UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
Global & Area Studies Program
Spring 2015
INST 2990/ HIST 2060 Topics: Introduction to European Studies
MWF 9-9:50am
EN 3105
Dr. David Messenger
Office Hours: T 1:30-3pm, W 10:30-12noon
Cheney 208
Phone: 766-6276
Email: dmesseng@uwyo.edu
Course Overview
This class aims to introduce students to contemporary Europe through a focus on political
and cultural practices. We seek to better understand how notions of community and
difference, territories and borders, security and identity and institutions are experienced
and expressed in the geographical space of Europe. Our approach will emphasize the
history of Europe across the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, but will also be
interdisciplinary, and thus draw upon politics, geography, sociology and anthropology/
This course is also part of the University of Wyoming’s effort to introduce freshmen and
sophomore students to the necessary skills required for academic success in
communications. Thus the class will emphasis and provide training in written, digital and
oral communications skills and assignments will require you to demonstrate these skills.
By the end of the semester, these are the outcomes you should be able to achieve:
1. Students will develop and communicate written, oral and digital messages
through a variety of assignments that include discipline-based and
interdisciplinary purposes, forms and audiences.
2. Students will find, evaluate and document information appropriately using a
variety of sources
3. Students will understand the different purposes of written, oral and digital
messages and employ appropriate organizational strategies, including developing
thesis statements and main ideas
4. Students will make use of multiple drafts, revisions, progressive assignments,
computer technology, peer and instructor comments, and collaboration in the
achievement of a final work of communication
5. Students will observe the accepted conventions including spelling, grammar,
organizational structure, punctuation, delivery and documentation in oral, written
and digital messages
6. Students will deliver prepared presentations in a natural, confident and
conversational manner, and display nonverbal communication that is consistent
with and supportive of the oral message
7. Students will interact effectively with audience members, engage opposing
viewpoints constructively and demonstrate active listening skills
8. Students will gain an appreciation of the various ways in which we can
understand contemporary European issues, with an emphasis on borders and
borderland studies.
Your Responsibilities
I am committed to doing everything I can to help you learn. But achievement is in your
hands. In order to realize the promises above, you must take responsibility for your own
learning and participation in the course. You must promise in return:
1. To attend class and participate in discussion. You will receive a participation
grade in this course. Such discussion and exchange of ideas is essential to make
the class work. Attendance alone is not sufficient.
2. To be willing to read. The books, articles and chapters associated with this
course are meant for you to read, analyze and think about between classes.
Without all of us having a starting point that comes from the reading, tutorials
will not be as rewarding. Each day of class will demand at least 2 hours of
preparation on your part.
3. To be a colleague to your fellow students. The promises you will make to other
students should also be a model for your participation in the class as a whole.
4. To complete course writing and presentations in a timely fashion. Projects
give you a variety of writing opportunities linked to the important issues and
themes we will discuss in class. You will get the most out of the course if you turn
your work in on time. Extensions require advance approval from me.
5. To be true to your own learning and development as a scholar. The work you
present in discussion and in writing will be entirely and authentically yours.
Learning cannot occur if this responsibility is not taken to heart. Academic
dishonesty, as defined by the University is ‘an act attempted or performed which
misrepresents one’s involvement in an academic task in any way, or permits
another student to misrepresent the latter’s involvement in an academic task by
assisting the misrepresentation.’ (full definition available at
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/legal/Uniregs/ur802.htm) Serious penalties may be
assessed as a result of an academic dishonesty charge. As a result, all of your
writing should be completely original with complete acknowledgment of all ideas,
quotations, cited evidence, and sources. Examples of plagiarism include outright
purchase or copying of an entire paper, perhaps with a new introduction and
conclusion added; widespread or considerable borrowing of material, passing off
borrowed passages as original, failure to indicate quoted evidence or give
bibliographical sources or other appropriate credit; smaller scale borrowing,
copying, downloading, or insertion without appropriate quotation, credit, or
acknowledgment. Please do not hesitate to discuss your writing and citation
practices with me at any time over the course of the semester.
