The Waning of European Studies in the US: Should We Worry? Why? What To Do?

Session Submission Type: Virtual Roundtable

Session Description

Political scientists, at best, prepare their students for well-informed civic engagement in an increasingly pluralistic environment, which challenges the primacy of Western identities, ideologies and political institutions. At the same time, US academia faces diminishing financial resources due to lower enrollment, a combined outcome of COVID-19 and the demographic curve, and to the reluctance of state legislatures to finance their institutions of higher education adequately. Given these facts, should the study of European politics and European political theory continue to have a preeminent role in American political science departments?

Since the end of the Cold War, and even more so since the 2008 Great Recession, some US academic institutions have chosen to slash the study of European history, languages and politics, by cancelling courses and not replacing departing faculty. Some argue that this strategy allows a curricular rebalancing, moving away from an excessively Western and Europe-focused topics of research and teaching, and making room for new methodological techniques and other regional focuses. Others point to the ongoing role European studies should play in the American academy, with knowledge of European politics– and institutions of the European Union – forming an important comparative referent for students.

This panel reflects on the role of European studies in American political science research and teaching, asking both what place there is for thinking about Europe in the contemporary moment and how to rethink the teaching of Europe to engage with a broader range of questions and scholarship.

Participants in this roundtable will debate the following questions, and others from the audience, by drawing both from their scholarly expertise and lived experience:

What is European politics? What place do regional studies have in the contemporary academy?
Is there a waning of European Studies in political science in the US?
If yes, should we worry about this? Why?
What can be learned, if anything, from European political studies on racism, neo-colonialism, and gender inequality across the world?
Have scholars of European political studies teaching in US academia paid enough attention to issues of racism, neo-colonialism and gender inequality?
Concrete examples of teaching, which provide students with a comparative perspective on the US, but also other continents, from Africa to Latin America?
How much is the European Union doing to support European Studies in the US? Should it do more?
What arguments might persuade university administrators to maintain or increase their support for European Studies?
What arguments might persuade state legislators to maintain or increase their support for European Studies in their state universities?
Should political scientists collaborate with colleagues teaching European-related topics in departments of History, Sociology, Anthropology, etc. in their home institutions to support the study of Europe or is this an unfeasible strategy?

Sub Unit

• Division 15: European Politics and Society

Chair

• Jane R. Gingrich University of Oxford

Presenters

• Catherine Blanche Guisan University of Minnesota

• Erik Jones European University Institute

• R. Daniel Kelemen Rutgers University, New Brunswick

• Julia Lynch University of Pennsylvania

• Cathie Jo Martin Boston University

• Brent F. Nelsen Furman University

• Peter J. Verovšek University of Sheffield