Lecturers usually hand out course syllabi in their first sessions.

For general course information, please refer to 'Remarks' on Studiport or Moodle.

We recommend and support students in doing an internship related to the course content during their studies.

If you fulfill the following requirements, your internship can be accepted as an elective course:

• The internship has to be related to the study programme
• You have talked about doing the internship with the Coordinator of M.A. European Studies before the start of the internship
• It was carried out after the beginning of your master studies in European Studies
• It was a full-time internship of at least three weeks
• Your participation can be confirmed by a reference letter or certificate
• After completing your internship, you have to write a report of 7-10 pages which will be graded by the head of studies.

Your internship is worth 5 ECTS. Since it is graded on the basis of passed/failed the grade cannot be considered for your final average grade on your diploma (which indicates your overall performance in the master).

Acknowledgement of your internship is voluntary, you have to decide yourself whether you prefer to take an elective course which is graded within the regular grading system and will affect your final average grade or not.

We encourage our students to take part in summer schools related to the course content during their studies.

If you fulfill the following requirements, your participation in a summer school can be accepted as an elective course:

• The summer school has to be related to the study programme
• You have talked about doing the summer school with the Coordinator of M.A. European Studies before the start of the summer school
• It was carried out after the beginning of your master studies in European Studies
• It was a summer school on a Masters level and gives you at least 5 ECTS
• Your participation can be confirmed by a reference letter or certificate

Your summer school is worth 5 ECTS. Since it is graded on the basis of passed/failed the grade cannot be considered for your final average grade on your diploma (which indicates your overall performance in the master).

Acknowledgement of your summer school is voluntary, you have to decide yourself whether you prefer to take an elective course which is graded within the regular grading system and will affect your final average grade or not.

The following list is supposed to give you an idea as to where you can apply for an internship:

• Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)
• ECMI - European Centre for Minority Issues
• Hanse-Office
• European Court of Justice (ECJ)
• European Ombudsman
• Regional Ombudsman
• European Parliament
• European Commission
• EuroBrussels.com (job search)
• Institute for Security Policy Kiel (ISPK)
• Regional Representatives
• Lobbyist groups
• National Representatives

Through this website you will access other websites which are not under the control of M.A. European Studies of Europa-Universität Flensburg. Links to external, or third party websites, are provided for visitors' convenience. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. When visiting external websites, users should review those websites' privacy policies and other terms of use to learn more about, what, why and how they collect and use any personally identifiable information.

In the course "Transformation of European Economies" students are acquainted with theories concerning the transformation of European economies. The aim of this module is to qualify students for institutional analysis, enabling them to transfer theoretical knowledge to empirical cases and further their skills in assessing comparative advantages and disadvantages of national and regional economies. Students will analyse the way in which these economies meet the challenges of recent transformation processes.

The course is divided into two subsections: European Governance and policies and Developments in European Economies. The initial sessions of this course deal with the economic impact of the governance of the European Union, and some of its most prominent policies. Consequently, the remaining sessions are dedicated to notable economic transformations within the last decades. The participants will be acquainted with contemporary developments such as austerity, taxation, migration, etc. Students who attend this course will develop deep understanding of the consequences of economic transformations.

*(will be offered instead of Modul 12 ‘Europe in the Global Economy’ in fall 2020/21)

This joint seminar focuses on current issues in European Union (EU) decision-making, legislation, adjudication and politics. We will look into the EU’s management of the various ongoing and simultaneous crises, notably the Covid-19 pandemic, Europe’s single currency, and migration. Moreover, the seminar focuses on key controversies such as the current negotiation of the EU’s budgetary framework (how will the money be spent?), threats to democracy and the rule of law (especially in Hungary and Poland), challenges to the EU’s legal order (the German Federal Constitutional Court's decision on the ECB), as well as the EU’s ongoing attempts at (and difficulties with) reforming its institutional architecture and the roles of different actors in this process. Together, we will explore how law, politics and policy choices are interconnected and how different actors such as the EU institutions, member state institutions, citizens and advocacy groups interact. Students learn how lawyers and political scientists respectively address a similar analytical or normative issue. The seminar is co-taught by professors from both disciplines.

The course "EU Security Policy" is offered by the Institute for Security Policy Kiel (ISPK). It aims to introduce students to the ISPK’s main fields of research, deepen their knowledge with regard to relevant internal and external EU policies in these areas, and offer practical insight to the work of a German think tank. Accordingly, the course is structured into "workshop-style" sessions dealing with the EU’s approaches to 1) conflict analysis and international crisis management, 2) maritime security, 3) counter-terrorism and 4) strategic development in Asia-Pacific.

