La discreta grandeza de Europa (Héctor Abad Faciolince)

 

PRESENTATION CALENDAR 2024-2025

 

Date	Student	Country	Tutorial
March 19	Daniel	Iceland	February 26 12:30
March 25	Aidan	Portugal	February 26 12:45
April 2	James	Switzerland	March 5 12:30
April 3	Peyton	Greece	February 26 13:00
April 16	Eliska	Czech Republic	March 5 12:45
April 30	Zofia	Poland	March 5 13:00
May 7	Doan	France	March 12 12:30
May 14	Ross	Armenia	March 12 12:45
May 21	Evie	Finland	March 12 13:00
May 8	Till	Serbia	February 26 13:15
May 15	Mia	Sweden	March 5 13:15
May 22	Elsa	Rumania	March 12 13:15

UK and the European Union

Read these articles: 

1)article 27 (Britain and the European Union) (outdated but good)

2)Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU (BBC)

3) Brexit, the most pointless, masochistic ambition in our country's history, is done (Ian McEwan)

4) For Europe, the Brexit deal makes the best of a bad business (The Economist, 2021)

Watch: 

5) Brexit explained for confused Americans (WT)

6) Brexit: A history of the rocky relationship between the UK and EU

Updates 

2022  Post-Brexit Guide (Euronews)

2023 The Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework 

2024, Why most people regret Brexit: A majority of British voters now believe the split was a mistake

Complementary materials: 

Better Off Out or In?  (BBC)

Brexit with John Oliver (1)

Brexit with John Oliver (2)

Brexit with John Oliver (3)

Brexit explained (CNN)

Timothy Garton Ash

UK: North and South

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNdVPQps5JM&ab_channel=JOE 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT0ay9u1gg4

Beginning of classes: February 5

Course Description

G1808 “EUROPEAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION”

(DIPLOMA IN SPANISH HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION, UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA)

ECTS	6
Taught by	Prof. Dr. Jesús Ángel González, gonzalezja@unican.es Class Blog: http://europeancultureandcivilization.blogspot.com/
Course language	English
Schedule	Classes: Wed 12:30-13:30, Thu 10:30-12:30
Content	The course will deal with the concepts of culture and European unity and diversity. Therefore, the different concepts of culture and the diverse dimensions of Europe (geographical, historical, religious, economic, cultural) will be analyzed and followed by an individual analysis of the culture and civilization of some specific European countries. The course will also present key facts about the creation and development of the European Union. Some of the topics to be covered are: Origin of the EU, how the EU works, monetary union, European issues and priorities, the EU in the world, current developments and future possibilities.
Assessment	-Class attendance and participation 10% (MINIMUM 80 %) -Oral presentation 30% Students will choose one European country and prepare an oral presentations about its culture and civilization.. The presentations should last between 20 and 30 minutes and some of the following fields could be covered: Background, history, geography, languages, sociological overview, education, religion, economy, politics, the Media, cultural conflicts, cultural products (Literature, Cinema, Art). Special emphasis should be placed on each student’s field of expertise or University Major. - Reading and Writing Assignments: 20 %: Students are expected to read a number of articles, discuss them in class and hand in article reviews.  - Final paper: “What is then a European?" 40 %
Teaching methods	Participants will be encouraged to actively participate in class and share their experiences and ideas with others to explore new ways of thinking. The course will be conducted using a mixture of lectures; small group activities; practical exercises, facilitated discussions and oral presentations.
Teaching material	§  Core Texts: Class materials to be picked up by students at the Interfacultativo Copy Centre §  Additional material: Barbour, P. (Ed.) The European Union Handbook. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 1996 Chernotsky, Harry & Heidi Hobbs. Crossing Borders: International Studies for the 21st Century.         CQ Press, 2015. Díez Medrano, J. Framing Europe. Princeton University Press. 2003. González López, Jesús A. An Introduction to North American Culture and Literature.        Santander: TGD, 2006. Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. London: Penguin, 2011. Hartley, Emma. 50 Facts you Need to Know: Europe. Icon Books: 2006. Marshall, Tim. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To        Know About Global Politics. London: Elliot & Thompson, 2015. Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Rifkin, Jeremy. The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. London: Polity, 2005.

Why most people regret Brexit: A majority of British voters now believe the split was a mistake

 

A majority of British voters now believe the split was a mistake

Apr 11th 2024| (The Economist)

It is rare for voters to change their minds soon after referendums. Experience from Canada to Scotland, from Norway to Switzerland, suggests rather that opinions tend to move in favour of a referendum result more than they swing against it. But Brexit seems to be an exception. Since the 52-48% vote in favour of leaving the European Union in June 2016, the majority view among Britons has shifted, and especially so in the past two years, towards the conclusion that the decision was wrong (see chart).

