POLI 120H: EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Course Objectives: This course is designed to expose students to the study of the European integration process. As part of this discussion, we will: examine the history of European integration, investigate the structure and function of the political institutions of the European Union (EU), analyze how EU political institutions respond to pressing problems, and evaluate how foreign policy is shaped and administered within the EU. As part of this discussion, we will pay particular attention not only to how socioeconomic, institutional, and culture factors shape politics at the EU level, but also how decisions made at the EU level affect the member states. Learning Objectives: At the end of this course students should be able to: 1) Develop an understanding of the historical and political incentives for European integration. 2) Examine how executive, legislative, and judicial authority within the EU is structured. 3) Investigate how supranationalism and intergovernmentalism shape the politics of the EU and its member states. 4) Analyze the responses of European political institutions to pressing political crises. 5) Evaluate the extent to which European integration has influenced international relations. 6) Become more discerning consumers of European political media. 7) Improve written and oral communication skills. Course Assignments/Grading: The grade for this course will be determined as follows: Participation: 10% Midterm Examination: 45% Final Examination: 45% Peer Instruction: The academic literature on teaching and learning has documented a strong causal relationship between active participation/course content discussion and student learning, but structuring active discussion can be difficult in large lecture courses. To facilitate active participation and discussion, I will use a relatively new pedagogy, Peer Instruction, which, together with clicker technology, can assist in the facilitation of both small and large group discussions which research suggests promotes student learning gains. For this reason, this course requires each of you to have a clicker and to bring it to every lecture. We will begin “practicing” with Peer Instruction and clickers during the first and second weeks of class, with clicker participation factoring into your participation grade from the third week to the end of the course. If you do not already have a clicker, this will allow you time to find, borrow, or purchase one (new or used) online or at the UCSD Bookstore. Please note that if you buy your clicker online, purchase the i-clicker brand, which is what UCSD’s infrastructure supports. Additionally, if you want to sell the clicker back to the UCSD bookstore, you should purchase the i-clicker 2, because although the I-clicker 1 works for the class, the UCSD Bookstore will not buy back i-clicker 1 remotes at the end of the quarter. Please remember to register your clicker on TritonEd (the link is on course  home page, last item on upper left menu), because participation points will not register to your course participation grade if your clicker is not registered. Clicker Question Expectations: Peer Instruction questions will be geared toward enhancing your understanding of course readings, current events, and lecture material and will help you prepare for course examinations. In general, I will ask two different types of clicker questions. One type of question (reading/application) will focus on a central point from your readings/lectures and may test your ability to apply theoretical concepts learned in the readings or lectures towards explaining current events. Pedagogically, reading/application questions are used to strengthen critical reading and thinking skills, and ensure that central concepts are generally understood. A second type of question (discussion) will be a “polling” question, asking you to take a stand on an issue related to European integration. Pedagogically, these questions are designed to hone critical thinking skills and, specifically, the ability to articulate persuasive arguments to support particular positions, based on logic and compelling evidence. Current Events Discussion: I will open each lecture with a discussion of relevant news topics, followed by a reading/application question which will ask you to identify key concepts in the reading and/or how current events reflect theoretical discussions reflected in the reading or from lecture. For reading/application questions, you will receive full credit (1 pt.) for getting the question correct and half credit (.5 pt.) simply for participating. To ensure that you are able to build connections between theoretical material and current events, keeping up with course readings (and current events) will be useful. Although I often post relevant links to articles of interest via Twitter, students should become familiar with various news resources providing extensive coverage of European politics. The following is a list of websites which may be of interest: New York Times Online (http://www.nytimes.com) Economist Online (http://www.economist.com) Financial Times (http://www.ft.com) BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk) Presseurop English (http://www.presseurop.eu/en) Lecture Discussion: In addition to current events discussions, I may also ask clicker questions throughout lecture. Reading/application questions posed during lecture will be scored in the same manner listed above (i.e., full credit for giving the correct answer, half credit for participating). I may also ask discussion