ANU - STUDYAT - Contemporary Europe Major

Offered By:	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Academic Contact:	Dr Ben Wellings

After centuries of conflict, Europe has recently regained a unity not seen since the Roman Empire with the European Union being the most advanced form of supranational government on the planet. For much of the continent, the type of inter-state warfare that characterised the twentieth century seems banished to the past, even though other parts of the continent are still undergoing painful transitions brought about by the intensification of globalisation. Although Europe no longer dominates the globe through its extensive empires, Europe’s global impact lives on in philosophical ideas, literary traditions and practices of government. But the exchange is a two-way process since European society has been profoundly changed by contact with people from other parts of the globe.

The Contemporary Europe major will allow you to integrate diverse interests under one field of enquiry. Studying Contemporary Europe is a perfect way to combine international relations, politics, history, sociology, philosophy, literature and cultural studies, as well as being an ideal accompaniment to those learning European languages. On completing the Contemporary Europe major, you will have an understanding of the historical development of this important part of the world as well as an understanding of its future directions and possibilities.

Some of the key ideas underpinning the Contemporary Europe major at the Australian National University are:

What exactly is Europe, where does it end and when did it begin?
How has military conflict in Europe been replaced by supranational governance?
How can we characterise Europe’s relations with the rest of the world?
What is the relationship between Europe and Australia, past, present and future?

This major is taken by students enrolled in the BA (European Studies) and is also available to students enrolled in the BA.

Requirements

The major consists of a minimum of 42 units consisting of the following courses:

(a) 12 units (TWO courses) at first year level. This must include the compulsory course EURO1004 Europe in the Modern Era: Foundations of International Relations and any other first year course from the selected list plus

(b) A minimum of 30 units (usually equivalent to five courses) at later year level. Two of these must be from the selected list of later year core courses. The other three courses can be drawn from the wide selection of designated courses.

Any later-year option courses in German, French or Italian are allowed providing they are not primarily language based (see entries under School of Language Studies).

For information on Honours in Contemporary Europe click here.

Contemporary Europe Major - Overview