Courses

The curriculum includes the following four courses:

• Economic Transition and Political Choice in Europe
• Social Stratification and Migration: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in Europe
• European Union: Integration and Enlargement
• Independent Research and Practicum

The courses are pursued through two residential sessions organized at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and five weeks of field research in Germany and Turkey (see the Program Itinerary). Drawing on diverse networks including academics, policy makers, business and labor representatives, activists, and social service providers, students meet with people actively engaged in the processes of restructuring and change.  Curriculum and activities vary from year to year.

Complete syllabi are available for all courses upon request.

Economic Transition and Political Choice in Europe

ASGS 241 (4 semester credits)

This course investigates post-industrial restructuring of societies in Poland, Germany, and Turkey and the interactive dynamics of economic development and adjustment, political transition, and globalization. Students explore the politics of ongoing social and economic change in the context of European integration and enlargement. The course reviews competing interest group and party agendas and compares national policies on issues ranging from welfare and pension reform, new demands on skill formation regimes, unemployment, and reform of public services. Fieldwork includes site visits, interviews with social activists and politicians, and possible service-learning projects.

Seminars at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and academic lectures at Bilgi University in Istanbul introduce theories of globalization, post-industrial change, and economic development and adjustment. They also include sessions on party systems and comparative political transitions.

Examples of past seminars and program activities:

• Taming Capitalism:  Social Democracy in Europe
  Prof. Zbigniew Stanczyk, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

• Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe from an American Perspective
  Denis Jakoboski, Krakow, Poland

• Labor's Position in a Global Europe                                                                                             DGB (German Labor Confederation), Mr. Dieter Pienkny, Berlin, Germany

• Youth Unemployment and Skill Formation in Germany                                                    Employment Agency, Tübingen         

• Meetings with SPD (Social Democratic Party), CDU (Christian Democratic Party), and Die Linke/PDS (The Left / Party of Democratic Socialism) Berlin, Germany; Green Party and the extreme-right Republikaner Party (Tübingen, Germany)

• Transnational Artists                                                                                                                       Yesim Burul, ABD, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Meetings with Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD), Istanbul, Turkey
• Contemporary Issues in Turkey                                                                                                    Prof. Dr. Serhat Güvenç, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey

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Social Stratification and Migration: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in Europe

ASGS 242 (4 academic credits)

This course explores the structures and politics of social exclusion in Europe as they relate to ethnic minorities, gender, and social class.  Migration, post-industrial economic change, and changing female participation in the workforce are reflected in new patterns of ethnicity, class, and gender in economic, political, and educational institutions. Meanwhile, European local, regional, and national policymakers face the challenge of reconciling the social, economic, and political demands of aging native populations with those of their burgeoning and increasingly diverse migrant populations. The experiences of established ethnic minorities and of new migrants allow students to compare applications of various models of cultural integration/assimilation across cases and over time. Net exporters of human capital such as Turkey also face political and social pressure as diaspora networks engage in mobilization strategies that transcend the nation-state.  Fieldwork includes site visits; interviews with representatives of minority and women's organizations, policymakers, and social activists; and possible service-learning opportunities.

Seminars at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and academic lectures at Bilgi University in Istanbul include sessions on the role of ethnicity, gender, and class in contemporary social theory; the impact of post-industrial transitions on social stratification; political-economic transition and class formation; and comparative national identities.

Examples of past seminars and related program activities:

• Introduction to Social Stratification:  Class, Ethnicity and Gender                                           Prof. Krzysztof Gorlach, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

• Meeting with feminist organization EFKA, Dr. Slawomira Walczewska, Krakow, Poland

• Visit to Asylzentrum (asylum center) and discussion with refugees, Tübingen, Germany

• Minorities in Poland                                                                                                                         Prof. Hieronim Kubiak, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
• Meeting with Union of Expellees, Ms. Steinbach, MP, German Bundestag, Berlin
• Turkish Participation in Politics in Germany                                                                                 Mr. Sedat Samuray, CDU representative of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, Berlin

• Multiculturalism in Germany                                                                                                          Mr. Hakan Tas, German Advisory Council on Integration and Migration, Berlin, Germany
• Visit of Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps, Poland
• NGOs and Human Rights in Turkey                                                                                               Dr. Laden Yurttagüler, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Social Exclusion                                                                                                                                 Asst. Prof. Dr. Pinar Uyan-Semerci, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey 

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European Union: Integration and Enlargement

ASGS 250 (4 academic credits)

This course begins with the history and institutional framework of the European Union as a point of departure for inquiry into the contemporary dynamics of the European project.  The challenges of European integration and enlargement are examined from the distinct perspectives of Germany, a cornerstone of the founding group of Member States; Poland, whose admission in 2004 represented a major milestone after decades of Soviet domination; and Turkey, whose large, relatively poor and predominantly Muslim population has made its candidacy especially controversial for those concerned about unemployment, social harmonization, and cultural cohesion in the EU.  This course will explore salient issues - such as controversies over regional disparities, common social and environmental standards, rural development, migration, human rights, relations with applicant countries, and representation in EU decision-making - and their broad implications for national policies. Fieldwork includes meetings with national and European parliamentarians, EU officials, and interest-group representatives.

