Open Online Course of European Integration

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Subtitle: 
Jean Monnet module 2019-2022 at Universität Siegen
Course leader: 
Team members: 
Live dates: 
Wednesday, 8 April 2020 to Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Live meetings: 
Wednesdays at 10.00 in Germany and 11.00 in Ukraine.
Sponsoring institutions: 
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Aims and scope: 
This course offers a general introduction to European integration and the European Union, its conflicts, institutions and policies. It presents EU's economic, social, and foreign policies, and pays special attention to their impact on cohesion. This is followed by a selection of topics of special relevance for the course participants, from Eastern neighbourhood to education policy.
Methodology: 
The course will make extensive use of Information and Communication Technologies and Open Educational Resources. It will be taught online and will consist of synchronous lectures and webinars, and asynchronous written discussions. Lectures will be public, broadcast live, and recorded for future reference, whereas webinars and online written discussions will be restricted to the course participants. At the end of the course, a playlist will be available on YouTube containing the public lectures of the course.
Topics: 
1. The idea of Europe and the evolution of the EU. 2. What is the European Union for? 3. The single market, the euro, and other efficiency policies. 4. The EU budget and redistributive policies. 5. External relations: trade, development, security and other foreign policies. 6. The EU and the Eastern neighbourhood. 7. Cultural diplomacy and its role in foreign policy. 8. Education policies. 9. Europe for citizens. 10. The citizen connection: public opinion, elections and representation in the EU.
Indicative reading: 

El-Agraa, A. (2015). The European Union illuminated: its nature, importance and future. Palgrave Macmillan; McCormick, J. (2017). Understanding the European Union: a concise introduction (7th edition). Red Globe Press; De Grauwe, P. (2018). Economics of monetary union. Oxford University Press; Anderson, K. (2015). Social policy in the European Union. Palgrave; Smith, K. (2014). European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World, 3rd Ed. Polity.

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