Prof Neil Lee

This course is available on the BA in Geography, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, BSc in Geography with Economics, BSc in Politics, BSc in Politics and International Relations, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course is freely available to General Course students. It does not require permission.

This course is capped. Places will be assigned on a first come first served basis.

This course introduces students to the defining economic, social, and political challenges facing contemporary Europe. No prior knowledge of European affairs is assumed. By the end of the course, students will understand the forces shaping these challenges, the policy responses they have generated, and the broader lessons to be drawn from Europe's extraordinary, ongoing and uneven experiment in integration among sovereign states.

The course ranges across the major fault lines of European life: economic integration in theory and practice, competitiveness, cohesion, innovation and growth, successive enlargements, Brexit, Europe's place in the global order, social policy, labour markets, poverty, migration, demographic ageing, and inequality. Throughout, particular attention is paid to the geographical dimensions of these themes and how pressures and outcomes differ across supranational, national, and subnational scales, from EU institutions to regions, cities, and local areas.

13.5 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.
13.5 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.

Given the diversity of the subject, there is no one textbook that covers all of the topics. A mix of academic articles and chapters from textbooks is used in the course. Reading lists are provided electronically, and additional web sources will also be indicated during the lectures. There is no textbook but R Baldwin and C Wyplosz, The Economics of the European Integration, 7th ed. 2022 is excellent background. The chapters on Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden in Lee, N (2024) Innovation for the masses: how to share the benefits of the high tech economy, are also core.

Exam (70%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

Essay (15%, 1000 words).

Essay (15%, 1000 words).