Syllabus

Geography 183: A Geography of Europe—

Imagining and Organizing European Space

University of California, Los Angeles
Winter 2006
Course Web page: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/06S/geog183-1/

Both as an idea and a place, Europe is ill defined.  The objective of this course is to examine the ways in which the contemporary heterogeneity of Europe’s political, cultural, and economic geography is implicated in often conflicting constructs of identity that, in turn, reflect a complex fusion of contemporary and historical processes and the contested meanings placed upon them.  We will explore the ways in which a meshing of past and present factors, policies and ambitions accounts for Europe’s characteristic cultural diversity, which apparently stands at odds with the policies of political and economic integration being orchestrated through the European Union.

In short, to address the construction and meaning of place, culture, and identity in Europe the course is organized around the following themes:

• Europe and the Europeans: The past in the present; the present in the past
• The nature of European integration, the political and economic organization of European space, and the consequences of diversity
• Social space, identity and the renegotiation of the meanings of European place

As Robert Sack writes:
Places create differences. Places…that have complementary mixes of elements, and possess permeable boundaries, can lead to mutual dependence, which can bring us together so that our differences enrich one another. But, if…boundaries are virtually impermeable, these differences can be turned inward. They can narrow membership, isolate communities, create fear and hate of others, and push us in directions of inequality and justice.

Instructor:
            Mark Troy Burnett, Ph.D.
            tburnett@ucla.edu
            Office Hours: Wednesday 12-2pm, Bunche 1127c
           
Reading Material:
Geography 183 Course Reader Available at Westwood Copy (1001 Gayley Ave.)

Exam Schedule

Midterm: Tuesday, May 9th
Final: Wednesday, June 15th (8am-11am)

Student Evaluation (Total Points 350)

• Midterm examination (120points).  The format of the exam is short answers, and essays.
• Final Exam (150points): Cumulative—similar format as the midterm.
• Weekly write-ups on European current events (8pts each: 80 total)—Each week throughout the quarter you are responsible for preparing a 2-3 page synopsis of the “Europe” section of the Economist magazine.  Don’t merely summarize each of the articles in turn, rather imagine you are preparing a “brief” on major/relevant issues for an American diplomat.   

 

Itinerary

Week #1

Lecture Topics

            Introduction
            Defining “Europe”
            What do we mean by Europe?
            The concept of a region
           

Readings

            Pocock, J.G.A. What Do We Mean By Europe?
            Judt, T. A Grand Illusion? An Essay on Europe
            Agnew, J.A. Principles of Regionalism
           

Week #2

Lecture Topics

            Europe as a culture realm
            European “historical space”
            European demographics (language, relgion)

Readings

            Ostergren, R. et al. Europe as a Culture Realm   
            Jonsson, C. et al. Organizing European Space: Historical Space
            Ostergren, R. et al. Population, Language, Religion

Week #3

Lecture Topics

            European demographics (cont.)
            The Political Landscape

Readings

          Ostergren, R. et al. The Political Landscape                   
          Heffernan, M. War and the Shaping of Europe   

Week #4

Lecture Topics

            The European Union: foundation, formation, and purpose
            The European Ideal

Readings
            Jonsson, C. et al. Towards an Ever Closer Union?
            Van Gerven, W. The European Union’s Institutions, Identity, and Values
           

Week #5

Lecture Topics

              Political Dimensions of European integration
              Nationalism, governance, democracy
              Territory, place, identity
              Europe of the regions
              Geographies of democracy     

Readings

             Paasi, A. Europe as a Social Process and Discourse
             Smith, A.D. National Identity and the Idea of European Unity
             Williams, C.H. Nationalism and its Derivatives in post 1989-Europe
              Painter, J. New Geographies of Democracy in Contemporary Europe

Week #6

MIDTERM: Tuesday, May 9th

Lecture Topics

            Economic dimensions of integration
            EMU, financial integration, uneven development  

Readings

            Hudson, R. The New Economy of the New Europe
            Tickell, A. European Financial Integration and Uneven Development
            Shore, C. Symbolizing Boundaries: the Single Currency and the Art of European
                          Governance.
Week #7

Lecture Topics

           Economic dimensions
           Social dimensions
           Building Europe: the cultural politics of integration
           Identity construction: manufacturing EU symbols

Readings
           Shore, C. Creating the People’s Europe: Symbols, Histories, and Invented Traditions
           Threlfall, M. Social Integration in the European Union: Towards a Single Social Area
           Banus, E. Cultural Policy in the EU and the European Identity   

Week #8

Lecture Topics

           Social dimensions
           The production of cultural symbols in the built environment
           Ethnicity, race, citizenship, gender

Readings

           Ashworth, G.J. The Conserved European City as Cultural Symbol
           White, P. Ethnicity, Racialization, and Citizenship as Divisive Elements in                         Europe        
           Shore, C. Citizenship of the Union: The Cultural Construction of Citizenship
           Kaplan, G. Pluralism and Citizenship: The Case of Gender in European Politics 

Week #9

Lecture Topics

           Issues in an Expanding Europe

Readings

           Agnew, J.A. How Many Europe’s
           Gowan, P. The EU and Eastern Europe: Diversity without Unity
           King, R. and M. Donati. The Divided Mediterranean
           Judah, T. The Serbs: The Sweet and Rotten Smell of History

Week #10

Lecture Topics

            Imagining Europe
            Whither the European project
            The European Orchestra

Readings

            Liotta, P.H. Imagining Europe: Symbolic Geography and the Future
            Milward, A. The Springs of Integration
            Garton Ash, T. The European Orchestra
            Ward, I. A Decade of Europe? Some Reflections on an Aspiration           

FINAL: Wednesday, June 14