European Studies

About the Program

The DE in European Studies provides curricular and research resources for students who want to concentrate on European Studies within their respective disciplines and have their work formally recognized in their degree designation. Designed to bring together faculty and students from different departments, the DE is administered by the Graduate Group in European Studies and provides a unique context for rigorous cross-disciplinary research. Sponsoring departments include History, Law, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Sociology, Economics, Scandinavian, Anthropology, History of Art, German and Dutch, Political Science, Italian, Architecture, Comparative Literature, Rhetoric, Spanish and Portuguese, Interdisciplinary Studies, Slavic, and French. However, the DE is open to interested students regardless of whether their home department is officially affiliated with the DE. The program helps advance Berkeley’s position as one of the nation’s leading European Studies programs and facilitates research in and cooperation with other European universities. Students applying to the DE must be prepared to integrate high-level research in European Studies into their coursework, qualifying exam and dissertation.

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Designated Emphasis Requirements

Students are required to fill out a form requesting admission, listing their prior preparation in the field, and explaining their projected pathway through the program. In addition, students must submit a brief essay stating their interests and reasons for applying, a CV, a writing sample, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member in the student’s home department indicating why and how the student would benefit from the DE. Proficiency in one European language (equivalent to level C1 in the Common European Framework) other than English is a requirement for admission. Students will be required to provide evidence confirming their foreign language proficiency. Students who are unable to provide the necessary evidence regarding their foreign language proficiency will be asked to have their foreign language proficiency examined and officially acknowledged in a letter written by a UCB lecturer or faculty member.

Students must be admitted to the DE prior to taking their qualifying exams. Admission will be determined by the members of the executive committee on the basis of how coherently and logically the student can articulate the value of the DE for her/his larger course of study and career goals, the quality of the student’s written work, and her/his foreign language proficiencies. The Executive Committee will strive to build a diverse student group, comprising students from a wide range of departments and with a variety of language skills.

The number of students to be accepted in the program is limited to eight per year in order to ensure that each student receives strong individual support.

Coursework/Curriculum

Students admitted to the Designated Emphasis Program must complete the following requirements:

1. Students will be required to complete two required core courses offered by the DE (these courses do  not need to be taken sequentially):

• European Studies (EUST) 200: Ideas of Europe and European Identities. This course engages with a critical reflection on the notion of Europe and European identities, either from a historical and/or a contemporary perspective. It will provide critical explanatory analysis of issues relating to European history, European borders, integration and disintegration, migration, transnational Europe, postcolonial Europe, and/or the position of Europe in a globalized world. Subject to approval by the Advising Committee, European Studies 200 can be cross-listed/room-shared with an existing course taught by any faculty member of the Graduate Group at one of the departments that have officially committed to sponsor the new DE.
• European Studies (EUST) 201: European Institutions and Social Conflicts. This course engages with a reflection on European institutions and social conflicts, either from a historical and/or contemporary perspective. It will provide a critical explanatory analysis of issues relating to European institutions such as the EU Commission, Council, Parliament and Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, as well as general issues relating to the European economy and/or social and political conflicts within Europe. Subject to approval by the Advising Committee, European Studies 201 can be cross-listed/room-shared with an existing course taught by any faculty member of the Graduate Group at one of the departments that have officially committed to sponsor the new DE. 

EUST 200 and EUST 201 European Institutions and Social Conflicts serve as the integrative courses for the program. Every semester, either EUST 200 and/or EUST 201 will be offered.

2. Besides the two required core courses, students will be required to complete two approved electives.

The two electives will be chosen in consultation with the head graduate adviser. These courses will support the interdisciplinary nature of the program with attention to the individual students’ research interests. At least one of these electives must be taken outside the student’s home department.

List of potential electives offered by the different departments sponsoring the DE and approved by the Advising Committee:

