Contemporary European Studies Major, B.A.

The curriculum in contemporary European studies (EURO) is designed to provide students with

  • A broad interdisciplinary understanding of modern Europe and the European Union
  • A focused understanding of contemporary Europe from the perspective of a selected social science discipline, and
  • Advanced proficiency in a modern European language

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Contemporary European Studies program, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the historical and political complexities of the European continent
  • Demonstrate advanced proficiency in an approved modern European language
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, and economic integration of the European continent
  • Show an interdisciplinary grasp of European cultures, histories, literatures, art, and ideas
  • Report satisfaction with the major
  • Gain admission to graduate programs or a job in a relevant field

Requirements 

In addition to the program requirements, students must

  • earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
  • complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
  • take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for major or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Core Requirements 1
EURO/HIST 159IDEAs in Action General Education logo Europe and the World Since 19003
EURO/POLI 239IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to European Government H3
Four courses from one of the two themes listed below12
One course chosen from the other theme3
One additional course from Theme 1, Theme 2, or the list of approved elective courses on contemporary Europe3
Additional Requirements
A modern European foreign language through level 5, chosen from the following languages: Arabic, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Czech, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish. 26
Total Hours30
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

1

Of the total eight courses required for the major, three must be numbered 400 or above. Special topics courses EURO 190 and EURO 490 may count for either theme, with approval based on topic.

2

Please see the list of global language courses in the “General Education Requirements” section of this catalog. The first three levels of a foreign language can count toward the General Education requirement and have not been included as additional hours for the major.

Contemporary European studies majors are required to complete a minimum of five semesters of a modern European language, or document fifth-semester proficiency through University placement tests. One approved literature course taught in the language may also count as a theme or elective course if included in the course listings above. Majors are strongly encouraged to apply their language proficiency skills in languages across the curriculum (LAC) courses and complete a UNC-approved study abroad program in the target language.

The Curriculum in Contemporary European Studies offers an honors program. Students who wish to pursue an honors thesis are advised to contact the director of undergraduate studies and will enroll in EURO 691H and EURO 692H.

New courses may be added to this list annually, as they are developed. An updated list of approved courses may be obtained from the contemporary European studies website. Other courses relevant to the study of contemporary Europe may be taken for credit in the major (including EURO 190 and EURO 490), if approved by the curriculum advisor.

Theme I. Contemporary Europe: Integration and Enlargement

ECON 461European Economic Integration3
ECON 560IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced International Economics3
ECON/EURO/PWAD 460IDEAs in Action General Education logo International Economics3
EURO/POLI 442IDEAs in Action General Education logo International Political Economy3
GEOG 124IDEAs in Action General Education logo Feminist Geographies3
GEOG 448Transnational Geographies of Muslim Societies3
GEOG 464Europe Today: Transnationalism, Globalisms, and the Geographies of Pan-Europe3
GEOG/PLAN 428IDEAs in Action General Education logo Global Cities: Space, Power, and Identity in the Built Environment3
POLI 190Undergraduate Seminar *, H3
POLI 232IDEAs in Action General Education logo Politics of the United Kingdom H3
POLI 236Politics of East-Central Europe H3
POLI 255IDEAs in Action General Education logo International Migration and Citizenship Today H3
POLI 433Politics of the European Union H3
POLI/EURO 438IDEAs in Action General Education logo Democracy and International Institutions in an Undivided Europe3
POLI 447Immigrant Integration in Contemporary Western Europe H3
POLI 448The Politics of Multilevel Governance3
POLI 451Race, Ethnicity, and Political Change in Comparative Perspective3
POLI 490Advanced Special Topics in Political Science *, H3
POLI 630Political Contestation in Europe3
POLI 631European Security: The Enlarging European Union and the Trans-Atlantic Relationship3
POLI 632The European Union as a Global Actor3
POLI/PWAD 459Trans-Atlantic Security H3
POLI/PWAD 469Conflict and Intervention in the Former Yugoslavia H3
POLI/PWAD/SOCI 260IDEAs in Action General Education logo Crisis and Change in Russia and Eastern Europe3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

*

Asterisked courses require approval, based on topic.