In November 2020, four turbulent years of a President Trump administration will have come to an end. In his first term, there was a significant deterioration of EU-US relations. This covers all kinds of usual cooperation fields, e.g., external policies, the tackling of climate change, and trade agreements. In our seminar, we want to ask what are the sources and reasons that such a policy change seems to be attractive to many Americans. Given the highly dynamic situation due to the consequences of the Corona pandemic and that we will have then the outcome of the election in the USA, we will include both academic background texts and more actual sources like newspaper clips, blogs, etc.

In this seminar, we aim at explaining the emergence of value conflicts and new social cleavages in Europe and the growing tendency in and across Europe to contest the core values that anchor the European project (i.e. freedom of speech; (gender) equality; independence of judiciary) and to clarify how this new trend relates to digital media usage.

The rise of populist parties threatens the internal cohesion of European states and challenges the expectation that European integration will lead to a convergence around democratic values, as seemingly immutable values like adherence to the rule of law and the promotion and protection of individual freedoms come into question.

In this seminar, we aim at analysing the convergence of these trends by exploring how digital and social media channel and amplify value conflicts. The seminar thereby addresses two key challenges to European societies: the rapidly growing influence of digital media as a politically polarizing force, and the emergence of new social cleavages within and across Europe regarding support for/opposition to democratic values.

The seminar will mainly be structured in three parts:

Firstly, we will get familiar with the topic by reading and discussing the most relevant literature.

Secondly, you will start doing your own research by formulating a research question and outlining a research design in the field of the seminar.

Thirdly, you will carry out this project under my supervision and guidance.

The module examination foresees a written paper of 15 pages, describing your research process and interpreting the results obtained.

First Readings

Norris, P. and Inglehart, R. (2016). Trump, Brexit, and the rise of populism: Economic have-nots and cultural backlash. Harvard JFK School of Government Faculty Working Papers Series, pp.1-52.

Jacobs, K., & Spierings, N. (2018). A populist paradise? Examining populists’ Twitter adoption and use. Information, Communication & Society, 20(9), 1-16.

Flaxman, S., Goel, S. & Rao, J. (2016). 'Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Online News Consumption', Public Opinion Quarterly, 80: 298–320.

(Please note that this module consists of two parts!)

This module takes up vital social and political topics in today’s European societies (and not just there). They investigate the nature and significance of political emotions as well as the meaning and extent of inequality in the European Union. The module as a whole is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of the normative dimensions of social constellations and political arrangements. Both seminars in this module aim at familiarity with the relevant literature, the main views and arguments in the respective fields, and at critical assessments of both the academic debates and the phenomena in question.

Since this module will be taught online, the main readings and additional literature will be made available at the beginning of the semester. There will be weekly online sessions, group work, and continuous exchange and feedback throughout the semester.

Module-Exam: Regular written and/or oral contributions to both seminars and a research paper in one of the seminars (10-15 pages).

Attitudes and emotions (e.g. hope, resentment, fear) are not only of individual importance, but also of social and political relevance. On the basis of philosophical theories of individual and collective emotions we will discuss the role of emotions like anger, indignation, and resentment within the social realm. Emotions expressed in the public sphere (e.g. in social movements, protests, media, art) are analysed regarding their diagnostical as well as their evaluative, critical, and transformatory roles within society. The ambivalent role of public anger on the one hand expressing emancipatory claims and on the other expressing hatred and ressentiments against certain social groups will be discussed. Emotions and their expressions as well as evaluations of emotions are analysed as well as critically assessed. How can public emotions be evaluated, critizised or legitimized?

The course adopts a philosophical, conceptual and argumentative approach to the analysis and evaluation of current examples and expressions of collective emotions (e.g. in protest-movements) in the EU (and beyond).

Preliminary Bibliography

Cherry, Myisha (2018): "The Errors and Limitations of Our ‘Anger-Evaluating’ Ways". In: Cherry, Myisha/Flanagan, Owen (Eds.): The Moral Psychology of Anger. London/New York: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 49–65.

Hochschild, Arlie (2016): Strangers in their own Land. Anger and Mourning on the American Right. New York: The New Press

MacLachlan, Alice (2010): "Unreasonable Resentments". In: Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 422–441.

Mishra, Pankaj: The Age of Anger. A History of the Present. 2017

Nussbaum, Martha: Anger and Forgiveness. Resentment, Generosity, Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016

Reichold, Anne (2017): "Resentment and Societal Transformation: A Rule-Related Argument against Martha Nussbaum’s Critique of Anger". In: Brunkhorst, Hauke, Dragica Vujadinovic, Tanasije Marinkovic (Eds.): European Democracy in Crisis: Polities under Challenge and Social Movements. Utrecht: Eleven International Publishing, pp. 167–187.

Scheler, Max (1998): Ressentiment. Milwaukee Wisconsin: Marquette University Press.

Smith, Angela (2013): "Moral Blame and Moral Protest". In: Coates, D. Justin/Tognazzini, Neal A. (Eds.): Blame: Its Nature and Norms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 27–48.

