Update March 21, 2020
Syllabus for Cultural Studies on European Integration
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Course Title:
Cultural Studies on European Integration
Teaching Staff (instructor information) and credits:
Prof. Dr. WANG Xiaohai is Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Chair professor (2017-), Jean Monnet Teaching Module holder (2011-2014) and MA supervisor for graduates majoring in European Studies and Intercultural Communication at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou. He was a visiting scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University for the academic year 2012-2013. Before that he pursued short-term research at universities in the UK, France, Germany and Canada. His research focuses on European Union studies and cultural studies on European Integration in particular. Furthermore, he carries out his research in the following areas, such as Cultural Studies, Ecology and culture, Intercultural (Business) Communication between Europe and China, European Identity, the EU’s education and culture policies, public diplomacy of the EU, multiculturalism and so on.
Credit & Length of Course:
18 weeks; 36 hours in total; 2 credits
Learning Objectives:
This course is designed to help MA students of European Union Studies to have a better understanding of the roles played by culture in the starting, the ongoing process and the future of European Integration.
Learning outcomes:
The course concentrates on the cultural aspect of European integration. The students are expected to have basic knowledge of the history of European society and the history of post-World War II European integration.
Course Structure:
The course is organized around lectures, readings, reports and term-paper writing and, discussions/seminars.
For each week, the lecture lasts 80 minutes.
Prerequisites:
The students are expected to have some basic knowledge of the history of Europe and current European society and culture.
Attendance:
Regular attendance and active participation in group discussions: Unless a compelling reason for absence has been presented, the final course grade will be downgraded.
Course Content:
The following topics will be discussed throughout the future lectures.
Introduction --- Course description, teaching schedule, requirements, evaluation, research methodology and tools, required readings and recommended websites, etc.
Lecture 1 +2
1. A critical review of culture; Theories of Culture
2. Seminar:
Seminar:
1) The future of the European Union
2) European solidarity amid the Coronavirus Pandemic / Coronavirus: A touchstone of European Solidarity
Lecture 3
Conceptualizing Europe --- Conceptualizing a continent, what is ‘Europe’? --- The changing meaning of Europe. Introduction of Europe’s geography, human environment, the historical changes of European territory, ethnics, races, and so on.
Lecture 4
Culture and European Integration --- Introducing definitions of culture, models to understand culture, the relationship between culture and European Integration.
Lecture 5
Images and Stereotypes of Europeans --- How Europeans and other people look at Europeans.
Lecture 6
The Idea of Europe --- The development of the ‘Idea of Europe’: Paving the Way for European Integration, focusing on the peace plans put forward by Sully, Rousseau, Kant, Spinelli and so on.
Lecture 7+8
Theoretical Foundations of European Integration --- Economic, Political and Cultural explanations of European Integration(Intercultural Communication Theory, a comparison with other theories)
Lecture 9+10+11
European Identity --- Concepts, Identity theories, models, and tools to construct European Identity
Lecture 13
Multilingualism in Europe and the EU’s Language Policy --- Language policies at the European level, the general language policies of the EU and the construction of European Identity
Lecture 14
Education Policies of the EU --- ‘European Dimension’ in educational policies; Education and European Identity
Lecture 15
Cultural Policies of European Union --- Symbols of the EU from the perspective of Semiotics; Cultural Heritage and European Identity
Lecture 16
Euroscepticism and Populism --- What they’re, why, different types; Case study: Great Britain and Northern European countries; Brexit
Lecture 17
Soft power and Image of the EU from outside --- Soft Power of EU, esp. cultural attractiveness, role played by EU on the world stage and the EU’s image in Asian-Pacific Region
Lecture 18
Gender and European Integration; Innovative Culture in Europe; Future of the EU
Or Lecture 16-18*
Three weeks for students’ presentations
Textbook Information
Textbook: Wang Xiaohai. (to be published). Culture and the EU.