Course Resources
1. Class time. Class lectures, workshops, discussion and debate will provide you
with the opportunity to assess your own analysis of readings and issues in
communication with others.
2. Me. Please feel free to contact me at any point in the semester to discuss your
progress, your concerns and your questions. My office is in the Cheney
International Center, room 208 and my office hours are T 1:30-3pm and W
10:30am-12noon. Email is also a good way to get in touch with me,
dmesseng@uwyo.edu and I will respond within 24 hours. If you have any
questions (at any point in the class), concerning lecture material, the readings,
your own research and writing, note-taking, proper citation, etc. please do not
hesitate to come and see me in order to discuss your concerns.
3. Our course website on Wyocourses. All PowerPoints, course documents including
syllabus, etc. can be found here. All written assignments are also due through the
Wyocourses site; electronic submissions of assignments through this site is
required.
4. Your fellow classmates and other UW students (see point 3 under
responsibilities).
5. Readings (all texts required and available at UW Bookstore; other readings
indicated on syllabus):
James J. Sheehan Where Have all the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of
Modern Europe
Ray Taras, Europe Old and New: Transnationalism, Belonging, Xenophobia
Daphne Berdahl, Where the world ended: reunification and identity in the
German Borderlands
6. William R. Coe Library and the UW community.
Special Needs: If you have a physical, learning or psychological disability and require
accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. You will need to register with,
and provide documentation of your disability to University Disability Support Services
(UDSS) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-6189 TTY 766-3073.
Evaluation of Learning
Grades are the basis for evaluation at the University of Wyoming. All grades given will
conform to the following scheme: A= 90-100 B= 80-89 C= 70-79 D= 60-69 F= 59 and
below. Plus and minus will be used to indicate where your grade falls within the letter
grade for assignments, but the final course grade with be without pluses and minuses.
20% Participation
Students must come to class having read the assigned readings and be prepared to discuss
questions related to the readings and raise questions of their own concerning the subject
matter. Attendance alone is not sufficient- participation in discussion is expected and is
necessary to make the seminar format work.
55% Four Papers
25% Short Response Papers (Papers One to Three): Based on responses to
assigned readings (5% for paper one, 10% for each of the next two) See syllabus for
assigned short papers assignments and due dates
25% Final Paper
Final paper should be 2500 words, typed and double spaced. This paper should
examine some idea of “border” in contemporary Europe, or Europe since 1990 that you
develop in consultation with the instructor and your classmates; proposal for the final
paper is due February 27. 20% of grade is the final written paper, 5% is an embedded
digital element (ie a powerpoint or video that accompanies the final paper)
5% Rough Draft Workshops: Participation in these, peer evaluations, etc; rough
draft workshops for paper two and for final paper are scheduled on the syllabus
25% Oral Presentations
15% Group Presentations on Borders 1980s-1990s (March 9-13), group grade
(10% presentation, 5% digital components i.e. video, powerpoints, etc. uploaded to
assignment site after presentation)
10% Final Paper Professional Presentation (April 29-May 8)
University of Wyoming, Dr. Messenger,
INST 2990/HIST 2060 Introduction to European Studies
Spring 2015 Course and Reading Schedule
TEXTS
January 26 Introduction
January 28 Borderlands Theory
Reading: Newman, “On Borders and Power: A Theoretical Framework” Journal
of Borderlands Studies18:1 (2003)
January 30 Europe as Borderland
Reading: Balibar, “Europe as borderland” Environment and Planning D: Society
and Space 27 (2009)
February 2 War and Peace in Twentieth Century Europe
Reading: Sheehan, chaps 1-2
February 4 World War I
Reading: Sheehan, chaps 3-4
February 6 Borderlands Before and After War
Reading: Thaler, “Fluid Identities in Central European Borderlands” European
History Quarterly 31:4 (2001)
PAPER ONE DUE FEBRUARY 6: Outline the concept of borderlands as described
by Newman and Balibar; 1000 words, typed, double spaced
February 9 World War II and the Holocaust
Reading: Sheehan, chaps 5-6
February 11 World War II and the Holocaust
Reading: Sheehan, chaps 5-6
February 13 Cold War: Daily Life and Culture
Berdahl, chaps 1-3
February 16 Skills: Writing in INST2990/HIST2060 (rubric analysis)
February 18 Rough Draft Workshop, Paper Two (see below)
February 20 NO CLASS-I am away at a conference
PAPER TWO DUE FEBRUARY 20: Take your first short writing and expand it.
