In this section of Campus, EuropeNow features a selection of scholarly articles and books on topics pertinent to the teaching of Europe or teaching in Europe that were published within the last 5 years. This dynamic bibliography, with monthly installments, highlights research and critical analyses of debates taking place in higher education in and about Europe.
1. 30 years of the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA)
By Bruno Mascitelli
In the Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies (ANZJES)
Abstract: The establishment of the European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA) owes much of its emergence and vitality to changes in the new geo-political framework and especially to the end of the Cold War in Europe. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Maastricht Treaty deliberations in 1993 responded to these political changes. What captured the imagination of the world, including in Australia, with the Maastricht Treaty was the proposal for a single currency (the Euro) not to mention the embracement of a new name – The European Union (EU). These changes provided the twelve members of the European Community of the time a new global actor in the making. Australia, across the board began to engage with this entity and universities, scholars and others began to seek out the nature of the European Union. In this context came the association for European Studies which saw it had a voice for these European developments.
2. Teaching and Learning “Europe” in “the Periphery”: Disciplinary, Educational and Cognitive Boundaries of European Studies
By Basak Alpan and Thomas Diez
In the Journal of Contemporary European Research
Abstract: This introductory article argues that there is a need to introduce a renewed approach to the field of European Studies which takes into account various perspectives from the ‘periphery’ to unfold complexities and challenges of teaching and learning ‘Europe’ away from the immediate geographical and conceptual focus of the European studies. By elaborating on the notion of ‘periphery’ and exploring how European Studies resonate beyond ‘the centre’, we aim to explore the complexities and challenges of the European studies in its relationality of the broader processes such as EU accession and global university education. This endeavour will contribute to the ongoing disciplinary debate on the future of European studies as well as the introduction of new methods of teaching and knowledge production by presenting alternative narratives on the challenges of the European integration and Europeanisation in the ‘periphery’.
3. European Studies in Poland: Theories and Methodology
By Artur Adamczyk and Olga Barburska
In the Online Journal Modelling The New Europe
Abstract: The main objective of this article is to attempt to determine the current phase of development of European studies in Poland. The said studies are treated as a new, emerging academic discipline in statu nascendi, hence, their characterisation seems like a significantly difficult task. The authors present a brief genesis of the studies in Poland and highlight various viewpoints of the leading Polish researchers on the discipline’s research field. The controversies as regards the academic status of European studies emphasised in the Polish literature on the subject have subsequently been presented, including discussions as to whether the studies meet the criteria of a separate discipline at all, and if so, whether it is of a more interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary nature. Highlighting such a broad background enables the authors to proceed with the presentation of the main theories having, according to Polish researchers, the most relevant application in the research on European Studies. The article ends with a synthetic conclusion encompassing a general characterisation of European studies, as well as the confidence in their subsequent dynamic development in Poland.
4. Geopolitical Triangle: How China’s European Studies Scholars Represent the EU
By Richard McMahon and Yixuan Zhang
In Comparative European Politics
Abstract: Academic EU studies (EUS) is both a single transnational community and an assembly of separate national communities, each with different preoccupations, traditions and representations of European integration. This article examines how Chinese EUS represents European integration, based on interviews with leading scholars and a systematic study of the most cited English and Chinese-language articles. Drawing on sociology of knowledge and science studies work on the social sciences, the article contextualizes these representations within the material conditions and historical development of Chinese EUS as a network of scholars and institutions. Two findings are particularly interesting. First, EUS scholarship in China resembles Western EUS in important ways. Like Western counterparts, Chinese EUS scholars focus on EU politics and policy, relegating China–EU relations and EU issues with a particular impact on China to a secondary interest. The Chinese scholars also share the general normative bias in EUS towards representing European integration in a positive light, especially if they co-author with Western scholars. Second, in response to challenges such as populism, institutional reform and the EU’s multiple crises, Chinese EUS scholars have moved away from the remarkable optimism about the long-term prospects of European integration that used to distinguish them from Western colleagues.
5. European Studies and Research in Australia – Bridging History and Geography
By Philomena Murray
In European Political Science
Abstract: This article analyses how European studies were introduced in Australia, examining teaching, research and research training. It surveys policy and curriculum developments since the introduction of the study of the European Union (EU) in the Australian university curriculum in the early 1990s. It profiles Australian research on the EU. Australia’s position – and that of New Zealand – in the Asia Pacific region has provided a useful context to understand the EU as an international actor and as a context for comparative regional integration.
Photo:Shutterstock | Facade of Vienna University main library building.
Published on November 21, 2023.
