91827 - History Of European Integration

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Moduli: Giuliana Laschi (Modulo 1) Angela Santese (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Forli
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in International relations and diplomatic affairs (cod. 8048)

Learning outcomes

This course intends to offer the students the opportunity to develop a critical knowledge of the European Community's history. For this reason, attention will be paid to the principal moments of the political, economic and diplomatic process leading to the formation of the EU. The study will be based on three levels of analysis: the international, the European and the national level. Beginning with some notes on the historiographical debate, following a chronological order, students will be guided to the understanding of the main external and internal elements that have oriented the process of European integration, since World War II. The student will also acquire knowledge about the development and the diachronic evolution of transatlantic relations.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to provide the tools and knowledge to understand the origins and evolution of the process of European integration. Through the reconstruction of the events, the protagonists and the crises that have marked the construction of the European Union, students will be able to acquire the skills and the analytical tools to grasp the complex problems underlying the legal, political, economic and social aspects of the EC/EU and to comprehend as well the evolution of its policies and institutions in historical perspective.

The course, built on a diachronic perspective, and based on a reactive didactic, aiming at the active participation of the students, aims to provide the historical and conceptual bases that will allow the students to develop a critical knowledge of the crucial themes related to the process of European integration: the historiographical debate on the origins of the EEC, the fundamental stages of the unification process, the enlargements and the relations between Europe and the rest of the world, the main institutional developments and the evolution of its policies, with particular attention to the common agricultural policy, the environmental policy and the European development cooperation policy.

Through the history of the evolution of the integration process, the students will mature the ability to read the great transformations that this process has brought to Europe and to the contemporary world and to critically interpret the challenges, problems and opportunities that affect the current reality of the European Union.

In order to develop a critical and comprehensive knowledge of the history of the EC/EU, students will retrace the most relevant moments of the political, economic and diplomatic process underlying the creation of today's European Union. The study will be based on the intermingling of three levels of analysis: national, European and international. Starting from some notes on the historiographical debate about the origins of the integration process, and then following a chronological approach, students will be guided in the understanding of the main internal and external factors that have oriented the creation of the European Union since the Second World War.

The course has the purpose of deepening the knowledge on the history of European integration and is divided into two parallel modules: the first one follows a chronological perspective (40 hours); the second one (20 hours) will instead be devoted to the in-depth analysis of certain specific themes. During the first module will be discussed the main points of the historiographical debate, the main stages of the integration process and its critical nodes. The EC/EU will be analyze in its political, economic and institutional dimension, paying particular attention both to the internal dimension and to its relations with third countries and to its overall role in the international arena.

The module dedicated to the thematic in-depth analysis will be devoted to the birth of the integration process and to the detailed study of some specific issues that are particularly relevant for understanding the political and institutional evolution of the EC/EU: the external relations, transatlantic relations, the European development cooperation policy, the agricultural common policy, the environmental policy.

In both modules, the analysis of the history of European integration process involves the reading and the analysis of archival documents (such as speeches, memoranda, programmatic documents, video and audio documents), which will be provided directly in the classroom by teachers to students.

The topics that will be deepened in the in-depth module, as well as the list of readings and documents, will be indicated in the syllabus that will be provided to students on the first day of class and also uploaded, together with all the necessary readings, on the platform "online teachings", accessible to all UNIBO students.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending Students:

Students will be provided with a bibliography for the study of each subject of analysis.

The reference text is:

G. Mammarella, P. Cacace, Storia e politica dell'Unione Europea (1996-2005), Laterza, 2005.

Students are expected to study also through the documents and the material presented in the classroom at the beginning of the course. All materials, whose detailed list will be indicated in the syllabus, will be uploaded by the teachers on the platform "online teachings".

Non-attending students:

- G. Mammarella, P. Cacace, Storia e politica dell'Unione Europea (1996-2005), Laterza, 2005.

- M. Del Pero, F. Romero (a cura di), Le crisi transatlantiche: continuità e trasformazioni, Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2007.

- L. Scichilone, L'Europa e la sfida ecologica. Storia della politica ambientale europea (1969-1998), Il Mulino, 2008.

Teaching methods

The course will be divided in two part: a frontal and a seminarial one. During the lessons, the teachers will present the elements of study and critical analysis. During the thematic in-depth module (transatlantic relations, history of environmental policy, European development cooperation policy, external relations), alongside lectures, seminars will be held with experts who will deepen a topic and discuss it with the students. Students are expected to arrive at the seminar after having read the documents and readings provided by the teachers.

Assessment methods

For the attending students, the examination is composed of a first written intermediate test that will imply a knowledge of the handbook "Storia e politica dell'Unione Europea (1996-2005)" (see the bibliography for the attending-students) and the contents of the lessons. The second written intermediate test is based on the readings indicated in the syllabus and on the contents of the lessons. Alternatively, the student may decide to replace the second test with a paper to be agreed in advance with the teachers.

Non-attending students will have to take a one-hour written examination (based on the texts indicated in the bibliography for non-attending students) and, if passed, a final oral test. In the written test there will be open questions.

Teaching tools

The teachers will utilize computer tools (power points) and audiovisual support for teaching.

In some cases, archival documentation will be used and students will work directly on such documentation.

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Laschi

See the website of Angela Santese