Stockdale, Katie (2013): "Collective Resentment". In: Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 501–521.

Strawson, Peter F. (2008): "Freedom and Resentment". In: Strawson, Peter F.: Freedom and Resentment and Other Essays. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 1–28.

In this course, we survey recent philosophical literature on equality as a political value, we investigate the state of play regarding equality and inequality (in their many forms and guises) in the European Union, and we formulate assessments of the relevant policies of and within the EU to address problems of inequality. We will likely concentrate on economic inequality and unequal access to education and health care, but this is open to suggestions and preferences of participants. The focus of readings and discussions will be on normative arguments regarding equality as a pillar of justice. At the same time, we will incorporate empirical data and engage in policy analysis and assessment in order to either apply or modify the more abstract philosophical arguments.

Participants in this course will practice reconstructing as well as constructing normative arguments, they will engage in conceptual analysis just as much as in non-ideal political philosophy, and they will be asked to form reasoned views both on the nature and significance of inequality in the EU and on avenues for amelioration of political institutions and practices.

Preliminary Bibliography

Anderson, Elizabeth S. (1999): "What Is the Point of Equality?" Ethics 109 (2): 287–337.

Beckfield, Jason (2019): Unequal Europe – Regional Integration and the Rise of European Inequality. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cohen, Gerald A. (2009): Rescuing Justice and Equality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Frankfurt, Harry (1987): "Equality As a Moral Ideal." Ethics 98 (1): 21–43.

Sangiovanni, Andrea (2007): "Global Justice, Reciprocity, and the State." Philosophy & Public Affairs 35 (1): 3–39.

Scanlon, Thomas M. (2018): Why Does Inequality Matter? Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

The major aim of this Seminar is to provide students with in-depth knowledge and robust skills on the basis of which to develop an informed understanding of minority rights in Europe in the 21st Century. We will ask why ethno-cultural minorities are seen as a ‘problem’ by tracing ethnocultural diversity and governments’ treatment of minorities from the beginning. We will investigate who are the ethno-cultural minorities that need protection today? We will analyse the minority rights regime that emerged in the 20th Century by examining the different approaches to managing diversity at the international level. We will try to understand what is a special right to protection, and why should governments agree to protect some when not others? We will ask whether multilateralism is effective enough in implementing minority rights, and why there are so-called ‘black holes’ in Europe where rights of ethno-cultural minorities are disregarded. Finally, we will examine how governments have attempted to implement minority rights at the national level by examining the most important minority rights in areas, such as selfidentification, meducation, language use, political participation and degrees of self-government.

The approach of the Seminar is multi-disciplinary. Minority rights will be examined from the

perspectives of political science and law, including international human rights law and

international relations studies, political theory, political sociology and cultural studies. The

Seminar will familiarize students with critical and post-structural methods of analysis through

the reading and discussion of key texts.

The specific objectives of the Seminar are to enable students to:

1. Place the existence of ethno-cultural minorities in the wider context of European

history/politics and the practice of European intergovernmental cooperation;

2. Understand, critically analyse and evaluate contemporary debates about minority rights

and multilateralism;

3. Understand the political and ethical implications of academic research in relation to

minority issues;

4. Understand how minority claims are made and addressed in practice.

The Seminar is taught once a week by the Course Director. It will consist of lectures, discussions,

short student summaries, non-teaching weeks for individual research in preparation for exam

paper and presentations based on individual research projects. Students will be expected to

read/access assigned texts and media..

One of the key questions facing contemporary societies is how to accommodate and ultimately integrate communities whose ethnic backgrounds, religions, or languages, are different from those of the majority populations. Most states have on their territory ethnic minority groups or are impacted by migratory flows that increase the ethno-cultural heterogeneity of their population. Multiculturalism has been one of the most prominent responses to this question, with many countries adopting various policies and strategies in this respect; nonetheless, multicultural approaches are not without their critics, both from within academic and policy-making spheres.

This course proposes an examination of the theoretical and practical implications of multiculturalism for minority groups and will cover the main topics relating to the integration of ethnic and national minorities. The course will enquire how political institutions at various levels have addressed the issue of diversity and will examine various special measures, such as linguistic rights, minority participation in public life, minority education – to name just a few, which will be discussed both in light of their theoretical underpinnings but also of their practical effect on the integration of national minorities. At the same time, the course will address the impact of recent phenomena on minority populations, such as the rise of hate speech and populist politics.

At the end of the course, students will have gained a thorough understanding of the key concepts related to multiculturalism and multicultural policies and will have acquired the theoretical skills needed to make an informed judgment on these issues. The course will combine insights from political science, political theory, law, and sociology, and will  make use of a range of case studies (e.g. the case of the Roma minority, the Danish minority in Germany etc) to illustrate the topics covered.