One way to take the temperature is to visit two English towns called Richmond which voted in very different ways in 2016. In Richmond-upon-Thames in London, which voted 69-31% to remain in the eu, opinion has hardened. Gareth Roberts, the Liberal Democrat council leader, notes that post-Brexit niggles such as longer border delays and more intrusive passport controls have helped to solidify local opposition. A Leave voter sitting by the river says he has not changed his mind, but that he is disappointed by the Tories’ failure to strike big trade deals outside the eu.

The other Richmond, in north Yorkshire, voted 57-43% for Brexit. One Leaver in the market square echoes his southern counterpart by insisting that he still supports Brexit but he complains that it has not been properly done and that immigration has surged despite repeated Tory promises to reduce it. A local bartender says that she voted instinctively to leave but that, were the referendum re-run, she would work harder to understand what it would really mean. Stuart Parsons, a former mayor of Richmond, claims that several friends have changed their minds, especially small farmers who feel betrayed by the Conservatives and now fret about future lost public subsidies.

Such anecdotes chime with polls across the country. Research by uk in a Changing Europe (ukice), a think-tank, finds that most voters have not in fact changed their minds since 2016. But because as many as 16-20% of those who voted to leave have switched sides, compared with only 6% of those who voted to remain, the balance has swung against Brexit. The passage of time is also having its inevitable effect: older voters were overwhelmingly keen to leave the eu and younger ones were fiercely opposed to the idea. Don’t-knows and those who did not vote in 2016 now tend to break strongly against Brexit.

Explanations abound for the disillusionment. Sir John Curtice, a leading pollster who works with ukice, points especially to gloom about the economy since 2016, which he says matters more than irritation over immigration. Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat mp for Richmond Park, reckons that outright dishonesty on the part of the Leave campaign is to blame. Peter Kellner, a political pundit and former president of YouGov, a polling group, suggests that many Brexit supporters had no idea what would happen if they actually won. That differs sharply from the run-up to most other constitutional referendums.

Changes in the political background matter as well. The Conservatives under Rishi Sunak, who happens to be the mp for Richmond in Yorkshire and is a keen supporter of Brexit, are associated in voters’ minds with the decision to Leave. Party disunity and the chaos of four prime ministers in five years have helped to discredit something with which the Tories are strongly identified.

Just as the Tories have helped tarnish views of Brexit, so Brexit is likely to hurt the Tories at the next election. A chunk of people who voted Leave in 2016 say there should still be long-term benefits from quitting the bloc but argue that too little has been done to realise them. This group now leans against the Tories and may even prefer the Reform Party, an insurgent right-wing party. In contrast, those who were against Brexit in 2016 think they were right to fear its economic impact; many who were Tory then now back Labour.

The anti-Brexit mood of a majority of voters is clear but that does not translate into a burning wish to refight old battles. Brexit may be unpopular but its political salience has faded. Even keen Remainers have doubts about the wisdom of starting a lengthy campaign to rejoin. The Labour Party’s decision to talk as little as possible about Brexit is understandable: the party hopes to regain “red-wall” seats in the north and the Midlands that backed Brexit in 2016 and then voted Tory in the 2019 general election.

But if and when Labour does take office, there will be political wriggle-room to improve relations with the eu. Some in the party talk not just of expanding today’s thin trade deal but of broader alignment with European rules. Tory attacks on such ideas as a betrayal of the 2016 vote are less likely to resonate when Brexit itself has lost its appeal for many.■

Soft power: The Brussels Effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_effect#:~:text=The%20Brussels%20effect%20is%20the,its%20borders%20through%20market%20mechanisms.

European Movement International

https://europeanmovement.eu/

EU Enlargement

EU Enlargement Will the EU get new members soon? Here’s what you need to know.

"Social eating"

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-16-social-eating-connects-communities

Football and European identity

https://ruvid.org/ri-world/football-as-a-key-factor-in-shaping-a-unified-european-identity/

Germany’s Scholz says EU must reform before it can admit Ukraine

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-scholz-say-eu-reform-admit-ukraine/

Links about Spanish Character

Spain – A great place to live, a terrible place to work? 

