactions, as well as responding to specific issues and texts of lectures and readings. The journals are evaluated at mid-term and at the end of the term. In addition, each student writes a course paper, of about 10-15 pages in length, on a topic of the student’s choosing related to any aspect of Europe, contemporary or historical, in any field of study. Grades are based on the journals, the course paper, and participation in discussions.

Required Texts

The following two books, from which required readings will be taken extensively, will be available for purchase from the University of Oregon bookstore. While a copy of each book will be on library reserve for short loan period, students should not plan to rely on library copy for either book:

J.M. Robert, The Penguin History of Europe
John Pinder, The European Union: A Very Short Introduction

In addition, an extensive packet of photocopied materials pertaining to individual faculty presentations will be available for purchase. This packet will not be available on library reserve and therefore must be purchased.

People

Topics and Faculty

The presentations in the course will follow a largely chronological pattern. The following periods will be given most attention: Classical antiquity (Greece and Rome), Medieval and Early modern Europe, Enlightenment and Nationalism, Twentieth-century Europe, and the European Union. Faculty from the following disciplines will make presentations: history, geography, classics, Romance languages, music, Scandinavian literature, possibly political science.

Students

Students from all disciplines and fields (including students in schools and colleges outside of the College of Arts and Sciences) are welcome in this course, regardless of their previous background in history or in European Studies. Although this course is offered in the history department, it is deliberately designed to be cross-disciplinary, as the topics and faculty make clear. No previous knowledge of history or of Europe is required. Required, however, is the willingness to listen attentively, to do readings and journal entries on time (that is, each week), to accept and preferably welcome intellectual challenge outside the bounds of one’s familiarity.