Introduction

Who We are?

The Department of European Studies was created in 1991 as the first of its kind in Denmark. The department belongs to the Institute of History and Area Studies and is a partner in the Jean Monnet Centre at Aarhus University.

The Focus of Our Work?

The Department conducts research and teaching on Europe in an inter-disciplinary perspective combining history, culture and politics. As a department placed at the crossroads between social sciences and the humanities we have particular expertise in dealing with questions concerning European politics and the European Union from a broad range of perspectives. Among the prioritised themes of research are European identity politics, minority questions in Europe, cultural policies of the European Union, gender issues in Europe, EU history, the EU’s policies towards agriculture and foods, the financing structure of the EU, the role of Norden in Europe, and the role of Central and Eastern European countries in Europe.

In our research and teaching on Europe, we take a pan-European approach as well as a focusing on European diversity. We deal with the common historical, cultural and civilisational foundations of Europe in order to understand European diversity. We have a particular interest in including various regions such as Norden (Scandinavia), Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey in our European perspective.

The Department works closely together with the other departments at the Institute of History and Area Studies. This gives us a unique possibility to widen the historical perspective and to study the evolution of exchanges among Europe and other macro-regions in the world such as China, Japan, Russia and India. We also have close links with researchers from the Department of Political Science.

What do we teach?

The Department of European Studies offers a particularly extensive two-year master’s programme in European Studies as well as a one-year undergraduate programme in European Studies. The department is also involved in the two-year master’s programme in International Studies offered at the institute.

In our teaching we also focus on the practical relevance of Europe. Over the years, we have launched several teaching projects in cooperation with external partners including the Confederation of Danish Industries, Rambøll Management, the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, and the Danish Dairy Board.  

Roughly 100 candidates are enrolled in the two programmes in European studies. The breadth of perspective and the unique interdisciplinary rigour of the programme attracts Danish as well as foreign students. Roughly half of our students come from other European countries or from countries in other parts of the world. We thus have a thriving, cosmopolitan atmosphere at the Department.