European Studies major

Note: this major is only available to re-enrolling students.

Studying European Studies will give you an understanding of the cultures and societies that have shaped modern Europe. You will develop an understanding of the cultural and civic foundations for communication, integration and cooperation in the global context with specific reference to the European experience. Europe is analysed as an idea and experienced in terms of the cultural, social, political, legal, and historical frameworks of understanding. This major recognises the significance of the cultural component of European heritage in the contemporary and historical manifestations of the European project.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) have a critical understanding of the multiple forms of identification comprising the idea of Europe including ethnic, regional, national, supranational and civilisational structures of identity; (2) understand the cultural, historical, social and political factors in the idea of Europe and the European project in terms of unity in diversity; (3) identify the cultural and civic factors and conditions shaping European and global communication, integration and cooperation; (4) understand identity in terms of processes of inclusion and exclusion and the cultural and civic factors implicated in European and global conflict including ethnocentrism, Eurocentrism, utopianism, and racism; (5) be familiar with key components of, and processes in, the cultural and civic heritage of Europe and the European project; (6) understand contemporary European liberal democracy and civil society in relation to European cultural heritage and the history of the European project; (7) apply literary and socio-historical and interdisciplinary methods of analysis to the understanding of the Europe in terms of cultural, social, political, legal and historical frameworks of understanding; (8) apply interdisciplinary methods of analysis to critically compare and assess cultural, social, political, legal and historical frameworks of understanding; (9) apply literary and socio-historical methodologies to the analysis and understanding of European cultural experiences and products; and (10) contextualise elements of European cultural experience and European cultural products within broader social, historical and political frameworks.

Broadening guidelines

All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.

European Studies can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

BP001 Bachelor of Arts
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Overview of unit sequence

European Studies is a degree-specific single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • three Level 2 units
  • three Level 3 units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; N/A = not available in 2021

Note: Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2022 or 2023.

Level 1

Degree-specific major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
HIST1102
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ENGL1000 Global Literatures
S2 HIST1001 Clash of Empires
Incompatibility:
HIST1101 Old Worlds, New Empires 1250–1750
HIST1002

Level 2

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
ENGL2209
N/A HIST2202 Civilisation and Barbarism in European Culture
Incompatibility:
EURO2201 Civilisation and Barbarism in European Cultural History
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ENGL2215 Modernism and the Avant-garde
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 English unit
Incompatibility:
ENGL3605 Modernism
S1 ENGL2401 Netflicks: Cinema and Long-form Television
Incompatibility:
ENGL2217 Reading Film
ENGL2502
ENGL2602
S1 ENGL2604 Romanticism and Revolution
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 English unit
HIST2002
S2 HIST2005 Hitler, the Holocaust and the Historians
Prerequisites:
a Level 1 History unit
or
EURO1101 Europe Now: Cultures and Identities
or
GEND1901 Gender in Australia
Incompatibility:
HIST1122 History, the Holocaust and the Historians; HIST2237 German History from Bismarck to Hitler
HIST2012

Level 3

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
ENGL3301
N/A HIST3302 Imagining the Nation in European Cultural History
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 unit from the Bachelor of Arts.
Incompatibility:
EURO2203 Imagined Homelands—Survey; EURO3302 Imagining the Nation in European Cultural History
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 ENGL3602 Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 ENGL unit
or
MEMS2001 Classical Traditions and Transformations in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
or
EURO2209 Utopias, Imagination and Modernity in European Culture
or
LAWS2018 Law Literature
Incompatibility:
ENGL2234 Shakespeare at the Movies
ENGL3603
HIST3002
HIST3009
S1 HIST3011 Vikings, Crusaders, and Mongols: Medieval Europe in Conflict
Prerequisites:
a Level 2 HIST unit
or
EURO2201 European Civilisation
or
GEND2902 Men and Masculinities in History
Incompatibility:
HIST2285 The Vikings; HIST3385 The Vikings

Choosing your degree-specific major

Specialised degrees – Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours), Bachelor of Automation and Robotics, Bachelor of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Music

You must satisfy the requirements of the degree-specific major in your degree before you complete your course.

Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

This comprehensive degree does not require you to choose a degree-specific major.

General degrees

You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.

To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .

Choosing a second major

You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. and Bachelor of Science courses, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .