The course is part of a Multi-City Program in cooperation with Utrecht Summer School and Royal Netherlands Institute Rome.

Course Description

This course provides an overview of the political, socio-economic, and cultural developments that shaped Europe throughout the 20th century and the first decades of the 21th century. This will mainly be done by looking through the prism of European integration and the evolution and current challenges of the European Union across different policy fields. Many deeply impacting developments occurred over the course of the 20th century: Two World Wars were fought, the birth of the European Union and the fall of Communism, just to name a few. Being such a crucial city in Europe’s history in the 20th and 21th century, Berlin is the most logical location for this course. Special emphasis will also be given to Germany's role in the middle of the continent. The city of Berlin, with all its tangible historical remains, will be dealt with as a city of former crisis with great promises for a better future.

In this course we will try to identify the democratic values that have shaped the rebirth of Europe and discuss the challenges with which present-day Europe is faced. The course will reflect on Europe's place in the global, multi-polar world of the 21st century.

Several excursions will be organized in which you will visit some key historic sites as well as prominent EU and German institutions based in Berlin.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule)