KAISER Wolfram - The Historical Foundations of the EU (25h)
Professor: KAISER Wolfram Academic Assistant: Marie ACABO
As an interdisciplinary scholar of European integration, I am delighted to teach this course on the "courte durée" history of European integration from 1945 to the present day. We will jointly develop your understanding of the chronology of and trajectories in European integration since the end of WWII in four sessions; discuss in another session how the contemporary European Union’s origins and historical evolution have been interpreted by historians and social scientists; and cover in the remaining seven sessions a variety of different dimensions of European integration across time (countries, actors, institutions). Alongside introductory lectures, the course includes five group presentations, two break-out sessions and the discussion of some sources. You are expected to join one of the groups for the presentation and to participate regularly in class. You will acquire crucial contextual knowledge about European integration broadly speaking, and the present-day EU, which will strongly enhance your understanding of political, legal, and economic issues the EU is facing now and into the future. You will also acquire skills in analysing temporal aspects of current politics and policymaking, in working with others and reflecting on and discussing different viewpoints.