European Cultures and Societies

The student learns about the nature of social sciences and their relations to other sciences. The student finds out the regularity, nature and changes in the functioning of European groups, societies, nations and cultures. The student gets to understandthe process of the development of European philosophical thought, including the trends of thinking about the state, power and social structures. The student learnsto observe and interpret social phenomena occurring in Europe and the European Union, he/she learns to analyze the links between cultural, political, economic and legal areas in the internal and external dimensions.

Embedded in the process of European integration the course will explore the evolving nature of state and power in Europe. While bridging political thought, political science, and social anthropology it will search to explain the characteristics of Europe’s integration. Upon completion students will be familiar with the complex interplay between various factors that determine the shape of contemporary Europe.

The course will consist of three parts exploring the nature of Europe’s culture and societies from historical and problem-oriented perspectives. Part one will focus on the philosophical roots of Western Civilization highlighting the notions of state, power and the impact of Enlightenment on the formulation and development of contemporary social structures. The second part will accent on the basic social phenomena within the Western Civilization since late XVIII century. The role of nation, nationalism, industrial revolution, nation building, secularization and the evolution of foreign relations will be discussed. Part three will explore the contemporary processes of social, political and economic evolution. Embedded in the context of European integration, this part will look at the evolving role of state, power and society, contemporary ways of thinking about Europe, and the role of the European Union. In terms of geographical outreach Europe will be defined inclusively in order to embrace the influence of other civilizations, in Huntingtonian terms, on the evolution of European Culture and Societies.

Plato, Republic

Aristotle, Politics

St. Augustine, City of God

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

John Locke, Two Treatiese on Government

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

Thomas Paine, Common Sense and the Rights of Man

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Karl Marx, the Capital

Peter Rietbergen, Europe, A Cultural History, Routledge, London and New York, Third ed. 2015.

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, Verso Books, London 2016

Ernest Gelner, Nations and nationalism, Cornell University Press, 2009

Edmund Burke, Considerations on the Revolution in France

Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism, Sage Publications, 1995

Luigi Barzini, the Europeans, 1983,

https://archive.org/stream/BarziniLuigiTheEuropeans/Barzini%2C%20Luigi%20-%20The%20Europeans_djvu.txt

K_W02 kompleksowo grupy, społeczeństwa narody i kultury Europy, a także prawidłowości, naturę, zmiany i przejawy ich funkcjonowania.

K_W06 podstawowe etapy i wymiary rozwoju europejskiej myśli filozoficznej, w tym nurtów myślenia o państwie, władzy i strukturach społecznych.

K_W12 podstawowy zakres wiedzy o człowieku i obywatelu jako konstytuującym struktury zawodowe, społeczne, państwowe i ponadnarodowe, jego status i prawa oraz zasady funkcjonowania w tych strukturach.

K_U01 obserwować i interpretować zróżnicowane zjawiska społeczne zachodzące we Europie i Unii Europejskiej oraz analizować powiązania między obszarami kulturowym, politycznym, ekonomicznym, prawnym w wymiarze wewnętrznym i zewnętrznym.

K_U02 wykorzystywać zróżnicowaną wiedzę teoretyczną i metody badawcze nauk społecznych do pozyskiwania i interpretacji danych o Unii Europejskiej i państwach europejskich.

K_K04 kreatywności i przedsiębiorczości w zakresie poszukiwania i generowania nowych miejsc pracy i rozwoju kapitału społecznego

K_K05 reprezentowania w sposób zinstytucjonalizowany zróżnicowanych interesów różnych grup społecznych, uwzględniając polityczne, ekonomiczne i prawne aspekty podejmowanych inicjatyw

In order to successfully complete the course the three assessment components must be completed. Firstly, an essay discussing one of the philosophical writings provided by the lecturer must be written. The essay will constitute 30% of the final score. The essay will be evaluated in terms of content, structure, references. Assessment will be based on clarity of expression, apprehension of the text, logic of arguments, coherent structure and appropriatness of referencing.

The second component is an in-class presentation contributing to the discussion on one of the lecture’s topics. The in-class presentation topics will be discussed and distributed during the first two lectures. The presentation will be worth 20% of the final mark.

Assessment is based on clarity of expression, apprehension of the text and logic of arguments.

The third component is an oral exam covering the course material. The final exam will be worth 50% of the total score. Assessment: knowledge of discussed lecture topics – from „basics” (3,0) to good command of the question (4,0); complete answer (5,0); extensive knowledge beyond the requested readings and critical analysis (5,5)

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