European Studies: Politics – Law – Society

From winter semester 2023/24, Saarland University’s Bachelor of European Studies will offer a B.A. in European Studies: Politics – Law – Society as a fourth programme alongside Geographies of Europe, Modern and Contemporary History, and Comparative Literature.

What will you learn in the bachelor’s degree programme European Studies: Politics – Law – Society? What career prospects does this programme offer?

For thousands of years European countries fought out their conflicts on the battlefield, leading to some of the most appalling wars in human history.  In the wake of this experience, Europe launched a unique experiment: the endeavour to solve disputes and conflicts not by war but by negotiation. In other words, Europe replaced the rule of force with the rule of law. This led to a hitherto inconceivable phase of cooperation between European states and to a period of unparallelled peace and prosperity. Questions arise, however: Can this success story go on indefinitely? Are the peoples of Europe and their political leaders prepared to yield more and more power to Brussels? Is that even desirable? Would it mean a loss of essential values – a loss of the diversity for which Europe stands? Are there perhaps other ways than that of ever greater integration? When the EU was just a common market such questions hardly arose. Today they are crucial.

Become experts on Europe and you’ll be able to answer such questions – and many others! In the B.A. programme European Studies: Politics – Law – Society your teachers will introduce you to the latest politological and sociological theories, and to the methods of data analysis, and will support you in applying them in practice. You will, in other words, be trained rigorously as social scientists. On completion of your studies you will be familiar with the political systems of Europe’s nation states, the functioning and working methods of the EU, and the common factors and differences among Europe’s societies.

Basic information on the B.A. programme

The programme provides a thorough social science training, primarily in the disciplines of political science and sociology, with complementary insights into European history, geography and culture. With a degree in this field, you will understand the ongoing development of politics, law and society and be able to to analyse the approaches of other disciplines to social science theories and methods.

This will give you an excellent basis either to continue studying for a master’s degree in European studies, sociology, or political science, or to embark on a career in a European institution or similar organization in Brussels, Berlin, or one of the German state capitals – or in the wider civil service or private sector. In today’s business and administrative world, European and international governance, cooperation and regulation are omnipresent, and competence in these areas is much called for.