Semester 1 Courses for All Tracks // Required & Electives

3 Credits
Instructor: Christiane Lemke (CES Visiting Professor from University of Hannover, Germany)

The seminar begins with a brief introduction of the European integration process, then covers major theories of integration, the institutions of the EU, including the most recent EU reform process and some major policies of the EU.

Download the Syllabus for POLI 733

All electives listed below are 3-credit courses and are subject to change from semester to semester.

TransAtlantic Track // Semesters 1-3

3 Credits

Download the Syllabus for POLI 490

This class is required for TransAtlantic Track students and will be taught by the DAAD Visiting professor, Dominic Nyhuis. Other TAM students may take POLI 490 as an elective class if they wish.

The course introduces students to the theory and practice of studying European public opinion. The course is split into three parts. In the first part, we will discuss core concepts and important problems in the study of public opinion. We will encounter different research designs for analyzing public opinion but focus on survey research for the rest of the semester. In the second part of the course, we will familiarize ourselves with tools and common datasets for the empirical study of European public opinion. In the third part of the course, we will examine several recent contributions on different aspects of European public opinion. Over the course of the semester, students will develop a small research project on a European public opinion question of their choice. The course concludes with students giving a short presentation on their findings.
After attending the course, students…

• are familiar with the basic concepts and research designs in the study of public opinion.
• are aware of important debates in the field of European public opinion.
• are able to interpret and critically evaluate survey research.
• are able to design and conduct a survey research project.
• are able to present their research findings in a written report.

In recent years TransAtlantic Studies students have taken the following classes at the overseas partner sites. There may be some variation in offerings at the sites from year to year.

• Organized Crime in Europe
• International security
• Economic Foreign Policy and International Trade Regulation
• Theories of Conflict and Conflict Resolution
• Britain and Europe
• International Organizations in World Politics
• The Politics of Risk

• Comparative European Politics
• Memory Culture – Memory Politics
• Governance, Security and Development in East and South East Asia
• Russian Politics in Comparative Perspective
• The Cultures of Globalization
• International Terrorism
• Foreign Policy Analysis
• International Relations Theories
• International Security: Theories and Concepts
• Scopes and Methods of Politics and International Relations
• Comparative Public Policy and Social Welfare: Cross-National, European and Global Perspectives

• Migration and International Politics
• Die Europäische Union: Policy-Making in Zeiten von Finanz und Flüchtlingskrise (The European Union: Policy Making in Times of Financial and Refugee Crisis)
• Die Außenpolitik de EU: Probleme von Erfolg und Misserfolg (The Foreign Policy of the EU: Problems and Success and Failure)
• Die Türkei und die EU: Herausforderungen und Gelegenheiten (Turkey and the EU: Challenges and Opportunities)

• Redrawing the political map of Europe
• Theories and Practices of Political Participation
• Erfolge und Grenzen der Mittelmeerpolitik (Successes and limits of Mediterranean Policy)
• Contemporary Germany: Institutions, Actors and Political Change
• Theory and Methods of Migration Policy
• Turkey and the EU: Challenges and Opportunities The Current Refugee Crisis in Europe: Causes, Trends, Debates and Policies European Language Policy and Language Education Policy

• Europeanisation of public policies
• Politiques européennes de l’environnement
• Droit social de l’Union européenne
• Contentieux européen
• Economic Governance
• EU External Action
• Welfare State in Europe

• Public Opinion in the EU
• Interest groups and collective action in the EU
• Parliaments and Parties in the EU
• Les entreprises et les sociétés dans l’Union européenne
• Séminaire EU Law and Politics
• The Relations between Europe and the US Since World War II

• Global Governance and the European Scenario Fragile States, Political Islam, and Migrations from Africa: Western Strategies and African Perspectives
• Political Change and Ideological Challenge in Inter-War Europe
• Organized Crime in Italy and Beyond

European Governance Track // Semesters 1-3

3 Credits
Instructor: Robert Jenkins

European Governance students will take this class as a required course. Other TAM students may take Statistics and Data Analysis as an elective if they wish. This course focuses on the application of statistical analysis to quantitative data in order to study theoretically and substantively interesting questions about politics and policy. We start by considering some basic issues of empirical social science: Concept formation, measurement of concepts and variables, validity and reliability, explanations and hypothesis formation, and the challenge of drawing causal inferences. We then move to the basics of data analysis and descriptive statistical inference. We consider attributes of single variables, including their distributions and measures of central tendency and dispersion. We consider measures of association among two or more variables and demonstrate how to quantify the precision of estimates via confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. We next turn our attention to regression techniques, including ordinary least squares multiple regression as well as logistic regression. Finally, we consider in greater detail the problem of drawing causal rather than simply statistical inferences and examine some leading strategies for dealing with this important issue.

Download the Syllabus for POLI 788

Students who stay at UNC-CH for the spring semester on the European Governance Track will usually take three classes. These courses will be worth three credits each. European-Governance students are required to take a second-semester statistics course taught by Prof. Bob Jenkins called “Applying Data Analysis to Transatlantic Studies.” Please note that this class was previously taught as POLI 891 and will be POLI 888 starting in the Spring 2020 semester. In the spring of 2019 European Governance students also chose between POLI 448: The Politics of Multi-level Governance taught by Professor Liesbet Hooghe and POLI 630: Political Contestation in Europe taught by Professor Gary Marks. The third course was selected from a list of suggested elective classes. We do offer some flexibility in this semester and try to tailor coursework as closely as possible to the interests of the students. Those seeking the double degree need to take an additional POLI course for a total of four three-credit POLI courses in the spring.

In recent years European Governance students have taken the following classes at the overseas partner sites. There may be some variation in offerings at the sites from year to year.

• Research and Data Analysis Seminar
• Fundamentals of Political and Social Research
• Techniques of Statistical Analysis

German-Turkish Track // Semesters 1-3

3 Credits
Instructor: Cemil Aydin

German-Turkish Studies students now have the option to go to Ankara in the second semester of the program. Some opt to remain at UNC for the spring, and moving on to Berlin is also an option. German-Turkish Studies students in Ankara will usually take classes such as Security in Turkey; Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and Eurasia, and they will also have a joint seminar focused on Germany and Turkey. They may continue their Turkish language studies if they began that instruction at UNC or elsewhere. If students stay at UNC during the second semester of TAM, they will take three classes. These courses will be worth three credits each. German-Turkish Studies students may wish to take a class with Professor Banu Gökarıksel such as GEOG 448: Transnational Muslims or an Independent Study with Professor Eren Tasar focused on the political history for contemporary Turkey. We do offer some flexibility in this semester and try to tailor coursework as closely as possible to the interests of the students. The classes in Berlin will vary but will be similar to those offered at METU.

In recent years German-Turkish studies students have taken the following classes at the overseas partner sites. There may be some variation in offerings at the sites from year to year.

• Migration, State, Citizenship
• Research Questions and Research Design – How to Prepare the MA Thesis
• Facets of Democratic Theory and Practices in Europe
• Contemporary Institutions, Actors and Political Change
• Governing Wider Europe
• International Institutional Reform and Domestic Politics

In most cases, TAM students are free to write their thesis in the location of their choice during their fourth and final semester. Double degree seekers may need to stay at their overseas site for the full academic year overseas.