Program Description

COURSE OF STUDY

Students who successfully complete the program will earn 18 credits. Each course meets up to twice a week for two hours, except during the field research period at different points during the term. The research seminars will prepare students for the six-credit field research experience. All work is in English, but knowledge of any of the major European languages will be very useful for conducting field work.

POSC 383-07: Political and Economic Integration of Europe: 6 Credits

This course examines the formation, development, institutions, laws, and major policies of the European Union. It trains students to think about the major questions of EU-level governance as these issues are addressed by academics and by policy practitioners. Students will work on particular EU policy areas and country members during the classroom portion of the course in Maastricht. They will then travel to Brussels and Luxembourg to investigate the major issues facing the EU. Students will conduct group research on EU officials in Brussels and prepare an elite survey that they will themselves conduct on-site in Brussels. Cross-listed with the Political Economy Concentration and European Studies Concentration. Instructor: Professor Al Montero

POSC 388-07: Spanish Politics and Political Economy: 6 Credits

This seminar will examine the institutions, actors, and movements that made Spanish democracy possible and that govern this country today. Students will explore class, gender, ethnic, and nationalist cleavages in Spanish society and learn how they have shaped institutions at the national and subnational levels. Instruction will include travel to sites outside the Madrid region. Instruction in this course will also complement the research assignment that forms the second half of the field work course listed below. Cross-listed with the Political Economy Concentration and European Studies Concentration. Instructor: Ortega y Gasset Institute professor

POSC 392-07: Comparative Field Research Methods: 6 Credits

Students will be divided into teams to conduct two sustained research projects. The first will take place in Spain during the first half of the program and will involve systematic interviewing of Spanish political party and government elites in several regions of Spain. The second-half assignment will focus on an elite survey in Brussels as part of POSC 383. As part of the regular instruction for these projects, students will be coached on how to prepare contacts, work with official sources, research and use of primary documents, conduct on-site interviews and visits, find solutions to the language barrier problem, and deal with other aspects of fieldwork research in comparative politics. Instructor: Professor Al Montero


TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

Students are responsible for international travel arrangements to and from Europe. The program will arrange and pay for all program-related travel within Europe.


HOUSING

In Madrid, students will be housed in a private apartment complex close to the Ortega y Gasset Institute in the Salamanca District of Madrid. In Maastricht, students will be housed in apartments maintained by International Guesthouse, a private company based in Maastricht. Apartments in both locations have fully-equipped kitchens including conventional and microwave ovens, cable television, facilities for high-speed internet connections, and weekly maid service. Students are encouraged to use their meal allowance to prepare their own food and/or to eat at the many pubs and restaurants in both cities. In both locations, students will also be served by two resident hall assistants and the assistant program director, who is an alumnus.


EXCURSIONS

Both Madrid and Maastricht are located strategically in Western Europe. During the first half of the program, students may wish to use their Madrid home base to explore Iberia, Italy, and Southern France. During the Maastricht half of the program, Germany, France, Benelux, Switzerland, the U.K., Ireland, and even Scandinavia are not too far away. The program encourages students to explore Europe during weekends, the week-long mid-term break, and during the field research segments. A great variety of sites are only a few hours away by railway or highway. In most cases, the program will cover the costs of entrance to cultural sites.


ELIGIBILITY

The program is designed for students who are interested in European politics and political economy, particularly the development of the European Union and regional issues. To participate in the program, students must have completed:

  • Political Science 120 Comparative Political Regimes.

Recommended but not required are:

  • POSC 263 European Political Economy or POSC 265 Politics of Global Economic Relations, and
  • The methods sequence in Political Science, including POSC 230.

POSC 120 may be taken after admission to the program, but must be completed by March 2011 to travel to Europe.

All students must have valid passports (and visas, for many international students) by September 1, 2010 (for spring applicationss) or November 1, 2010 (for fall applicationss) to successfully complete the application and admission stages.