Introduction to the European Union (L2080)

15 credits, Level 4

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll gain a broad interdisciplinary understanding of the European Union (EU). You’ll explore key questions, including:

• what the EU is and how it came to be what it is today
• how the EU works and what it does
• what people think of the EU and why
• how its membership has grown through successive enlargements
• why the EU is said to be in a state of crisis
• how the EU might evolve in the future.

While the module provides a general overview of these topics, it offers a strong foundation for you to independently explore specific questions in greater detail.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.