Seminars at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and academic lectures at Bilgi University in Istanbul include sessions on EU history, EU institutions, enlargement and integration, the EU process of Turkey, and European identity.

Examples of seminars and related program activities:

• Conceptualizing the EU
  Dr. Marek Kucia, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• Polish Peasantry:  The Last in Europe
  Prof. Krysztof Gorlach, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland 
• A Constitution for Europe?
  Dr. Marek Kucia, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• EU Budget Policies – CAP, regional funds, enlargement issues
  Dr. Marek Kucia, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• EU Process of Turkey                                                                                                                        Özge Onursal, ABD, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Historical Overview of Turkey                                                                                                       Asst. Prof. Dr. Bogac Erozan, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Meetings with political, social, and economic actors in Poland, Germany, and  Turkey

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Independent Research & Practicum

ASGS 390 (4 academic credits)

In this course, students plan and execute an independent research project. Student topics are proposed and discussed with the Program Director before the program begins so that fieldwork can be planned and conducted at all relevant program sites.  Students investigate comparative and transnational issues and phenomena by combining library and field research (interviews, systematic field observation, etc.). Regular seminars and individual consultations provide a supportive forum in which students review their theoretical approaches, methodologies, and fieldwork strategies. The final outcome of students' work in this course is a well-argued research paper, many of which have become the basis for senior theses and graduate school applications. This is an opportunity for students, in consultation with their academic advisors, to tailor the program to their specific field of study.

Examples of past projects:

• Shifting Relations between Religion and National Identity in Turkey and Poland
• Comparative Policy Responses to Youth Unemployment
• Social Inequalities in Central European Schools: A Comparative Ethnography
• Representations of Migrants in German-Turkish Cinema and Their Impact on Public Perceptions
• Women in Transition and Feminism in Post-Communist States
• Concerning Morality: The Sex Industry in Central Europe
• Steel Industry Privatization in Poland
• Roma Policy in Central Europe
• Human Rights in Turkey: The Headscarf Issue and Sexual Minorities’ Rights
• Rights of Passage: Sexual Education in Poland’s Secondary Schools

 

Academic Resources

Resources in Europe include the faculty of the Jagiellonian University (Krakow) and at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität (Tübingen), as well as academics in universities and independent research units in Berlin and Istanbul . Library access is provided by the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the Eberhard-Karls Universität in Tübingen, which have large English-language collections.

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Program Readings

The following examples of texts and media are used in the Europe in Transition Program:

• Barysch, Katinka (2006).  “East v. West?  The European Economic and Social Model after Enlargement,” in Giddens, Diamond and Liddle, eds., Global Europe, Socical Europe, Cambridge:  Polity Press, 52-69. 
• De Burca and De Witte (eds.) (2006).  “European Social Charter” in Social Rights in Europe, Oxford:  Oxford University Press.
• Diehl, Claudia and Rainer Schnell (2007).  "Reactive Ethnicity" or "Assimilation"? Statements, Arguments, and First Empirical Evidence for Labor Migrants in Germany,” in International Migration Review, Vol. 40, Nr. 4, 786-816.  
• Kinzer, Stephen (2001).  Crescent and Star:  Turkey Between Two Worlds.  New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 
• Jandl, Michael (2007).  “Irregular Migration, Human Smuggling, and the Eastern Enlargement of the European Union,” International Migration Review, 41:2.
• Koopmans, Ruud et al (2005).  “Minority Group Demands and the Challenge of Islam,” in Koopmans et al., eds., Contested Citizenship:  Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe, Minneapolis:  University of Minnesota Press, 146-179. 
• Martin and Ross (1999).  “In the Line of Fire:  The Europeanization of Labor Representation,” in Martin and Ross et al., The Brave New World of European Labor:  European Trade Unions at the Millenium, New York:  Berghahn Books, 312-367. 
• McCormick, John (2005). Understanding the European Union. A Concise Introduction. 3rd ed., Palgrave Macmillan: Houndmills.
• Pontusson, Jonas (2005).  “Welfare States in Retrenchment,” in Inequality and Prosperity:  Social Europe vs. Liberal America, Ithaca:  Cornell University Press,  182-203.  
• Sutton, John (2006).  “Globalization:  A European Perspective,” in Giddens, Diamond and Liddle, eds., Global Europe, Social Europe, Cambridge:  Polity Press, 37-51. 
• Akin, Fatih (director) (2004), Head on. 

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