Theme II. Contemporary Europe: Histories and Cultures

ARTH 282IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Art in Europe 1850-1900: Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism3
ARTH 284IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Art in Europe 1900-1960: Avant-Gardes and Politics3
ARTH 303IDEAs in Action General Education logo Art and Colonialism: France in Africa/Africa in France3
ARTH 330IDEAs in Action General Education logo Art, History, and the Modern Museum3
ANTH 377European Societies3
ASIA 490Advanced Topics in Asian Studies *1-4
BCS 411Introduction to South Slavic Literatures and Cultures3
BCS 490Topics in South Slavic Cultures3
CMPL/GSLL 270/JWST 239/RELI 239German Culture and the Jewish Question3
CMPL 281Holocaust Cinema in Eastern Europe3
CMPL 469IDEAs in Action General Education logo Milan Kundera and World Literature3
CMPL 579IDEAs in Action General Education logo What is a Medium? German Media Theory from Aesthetics to Cultural Techniques3
COMM 464IDEAs in Action General Education logo Collaborative Performance H3
CZCH 280Closely Watched Trains: Czech Film and Literature3
CZCH 411Introduction to Czech Literature3
EURO/HIST 252IDEAs in Action General Education logo Politics, Society, and Culture in Modern Germany (1871-1945)3
EURO/HIST/POLI 257IDEAs in Action General Education logo Politics, Society, and Culture in Postwar Germany3
EURO/HIST/WGST 259IDEAs in Action General Education logo Towards Emancipation? Women in Modern Europe3
EURO/RELI 270IDEAs in Action General Education logo Religion in Western Europe H3
EURO/HIST 347Fascist Challenge in Europe, 1918-19453
EURO/RUSS 486IDEAs in Action General Education logo Exploration of Russian "Women's Prose" and Svetlana Alexievich (Nobel Prize in Literature 2015)3
FREN 262IDEAs in Action General Education logo Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the French-Speaking World3
FREN 326Cultures of Resistance in the French-Speaking World3
FREN 350IDEAs in Action General Education logo Current Societal Issues: France and Beyond3
FREN 377The Evolution of Frenchness since WWII3
FREN 378French and European Transmigrations: Global Contexts3
FREN 383Franco-Asian Encounters3
FREN 437Literary and Cultural Theory in France3
FREN 504Cultural Wars: French/United States Perspectives3
FREN 51320th- and 21st-Century French Literature and Culture3
GERM 245IDEAs in Action General Education logo Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud3
GERM 265IDEAs in Action General Education logo Hitler in Hollywood: Cinematic Representations of Nazi Germany3
GERM 268Auteur Cinema3
GERM 279IDEAs in Action General Education logo Once Upon A Fairy Tale: Fairy Tales and Childhood, Then and Now3
GERM 285Contemporary German Literature in Translation3
GERM 286IDEAs in Action General Education logo (Un)Welcomed Guests? German Reflections on Exile and Immigration3
GERM 349IDEAs in Action General Education logo Vienna-Munich-Berlin: Revolutions in German Art c. 19003
GERM 450Nietzsche, Hesse, and Mann3
GERM 467IDEAs in Action General Education logo Contemporary German and Austrian Cinema3
GERM 475IDEAs in Action General Education logo Different than the Others: Stories of Queer German Liberation, 1864-20213
GERM 555IDEAs in Action General Education logo Interrogating Cultures of Fascism: Introduction to Frankfurt School's Critical Theory 1923-Present3
GSLL 259IDEAs in Action General Education logo Ideology and Aesthetics: Marxism and Literature3