Keep your definitions of borders, but trim it and add material from Sheehan and
Thaler readings to discuss how borderlands studies might help (or not help, if that’s
your opinion) explain the history of Europe from 1870-1950.
February 23 Skills: Oral Presentation/ Digital Components (rubric analysis)
February 25 The European Unity Idea
Reading: Sheehan, chaps 7-9
February 27 The End of the Cold War and European Unity
Reading: Berdahl chap 4-6
Final Research Paper Proposals Due
March 2 Group Presentation meetings to discuss group project due next week (6 groups
of 4)
March 4-6 NO CLASS- I am away; continue to work on group presentations
March 9 Group Presentations: Borders in Europe in the 1980s
PRESENTATION ONE DUE: Using the model of Berdahl’s chaps 1-3, find webbased sources on a European border (real or imagined) in the 1980s and present a
ten to twelve minute overview and significance with q and a (2 groups)
March 11 Group Presentations: Borders in Europe in the 1980s / 1990s
PRESENTATION ONE DUE: Using the model of Berdahl’s chaps 1-3, find webbased sources on a European border (real or imagined) in the 1980s / OR Berdahl
chap 4-6 and borders in the 1990s and present a ten to twelve minute overview and
significance with q and a (2 groups)
March13 Group Presentations: Borders in Europe in the 1990s
PRESENTATION ONE DUE: Using the model of Berdahl’s chaps 4-6, find webbased sources on a European border (real or imagined) in the 1990s and present a
ten to twelve minute overview and significance with q and a (2 groups)
MARCH 16-20 NO CLASS- UW SPRING BREAK
March 23-27 Film Viewing: Good-Bye Lenin (2003)
Reading: Berdahl chap. 7
PAPER THREE due MARCH 30: Individual Paper on Berdahl/ Good-Bye Lenin
Using chapter 7 in Berdahl’s book and the film Good-Bye Lenin as your focus, assess
how East Germans dealt with the end of the GDR. Use other chapters of Berdahl as
you see fit, but you must discuss her ideas in chapter 7.
1600-2000 words, typed, double spaced
March 30 EU after the Cold War/Borders after Borders
Reading: Taras, intro plus chaps. 1-2
April 1 Ethnic Conflict in Post-Cold War Europe: Bosnia and After
Reading: Messenger, “War, Violence and Memory Return: The Collapse of
Yugoslavia and the War in Bosnia” from War and Memory in 20th Century
Europe (forthcoming)
April 3 Making Europe Now: Elites
Reading: Taras, chap. 3
April 6 -8 Multiculturalism in Europe
Reading: Taras, chaps 4-6
April 10 Making Europe Now: Populism/ Popular Anger/ Frustration/ Apathy
Reading: Taras, chaps 7-8
April 13 -17 Multiculturalism, Immigration, European Elites: What is making Europeans
feel disconnected? Are new “borders” being created or torn down?
Si Nos Dejan: If they Let Us: documentary film about Barcelona and immigration by Ana
Torres, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL032BEE94B802F4E1. Part I
BBC 2014 European Parliament election coverage (including video)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27559714
April 20 Skills: Professional Oral Presentations & Digital Components
April 22 Conclusions: Borders, Identity and Europe over the Twentieth Century
April 23 Conclusions: Borders, Identity and Europe over the Twentieth Century
April 27 Rough Draft Meetings
April 29-May 1 Final Paper Professional Presentations
May 4-6 Final Paper Professional Presentations
MAY 13 (during Finals Week) FINAL PAPER DUE