Politics and Society

The profile Politics & Society focuses on political and social developments in European societies, in the past and present. The first-year curriculum for all students in the European Languages and Cultures programme includes two courses in Politics & Society: Making Modern Europe, and Themes in European Politics. These courses help you answer questions such as: Which political challenges do democratic European societies face today? How have they developed over time and did it develop similarly across Europe? How have power relations in Europe changed over time and how do these power relations affect our current challenges?

If you choose Politics & Society as your first profile, you will follow a series of five courses that will broaden your knowledge of political and social developments that are shaping our lives in Europe today. These courses are:

• Profile Course 1: Institutions & Politics of the EU (Year 2)
• Profile Course 2: Applied Research Methods (Year 2)
• Profile Course 3: Research Seminar (Year 2)
• Profile Course 4: Thesis Lab (Year 3)

  This course prepares you to write your BA thesis. During the course, you will work on your research proposal and research design, present your work, and engage in constructive peer feedback.

• Profile Course 5: Theorizing Politics (Year 3)

  In this course, we discuss and analyze significant political and social developments in Europe from a theoretical perspective. During the meetings, extensive attention will be given to the defining theoretical schools of thought that have determined scholarly understandings of European and global politics.

If you choose Politics & Society as your second profile, you will follow the following four courses in year 2: 

• Profile Course 1: Institutions & Politics of the EU
• Profile Course 2: Applied Research Methods
• Profile Course 3: Research Seminar
• Profile+ Course 4: Advanced Research Seminar B

There is also space to choose courses of your liking within the programme. The Politics & Society Profile Plus courses are designed to deepen your knowledge about European politics and society further. The courses in the profile+ track are:

• Profile+ Course 1: Comparative European Politics
• Profile+ Course 2: Analysing Politics and Society
• Profile+ Course 3: Advanced Research Seminar A
• Profile+ Course 4: Advanced Research Seminar B

For all profile courses, the lectures are held in English, and you have a choice to attend seminar groups in English or Dutch.

Recent graduates from our profile have secured jobs in journalism; as policy advisors (at local, national, and European levels); with NGOs and lobby groups in Brussels and elsewhere; and with political parties, to name just a few examples. Many of our graduates went on to prestigious postgraduate programmes across Europe in International Relations, Human rights, Slavic studies, Euroculture and Political Science, among others. 

The members of staff involved in the Politics and Society profile can be found here.

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