European Studies with Russian

Crann na Beatha

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Ravelleman

I did European Studies with Spanish and French so, if it's a general overview of the course, including the structure of the language part, that you want, I can provide that. As for Russian a number of my friends did it so I could probably give some impressions of that too.

Anyway, let me know and I can write you a longer reply.

What other language were you thinking of taking?

Crann na Beatha

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Ravelleman

The language options depend on your starting level. In general though, you can only take one language ab initio. Given that you're mod of the Russian and Polish language fora, you presumably already have some level in both languages. Ultimately it will probably depend on whether you are a native speaker of either or if you've had any formal instruction in the languages. That's something that you may have to confirm with the European Studies or Admissions office. If you're a native speaker of either, you might that European Studies is not for you.

Taking a language as a beginner is a large commitment. I speak from experience from my time studying Spanish. The big push in first year if you take Spanish will passing the exams in summer, as both beginners and non-beginners take the same exam. It's certainly very manageable though.

The big difference between European Studies and other language courses available through TSM is the much narrower focus of ES. You won't have options to study literature, linguistics, socio linguistics and the like through European Studies. In general, the language modules are geared towards more practical use of the language, which might be useful for studying history or politics, for example. You will obviously have some contact with literature in the form of translations, especially in 4th year, if you take Spanish, but this is from the point of view of understanding how the language works, rather than appreciation of the oeuvre itself.

In terms of core courses, there is a definite trend - a broad path that students follow - during the four years to gain a real understanding of European cultural history, although this can become slightly blurred as you progress.

In first year you'll have a course on 'Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700', which might not seem that interesting now, but really gives you the foundation for everything else in the course. 'History of Ideas' is a more general, introductory course that will give you an overview of some of the more interesting and sometimes quirky features of intellectual development from the 19th century onwards. The 'Introduction to Social Science' course, in my time at least, was disappointing and left me rather cold, especially the Politics and Economics parts.

In second year, you have to take 'Culture and Politics, 1700(?)-1870(?)', which is one of the more challenging courses in the programme. It's not a history course relating to countries, wars, dates and the like, but rather social and intellectual currents in Europe. There's a lot of focus on the Enlightenment at the start and later on the French Revolution, perhaps the formative moment in European history. You'll also have an option available. I decided not to dilute the degree with politics options so I went for 'Continental Europe, 1870-present', which had a much more general focus than C&P.

Third year is your Erasmus year. The Spanish department has some nice options - Salamanca, Seville and Alcalá. While you're away you essentially have a carte blanche to study what you want as long as it's more or less related to the degree programme.

Fourth year was something I very much enjoyed. Others didn't and it became a point of much contention. Essentially, a lot of people's problems related to work load, which I, incidentally, didn't think was that bad, and the core course, 'Modernism and Mass Society'. High workloads are to be expected. Some people found it hard to deal with the level of language work required, translation in particular. I found it to be the most fruitful in terms of real learning. This was with a Spanish major. In fourth year, my French minor was reduced to one hour of class a week, which was rather untaxing. The core course was given by a large group of different lecturers who particpated for two weeks. Some really hated the course but I thought they'd lost track of what the programme was meant to achieve. I thought it really tied off the whole path through the degree nicely, with some really focused study of different thinkers from the 20th century, much of which will be very useful if you go into post-graduate study - it gives you the framework for a lot of theory that will make you. You'll also have other options available. Two of the more popular options were on 'Right-wing Exremism' in the French department and 'Sovietisation' in the Russian department. You can also do a dissertation, which is advisable if you have any post-graduate pretensions.

Overall I really enjoed the course. I found many of the grievances I heard over the years rather tiresome. The course certainly isn't for everyone. If you want to take lots of politics options, it's not for you - do political science or HisPol. If you like literature or linguistics, don't bother. If you like historiography or want to be taken really seriously as a historian, perhaps history with a language through TSM would be better for you.

If you're interested in cultural history - trends, processes, developments - with a strongly integrated language element that really colours the whole experience, then it might be for you.

Crann na Beatha

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Ravelleman

Me!

simon0brien

I'm applying to Russian/ Spanish TSM No. 1 & Russian/ Italian TSM No. 2 this year