The Politics of European Integration: an Italian Perspective

From this course you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of contemporary Europe in terms of nationalism, multiculturalism, ethnicity, migration and integration. After an examination of the ideals that inspired the European Union, you'll move to an analysis of the range of factors that define and redefine the identities of both Western and Eastern European peoples, such as religion, geolinguistics, geogenetics, demography, geopolitics, regionalism and federalism. The problems of racism, xenophobia, and ethnic cleansing will be set against situations of multiculturalism and social pluralism. Discussion will also turn to the difficulties faced by Europeans with regards to nationalism, ethnicity, ethnonationalism, transnational minorities and polyethnic states.

To bring these topics alive in both an animated and constructive fashion, and to provide you with the skills in the areas of collaborative learning, oral debate and presentation, you will be holding simulated debates on key issues, and creating independent and team presentations with audiovisual and electronic materials. To prepare for active, intense dialogue on these issues you'll be reading and analysing through reaction/summary papers a range of Italian stories from specific English-language newspapers throughout the course, and special tutored digital study sessions will be provided in class to help you navigate and exploit a range of new electronic tools and resources including historical and social science abstract databases. There is now a wide range of rich electronic European sources available regarding national identities and ethnicity.