GSLL 254The Division of Germany, Reunification, and Conflict with Russia H3
GSLL 260From Berlin to Budapest: Literature, Film, and Culture of Central Europe3
GSLL 268Cultural Trends in Post-Communist Central Europe: Search for Identity, Importance of Jewish Voices3
GSLL 280The Dialectic of Whiteness and Blackness in Atlantic Cultures3
GSLL 285Dissent and Protest in Central Europe3
GSLL 465Literature of Atrocity: The Gulag and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe3
GSLL 475Magical Realism: Central European Literature in a Global Context3
HIST 165IDEAs in Action General Education logo 20th Century Britain: from the Great War to Brexit3
HIST 206IDEAs in Action General Education logo War, Diplomacy, and Statecraft, 1815-19453
HIST 256IDEAs in Action General Education logo France, 1940 to the Present H3
HIST/EURO/POLI 257IDEAs in Action General Education logo Politics, Society, and Culture in Postwar Germany3
HIST/WGST 259IDEAs in Action General Education logo Towards Emancipation? Women in Modern Europe3
HIST 260IDEAs in Action General Education logo From Kings to Communists: East-Central Europe in the Modern Era H3
HIST 261France, 1870-19403
HIST/JWST/PWAD 262IDEAs in Action General Education logo History of the Holocaust: The Destruction of the European Jews3
HIST 269Modern London: Empire, Race, and Culture H3
HIST 302IDEAs in Action General Education logo Movies Make History: Films as Primary Sources in Europe and America H3
HIST 312IDEAs in Action General Education logo History of France and Algeria3
HIST 348History of Migration3
HIST 353Cinema, Culture, and Society3
HIST 354War and Gender in Movies H3
HIST 390HSpecial Topics in History *3
HIST 398IDEAs in Action General Education logo Undergraduate Seminar in History *, H3
HIST 458Europe and the World Wars, 1914-19453
HIST 462Germany, 1806-1918: Politics, Society, and Culture H3
HIST 463Germany since 1918: Politics, Society, and Culture H3
HIST 466Modern European Intellectual History H3
HIST 469European Social History3
HIST 474Britain in World Affairs: British Foreign Policy since World War II3
HIST 476Religion and Ethnicity 3
HIST 477Revolution in Russia, 1900-19303
HIST 478Stalin and After: The USSR, 1929-Present3
HIST 481From Communists to Capitalists: Eastern Europe since 19453
HIST 485From Fiddler on the Roof to the Holocaust: East European and Soviet Jewish History3
HIST 486/PWAD 485Extremism, Terrorism, and Security in Postwar Europe H3
HIST 490Special Topics in History *, H3
HIST 578Transatlantic Relations and Contemporary Geo-Politics from the Cold War to the Present3
ITAL 250Italian Fascism: Between History, Fiction, and Film3
ITAL 320IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Cities and Cultures: History, Power, and Ecology3
ITAL 343IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Culture Today: Modern Italy as a Nation 1860 to Present3
ITAL 365IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Food and Culture3
ITAL 385IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Landscapes: Italy in the UNESCO World Heritage List3
PLSH 280The Modern Cinema of Poland3
PLSH 41119th-Century Polish Literature and Culture3
RUSS 270IDEAs in Action General Education logo Crimes and Punishments: Russian Literature of the 19th Century3
SPAN 340Iberian Cultural Topics3
SPAN 371Studies in Spanish Literature3
WGST/AMST 325IDEAs in Action General Education logo Encountering Art in the Unexpected: Borderlands and Story in Contemporary American Visual Art3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

