CHANGE OF TITLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN STUDIES

Senate on March 6^th is asked to agree to a change of title of the Department of European Studies. The proposed new title is ‘Department of European and International Studies’. This note is intended to provide the background and rationale for the proposed change.

The background is constituted by a number of factors affecting the activities and academic programmes of the Department. These include: the decline in demand for language programmes and thus for the Department’s established Modern European Studies degree; the opportunity to construct new undergraduate programmes linking European Area Studies with broader aspects of International Studies as well as Politics; the evolution of the Department’s postgraduate taught programmes in the same direction; and the marketing advantages to be gained from a departmental title and departmental programmes with a broader international aspect.

The rationale for the change of title follows directly from these contextual factors. The Department’s work is developing in directions which will mean a new strand of activities linked to International Studies, and there are demonstrable advantages to be gained from a title that not only reflects the Department’s undergraduate and postgraduate work but also gives salience to International Studies as an area of study. The Department is proposing a new undergraduate degree programme in International and European Studies to complement its existing Politics programme, and its Masters provision as noted above is already evolving in this direction. The Department will not cease teaching of languages, but these will be taught in a more accessible way for a wide range of students in the University, including those on the Department’s own programmes.

Senate is invited to approve the change of departmental title with effect from 1^stAugust 2002.

Mike Smith

19.02.02