How to Be Spanish (The Times)

Spanish rude expressions

Extranjeros sobre España (Huffington Post)

Estereotipos españoles (Huggington Post)

Putin's War Has Given Birth to Geopolitical Europe (JOSEP BORRELL)

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/geopolitical-europe-responds-to-russias-war-by-josep-borrell-2022-03

Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war (Yuval Noah Harari)

 Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war

Scottish Independence?

 Scottish independence?

ARTICLE/CHAPTER REVIEW

TITLE
AUTHOR
READ BY
DATE
MAIN POINT(S)
INTERESTING IDEAS/DATA	- - - -
PERSONAL OPINION

Irish unification is becoming likelier

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/02/13/irish-unification-is-becoming-likelier

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/02/13/brexit-and-sinn-feins-success-boost-talk-of-irish-unification

Presentations (30 %)

Students will choose one European country and prepare an oral presentation about its culture and civilization. The presentations should last around 20-30 minutes and some of the following fields could be covered: Background, history (5 meaningful events only), geography, languages, sociological overview, education, religion, economy, politics, the Media, cultural conflicts, cultural products (Literature, Cinema, Art), role in Europe. Special emphasis should be placed on cultural conflicts and on each student’s field of expertise (preferably their University Major).You need to choose a country and a date as soon as possible and then you have to attend one of the Wednesday tutorials to let me know about your ideas about the presentation.


How to give a presentation in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXVoT7VMCpM

5 steps to a killer opener: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDcc0aCjaA

After delivering your presentation in class, you have to upload it on Moodle. 

Reading and Writing Assignments (20%)

Students are expected to read the articles provided by the teacher in paper format, present some of them in class (when scheduled) and hand in (via Moodle) 10 article reviews (5-8 from the list in the class materials and 2-5 from the blog: 20 % of the final mark). 

Final paper (40 %)

Deadline for the final paper: June 2.

The final paper should be 5-10 pages long (2,000-4,000 words) and should involve some research as well as personal opinions. Don't forget to quote your sources and include a bibliography.You will find useful articles and book extracts in the set of photocopies as well as in the blog. Remember that the university uses a detection system ("Turnitin Integrity") to check for plagiarism and inappropiate use of AI. 

The topic of the final paper is "What is then a European?"in response to J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's definition of Americans: “What is then the American, this new man? He is either a European or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country… He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world … The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.
(J. HECTOR ST. JOHN DE CRÈVECOEUR Letters from an American Farmer, 1782)

American history and character have been fundamentally shaped by three important myths:

· The American Dream: the belief that their country offers the best opportunities for a good and successful life. A dream of freedom and opportunities. Anybody can get rich, anybody can become president. But there are some American nightmares, as many writers and film directors keep pointing out ...

· The Melting Pot: a phrase used to describe the USA as a country in which people from many different races and cultures are ‘melted’ together to form the American people.

· The Manifest Destiny, as we have already mentioned, is a phrase coined in the late 19^th century to justify the right of the US to own and occupy land across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, buying or stealing land from Europeans, Indians, Mexicans (California, Texas,...) or Spaniards (the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba). This idea is linked to the concept of the frontier (the border between settlements and wilderness), which has had a tremendous influence in the American psyche as shown in American popular culture (westerns).

These three myths are still alive in many ways and their effects can be seen in aspects such as the way the economy is handled (an extension of the concepts inherent to the American Dream), the problems with immigration and the ‘English Only’ movement (the Melting Pot), North-American foreign policy in Latin America (the Manifest Destiny), individualism, love of guns, the permanent conflict between nature and civilization or even the space race (the frontier).

Adapting these ideas to the European context, you can try to answer the following questions:

- What is then a European? is there such a thing as a European identity? How is it created? (You may think of the European Union and the monetary union, but also of the Council of Europe and other identity-forming elements like the Erasmus program, the Schengen agreement, the Cultural Capital of Europe, or even UEFA and the Eurovision song contest)

- What are the different European dimensions or ways to understand Europe? Think about Geography, History, Languages, Religion, Politics, Foreign Policy, Economy, Human Rights, etc.

- Is there a European Dream? What is it made of? Is it similar to the American Dream? Is there a social dimension vs. the more individualistic American dream?

- Is there a European Melting Pot? Should there be one? Is European diversity an asset or a curse? How should Europe deal with immigration (both from inside Europe and from outside Europe)?

- Is there a European Manifest Destiny? Was there one (in the 19th century colonialization period, for example)? How should Europe expand its influence outside its borders (think, for example, of democracy, human rights, prosperity, protection of the environment, the destruction of borders as a recipe for peace, the so-called social market...)?

- Think of your own experience: Do you have a European identity? Do you feel more European after your Erasmus experience?