*

Asterisked courses require approval, based on topic.

Elective Courses on Contemporary Europe

ANTH 449IDEAs in Action General Education logo Anthropology and Marxism3
ARTH 283IDEAs in Action General Education logo Picturing Paris: 1800-20003
CMPL 374/WGST 373IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Women Writers3
CMPL 375IDEAs in Action General Education logo New Wave Cinema: Its Sources and Its Legacies3
CMPL 385Modernist and Postmodernist Narrative3
CMPL 466IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modernism3
CMPL 468IDEAs in Action General Education logo Aestheticism3
ECON 434History of Economic Doctrines3
ENGL/PWAD 659IDEAs in Action General Education logo War in 20th-Century Literature H3
FREN 372IDEAs in Action General Education logo French and Francophone Studies since 17893
FREN 386French New Wave Cinema3
FREN 388History of French Cinema I: 1895-19503
FREN 389History of French Cinema II: 1950 to the Present3
FREN 515Social Networks: Technology and Community in Modern France3
GERM/CMPL/WGST 271Women, Gender and Sexuality in German Cinema3
GERM/CMPL 272IDEAs in Action General Education logo History of German Cinema3
GERM 281IDEAs in Action General Education logo The German Idea of War: Philosophical Dialogues with the Literary and Visual Arts in WWI3
GERM/PWAD 283IDEAs in Action General Education logo Freedom, Terror, and Identity: Modern Philosophy from Kant to Arendt3
GERM 381IDEAs in Action General Education logo Berlin: Mapping a (Post) Modern Metropolis3
GERM 382Representations of Violence and Terrorism in Contemporary German Literature and Film3
GERM 390Topics in German Studies *3
GERM 560IDEAs in Action General Education logo 20th-Century German Philosophy and Modern Youth Cultures3
GSLL 88HIDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Gender and Fiction in Central and Eastern Europe3
GSLL 255Germany and Cold War: Occupation, Division, Reunification, Renewed Conflict with Russia (1945-Today)3
GSLL 259IDEAs in Action General Education logo Ideology and Aesthetics: Marxism and Literature3
GSLL 283Hungarian Cinema since World War II3
HIST 466Modern European Intellectual History H3
HIST/ITAL 258Modern Italy since 18483
ITAL 242Italy and Modernity: Culture in a Changing Country3
ITAL 331Italian History and Culture II3
ITAL 333IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Film and Culture3
ITAL 335IDEAs in Action General Education logo Themes in Italian Film3
ITAL 365IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Food and Culture3
ITAL 374IDEAs in Action General Education logo Italian Ecofiction in Global Perspective3
ITAL 382The Italian Novel3
ITAL 388IDEAs in Action General Education logo Environmental Issues in Italian Literature and Film3
ITAL 398Undergraduate Seminar in Italian *3
ITAL 571IDEAs in Action General Education logo Primo Levi in English3
JWST/PLSH 412From Communism to Capitalism: 20th- and 21st-Century Polish Literature and Culture3
MUSC 284Beethoven and His Era3
MUSC 285Musical Modernism3
PHIL 224IDEAs in Action General Education logo Existential Philosophy and the Meaning(lessness) of Life H3
PHIL 22920th-Century Western Philosophy3
PHIL 494Existentialism and Phenomenology3
POLI 432Tolerance in Liberal States3
POLI 472Problems of Modern Democratic Theory H3
PORT 375IDEAs in Action General Education logo Portuguese and Brazilian Fiction in Translation3
ROML 500Research Methods for Romance Languages and European Studies3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

*

Asterisked courses require approval, based on topic.

Special Opportunities in Contemporary European Studies

Students may be interested in the resources available through UNC’s Center for European Studies (CES), a United States Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center and a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence funded by the European Commission. CES offers a range of ongoing programs including guest speakers, film festivals, conferences, and cultural events. CES hosts Europe Week at Carolina each spring, a week of events during which the diversity of Europe's history, politics, culture, and languages is showcased.

The center also houses the TransAtlantic Masters Program (TAM), an M.A. degree program that may be of particular interest to students who have completed the major in contemporary European studies. The TAM program includes study at UNC and at one or more partner universities in Europe. The EURO-TAM B.A.-M.A. dual degree option allows students to complete both degrees in accelerated time. 

Students interested in pursuing the B.A-M.A. program or learning more about funding for research and travel, the Model EU program, study abroad, internships, publishing in the Curriculum in Contemporary European Studies' N.C. Journal for European Studies, career planning, and the alumni network are encouraged to speak with the director of undergraduate studies and to visit the website for more information.

Curriculum in Contemporary European Studies

Visit Program Website

FedEx Global Education Center Room 3210, CB# 3449

(919) 962-6765

Director

Priscilla Layne

playne@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies, EURO Major Advisor

Katie Shanahan Lindner

klindner@email.unc.edu

Student Services Manager

Kayla Bassett

kbassett@email.unc.edu