Course List

Code	Title	Units
A,RESEC 241	Economics and Policy of Production, Technology and Risk in Agricultural and Natural Resources	3
COM LIT 210	Studies in Ancient Literature	4
COM LIT 212	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
COM LIT 215	Studies in Renaissance Literature	4
COM LIT 266	Nationalism, Colonialism, and Culture	4
DEVP 222	Economics of Sustainable Resource Development	3
ECON 210B	Topics in European Economic History	3
ECON 220B	Industrial Organization	3
FRENCH C202	Linguistic History of the Romance Language	4
FRENCH C203	Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures	4
FRENCH 245A	Early Modern Studies	4
FRENCH 245B	Early Modern Studies	4
FRENCH 265A	Modern Studies	4
FRENCH 265B	Modern Studies	4
GERMAN 201A	Course Not Available	4
GERMAN 201B	Major Periods in German Literature: 16th and 17th Century	4
GERMAN 201C	Course Not Available	4
GERMAN 201D	Course Not Available	4
GERMAN 201E	Course Not Available	4
GERMAN 205	Studies in Medieval Literature	4
GERMAN 206	Studies in the Early Modern	4
GERMAN 210A	Studies in the 18th Century: Age of Enlightenment	4
GERMAN 212A	Studies in the 19th Century: Topics in Romanticism	4
GERMAN 214	Studies in the 20th Century	4
GERMAN 268	Aspects of Literary and Cultural History	4
GERMAN 270	History of the German Language	4
HISTART 258	Seminar in Late Medieval Art in Northern Europe	2,4
HISTART 260	Seminar in Italian Renaissance Art	2,4
HISTART 262	Seminar in European Art	2,4
HISTART 263	Seminar in European Art: Mimesis	2,4
HISTART 270	Seminar in Baroque Art	2,4
HISTART 281	Seminar in 19th-Century Art	2,4
HISTART 290	Special Topics in Fields of Art History	2,4
HISTORY 275A	Core Courses in the Literature of the Several Fields of History: Ancient	4
HISTORY 275B	Core Courses in the Literature of the Several Fields of History: Europe	4
HISTORY 275C	Course Not Available	4
HISTORY 280A	Advanced Studies: Sources/General Literature of the Several Fields: Ancient	4
HISTORY 280B	Advanced Studies: Sources/General Literature of the Several Fields: Europe	4
HISTORY 280C	Course Not Available	4
ITALIAN C201	Linguistic History of the Romance Language	4
ITALIAN C203	Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures	4
ITALIAN 215	Seminar in Renaissance Literature and Culture	2,4
ITALIAN 230	Seminar in 19th Century Literature and Culture	2,4
ITALIAN 235	Seminar in 20th Century Literature and Culture	2,4
ITALIAN 260	Directed Readings in Italian Literature and Culture	2
LAW 261U
LAW 261.1
LAW 261.17
LAW 262.3
LAW 264.5
LAW 264.7
POL SCI 201A	Comparative Analysis of Industrial Democracies	4
POL SCI 209A	Comparative Political Economy	4
POL SCI 210	Selected Topics in Comparative Politics	4
POL SCI 212A	History of Political Thought: Ancient and Medieval	4
POL SCI 212B	History of Political Thought: Early Modern (Renaissance to French Revolution)	4
POL SCI 212C	History of Political Thought: Modern (French Revolution through World War II)	4
POL SCI 215A	Approaches to Contemporary Political Theory	4
POL SCI 247A	Western European Politics	4
POL SCI 247G	The Comparative Politics of the Welfare State	4
RHETOR 200	Classical Rhetorical Theory and Practice	4
SCANDIN 240	Modern and Contemporary Scandinavian Literature	4
SCANDIN 250	Seminar in Scandinavian Literature	4
SLAVIC 248	Topics in Russian Cultural History	4
SLAVIC 258	Languages, Peoples, and Cultures of the Greater Slavic World	4
SLAVIC 285	Eastern Christianity: History and Thought	4
SOCIOL 280Q	Advanced Study in Substantive Sociological Fields: Economy and Society	3
SOCIOL 280X	Advanced Study in Substantive Sociological Fields: Immigration and Incorporation	3
SPANISH C202	Linguistic History of the Romance Language	4
SPANISH C203	Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures	4

Students may petition for a course not on this list if approved by the head graduate adviser.

Examination

A member of the Graduate Group in European Studies must be a formal member of the PhD qualifying examination committee. Under most circumstances, the graduate group member in the student’s home department will serve in this function. A member of the graduate group who is not a faculty member in the student’s major department may also serve as the outside member of the qualifying exam committee. A European Studies topic must be included as a subject on the qualifying examination. Satisfactory performance on the qualifying examination for the PhD will be judged according to the established rules in the student’s major program.

Dissertation

A member of the Graduate Group in European Studies must be a formal member of the dissertation committee. The dissertation must relate to European Studies (such as European culture, history, politics, art, literature, linguistics, sociology, or law).

Degree Conferral

Upon completion of all requirements of the student’s major program and the DE in European Studies, students will receive a designation on their transcript and diploma stating that they have completed a “PhD in (…) with a Designated Emphasis in European Studies.”

For questions, please contact the graduate student coordinator, Noga Wizansky (nwizansk@berkeley.edu), 204 Moses Hall.

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