Module Objectives

The purpose of this module is to examine the different aspects of the geography of the EU and to help students to:

– Develop knowledge and critical understanding of the EU – its historical development and institutional structure;
– Consider the process and the mechanisms of policy-making in the EU;

– Identify and understand the challenges European citizens are confronted with in a wide range of areas in the EU policy-making related to the following issues: creation of “unified” economic and political space, nationalisms, agricultural and environmental policies, migratory movements, borders and security issues, etc.);

– Explore the enlargement process of the European space in the longue durée and to evaluate its impact upon the individual or collective identities of the citizens of the member states.

Course Content

This module traces the effects that membership in the EU has on our lives and our sense of place. It examines geographical approaches to various EU issues. It investigates the role of different EU institutions (Parliament, Commission, etc.). It examines the problems European citizens are confronted with and explores the key dynamics of European enlargement. It researches the perception of the European space in literature, in legislation, in the press, etc.

It analyzes how different areas and centers of European policy-making – respecting security or foreign policy, pollution and environment, agricultural production, monetary system and economy, peripheries, geopolitical boundaries, migrations, nationalisms – influence the daily lives of European citizens and challenge our assumptions about nature, financial stability, space and individual or collective identities.

Teaching and Assessment

The course has duration of 13 weeks. It encourages active learning and the participation of students in class discussion and oral presentations that help them to share individual approaches with the module leader as well as with the other students. The final mark will be based on written examination.

Students can also undertake to write a non compulsory assignment of 3,500 words. For those who chose to write an essay, their essay mark will count as an examination component that can have a contribution of almost 40% to the final mark. Assignments that will get 10 will contribute to the final mark with 4.

A contribution of 3 marks will get those that will be graded with 9-8 and 2 marks those that will be graded with 7-6. The contribution of the assignment that will be marked with 5 will be only 1 mark to the final examination.