European Union Politics and Law – (M.Sc.)

Contents

A standard programme of taught study in European Union Politics and Law involves the successful completion of two core courses and four optional courses together with a period of self-structured study requiring the submission of a dissertation. Core and optional courses will generally consist of twenty class-contact hours per course in either winter or spring semester.

Core Courses

The two key courses which are studied by all students are:

* Institutions and Policies of the European Union
* Theorizing European Integration

Sample Optional Courses

Students can then select optional courses from a variety of subjects offered by the School of Social and Political Studies and the School of Law, allowing them to develop a programme of study which reflects their specific interests. These options may include:

* Comparative Territorial Politics
* Comparative Analysis of Social and Public Policy
* Crime, Justice and Public Policy
* European Social Policy
* France in International Affairs
* The EU in International Affairs
* International Political Economy
* Politics of Migration in Europe
* Economics and Policy of European Integration
* EC Competition Law
* EU Criminal Law
* EU Immigration and Asylum Law
* European and International Human Rights Law
* European Labour Law
* European Media Law and Policy
* European Union and Domestic Parliamentary Governance
* Jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice
* Law of the Internal Market
* Regulatory Governance in the EU

Access to some law options may be dependent on prior subject knowledge or the requirement to undertake an undergraduate foundation course in the first semester.

Dissertation

The dissertation (normally 15,000 words) constitutes the main work in which students demonstrate the extent to which they have achieved an ability for independent study. The dissertation is an extended piece of scholarship in which you have the opportunity to pursue in-depth an interest on a topic (largely) of your choosing. In it you are expected to demonstrate your ability to engage critically and analytically in literature in the field, building upon relevant concepts and theory covered in the taught element of the degree. A balance of empirical and theoretical work is usually expected. However, students are not required to conduct primary empirical research. Students normally undertake dissertations in the period April to August, the latter being the fixed and final submission date.

Some examples of recent dissertations that we have received include:

Why did the Member States of the European Union agree on a headline Goal at the Helsinki European Summit in December 1999?

The Approach of the European Union to Human Cloning as seen from an Ethical Perspective

Internalising an International Norm: Political Conditionality and its Incorporation into the European Union's Development Policy

Power Shifts in the European Union? The Case of Economic and Social Cohesion Policy

MSc by Research in European Politics and Law

The MSc by Research includes the same requirements to study the two core course, Institutions and Policies of the European Union and Theorising European Integration. However students must also complete another three core courses which include Research Skills in the Social Sciences - Data Collection, Quantitative Data Analysis and Research Design. The final sixth course can be selected from any of the sample specialist options available for the general taught degree. The dissertation requirements are also similar to the taught degree.