European Politics & Society
Objectives
- Fostering the EPS learning community and encouraging students to become better acquainted through an intensive academic, cultural and social program.
- Exploring the relationship between sub-national regions and the EU.
- Learning about the social and economic relations between Danish and German people in the border region throughout history, from conflict to peaceful exchange.
- Experiencing and observing the life, culture, and political environment of Denmark and Germany.
Previous Activities Have Included
- Visit to Dybbøl Banke, the infamous battle site of the Danish defeat in 1864 by the German army
- Presentation on the German federal system by a Hamburg Parliament Member and tour of the building
- A trip to the third largest bridge in the world, Storbælt Bridge
- Lecture at the University of Southern Denmark about German-Danish border integration
- Tour of Lubeck, a German UNESCO World Heritage city
Description
The European Union core course travels to Western Denmark and Northern Germany to examine the tumultuous history of the Schleswig-Holstein region. Denmark, once a great regional power, lost its final battle to the Germans in the War of 1864 at Dybbøl Banke. You will visit the site of the Danish defeat – often called “The Danish Gettsyburg” – and examine the culture and history of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, a region that was once a part of Danish territory. We look at the ramifications of connecting Northern Germany and Denmark with bridges (in the Lolland Kommune and the Store Bælt Bridge) and how successful – or unsuccessful – the European Union has been in breaking down the borders of countries and uniting Europe as a whole.
In addition to your travel to Western Denmark, we travel even farther south to the Kiel Parliament, where we receive a lecture by parliament members. You will discuss how federal states in Germany lobby and interact with the European Union and then you will receive a guided tour of the building. While in Western Denmark and Northern Germany, you also get to participate in cultural activities, such as taking a tour of a Lubeck, a UNESCO World Heritage city, and visiting a concentration camp that imprisoned many Danish political dissidents during the Nazi regime.