questions during lecture, which will ask you to discuss/debate pressing issues in European politics. For discussion questions, you will receive full credit (1 pt.) for participating. Grading Participation: In assessing your grade for the participation component of the course, 20% of the total clicker points during the official counting period can be missed without penalty. Approximately 1 – 3 clicker questions will be asked per class period, so if you miss a session or forget your clicker, that should not negatively impact your participation grade. Failure to click in on more than 20% of the clicker questions will, however, negatively impact your participation grade and lost participation credit cannot be “made up”. Subsequently, as this course requires regular attendance and active participation, you should keep these responsibilities in mind as you decide whether to remain in this course. Course Behavior: While issues of threatening or inappropriate behavior are not expected at the university level, please be advised that inappropriate, insensitive, and/or threatening behavior directed towards other students or the teaching staff will not be tolerated. Any violation of UCSD’s student conduct code will be referred to the appropriate administrative office for review. Midterm and Final Examinations: Both course examinations will be 6-8 pages in length and the topic and due dates will be discussed in lecture. Please be advised that course examinations build on both  lecture information and course readings, subsequently, papers which do not show familiarity with both will be penalized. Drop Deadline: UCSD has changed the last day to drop a course from the ninth week of the quarter to the sixth week of the quarter (9 November 2018). Given the way that themes are presented and the scheduling of the midterm examination, although you will have access to participation grades throughout the quarter, please be advised that you will not receive a grade for the midterm prior to the drop deadline. Late Assignments: For both examinations, we require an electronic copy submitted to turnitin.com prior to the due date and barring emergencies accompanied by valid documentation, no late assignments will be accepted. Students should notify us prior to an assignment’s deadline of any emergency which may preclude them from submitting an assignment on time (i.e., we will NOT typically entertain any emergency requests received after the paper is due). Please be aware that unless TritonEd and/or Academic Computing Services officially indicates that Turnitin.com is out of service, an inability to upload to Turnitin.com prior to the deadline (e.g., slow connection, forgetting to click submit, etc.) does not constitute a valid emergency. Subsequently, you are strongly encouraged to save and keep a receipt of your Turnitin.com submission for your records. Additionally, please be aware that if you upload the wrong paper to Turnitin.com, due to issues of fairness, we cannot “clear the submission” and allow you to re-submit once the due date has passed. If the “wrong paper” is submitted after the due date has passed, it will not receive credit. Academic Integrity: While issues of plagiarism are not expected, course assignments are to be completed on an individual basis. Incidents of plagiarism will be dealt with according to department and university procedures. Please be advised that under no circumstances will credit be given for any assignment which is deemed to violate UCSD’s policies on academic integrity, subsequently, if either examination is found to violate UCSD’s policies on academic integrity, no credit will be given for the assignment and a grade of “F” will be posted for the course. Additionally, “clicking in” on behalf of another student is a violation of Academic Integrity and will be dealt with according to university procedures regarding academic integrity, subsequently, any student found responsible for violating UCSD policies on academic integrity related to clicker participation will receive a grade of “0” for the course participation component of the course. Required Materials: The Political System of the European Union. 3rd Ed. Hix and Høyland. Democracy in Europe. Schmidt The United States of Europe. Reid Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century. Leonard Of Paradise and Power. Kagan i-Clicker remote Although every effort has been made to place textbooks on reserve at the Geisel Library, university and departmental budgetary difficulties may preclude all texts from being made available via reserves. While the decision to purchase the textbooks is entirely yours, the decision not to purchase the textbooks is not a viable excuse for not completing the assigned readings. If you elect not to purchase the books, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have access to the material. Given the rising costs of textbooks, you may wish to shop around online. Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Textbooks.com all have used and new textbooks at competitive prices. Reading Schedule: Given that this is an upper division course, the reading load is extensive. For those of you planning on completing post graduate studies please be advised that the reading list for this course is quite modest compared to what you will face in your future studies. While I recognize that each of you has a variety of commitments and responsibilities, I expect students to attend lecture prepared to actively discuss the course readings and concepts. Strategies for tackling academic readings can be found on the course website.