Taught Masters Modules: POL6001 - Europeanisation

Level: MA
Credits: 30

Description

Europeanisation has become a key theme in the study of European politics in recent years. It has a number of aspects, referring to the process of change in domestic arenas through engagement with European institutions, the expansion of the European Union and the export of European values beyond its boundaries. This module will consider these various aspects of Europeanisation and look at specific cases across Europe, including the effects of EU membership on Britain and the process of change in South East Europe and the Western Balkans in anticipation of membership.

Objectives

This unit aims to offer an advanced level of understanding of the politics and processes of Europeanisation, as a phenomenon that relates to governance change through engagement with European institutions.

By the end of the module students will be able to:

Demonstrate independent and critical understanding of the most important aspects of Europeanisation.
Show awareness of the relationship between theory and practice in relation to the Europeanisation politics and processes.
Fully identify the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical approaches to the study of Europeanisation and to assess critically the competing claims that are made regarding the impact of engaging with EU and other European institutions on a range of countries.
Demonstrate appropriate cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, including understanding complex concepts and theories, exercising critical judgement, problem-solving skills; making effective written presentations, utilising specialist primary and secondary sources and deepening the capacity for independent learning.
Write scholarly and grammatically correct essays that are referenced in accordance with established academic practice.

Assessment

Essay 1: 40%
Essay 2: 60%