Syllabus Schedule
Each week, one lecture (80 minutes);
18 weeks for the whole semester
Other reading materials
1) Website: http://ceus.gdufs.edu.cn
2) [法] 福西耶主编陈志强等译. 剑桥插图中世纪史: 350~950. 济南:山东画报出版社,2006.7.
3) [法] 拉哈著；彭姝祎, 陈志瑞译. 欧洲一体化史（1945-2004）[M]. 北京: 中国社会科学出版社, 2005.6.
4) [意大利] 玛丽娅•格拉齐娅•梅吉奥妮著. 陈宝顺沈亦缘译. 欧洲统一贤哲之梦: 欧洲统一思想史[M]. 北京: 世界知识出版社, 2004.
5) [英] 保罗•卡特里奇（Paul Cartledge）主编郭小凌张俊等译. 剑桥插图古希腊史. 济南: 山东画报出版社, 2004.
6) Hungtington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order[M]. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2003.
7) J. M. Roberts. The Penguin History of Europe[M]. Penguin Books, 1997.
8) Pinder, J. & S. Usherwood. The European Union: A Very Short Introduction[M]. Oxford University Press, 2007.
9) 陈乐民, 周弘著. 欧洲文明的进程[M]. 北京: 生活•读书•新知三联书店, 2003.5.
10) 陈乐民. 欧洲文明十五讲[M]. 北京: 北京大学出版社, 2004.
11) 德尼兹•加亚尔, 贝尔纳代特•德尚, J•阿尔德伯特等著. 蔡鸿滨等译. 欧洲史[M]. 海口: 海南出版社, 2000.
12) 方汉文. 西方文化概论[M]. 北京: 中国人民大学出版社, 2006.
13) 管新平, 何志平编著. 欧盟概况[M]. 广州: 华南理工出版社, 2003.3.
14) 郭华榕, 徐天新著. 欧洲的分与合[M]. 北京: 京华出版社, 1998.12.
15) 王佐良, 祝珏等. 欧洲文化入门[M]. 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社, 2002.8.
16) 张健雄编著. 欧洲联盟[M]. 北京: 社会科学文献出版社, 2006.4.
Course grade determination
The course is organized around lectures, seminars, readings and discussions.
List of assessment items comprise:
1. Review article, summaries
2. Individual presentation
3. Term paper
4. Class performance, attendance
Students are expected to:
1. Prepare for seminars with compulsory preliminary reading, and actively participate in discussion
--- 10% of the overall assessment.
2. Submit twice a semester (after 5 weeks and by the end of semester) a written commented summary of readings for each seminar
--- 20% of the overall assessment.
3. Make one individual class presentation of between 20 and 25 minutes on a pre-agreed topic.
--- 30% of the overall assessment.
4. Write a final essay of between 3,000 and 4,000 words on a pre-agreed topic
--- 40% of the overall assessment.
Examples of questions --- Suggested topics for Presentation and Term Paper:
Meanings of Europe;
Cultural dimensions of European Integration;
Culture and European Integration, and other international organizations;
The UK and the EU: Euroscepticism from a historical and cultural perspective;
European Identity, theories and models;
Language policies of the EU;
Multilingualism in the EU;
Language and Identity;
Cultural policies of the EU;
Cultural symbols and cultural heritage and the European Identity;
History of education and training in the EU;
Education policies of the EU;
The role of education in European identity;
The construction of European Identity and its Implications for the construction of Identity in China (Hong Kong, Macau);
Euro and European Identity;
The symbols of the EU and European Identity;
Euroscepticism in Europe;
Populism in Europe;
Multiculturalism in Europe;
Cultural diversity in Europe --- advantages and disadvantages
Immigrants, refugees in Europe and the role of ‘Others’ in the building of European Identity;
How to understand ‘unity in diversity’, EU’s motto;
Culture, cultural theories and the EU, the European Integration;
National Identity vs. European Identity;
Soft power, cultural diplomacy and the images of the EU in the world;
Other topics that you think are relevant to the course “Cultural Studies on European Integration”, and that haven’t been covered so far;
Add any possible topics to the above list and develop your own.
