Teaching European Studies Differently? The question of meaningfully diversifying perspectives in the BAES classroom

Academic research in European Studies of recent decades has critically reflected on its Eurocentricism. In this context, various agendas on how to decentre or decolonize the analysis of the European Union and the field of European Studies have emerged (Bhambra 2022, Keukeleire & Lecocq 2018, Fisher Onar & Nicolaïdis 2013). While the importance of these approaches for academic research has been widely recognized, their impact on teaching practices has received comparatively less publishing attention (for some exceptions see Evans & Ionescu 2023, Shahjahan et al. 2021). This stands in stark contrast to ongoing efforts to diversify European Studies curriculums and classroom practices, as means to convey decentred and decolonized ideas about what Europe is to (mostly European) students. Which story - or stories - of Europe do we convey to students? Is it one of the founding fathers of European integration of the 1940s, or one that critically reflects about multiple Europes and European colonialism? This paper uses the case study of the Bachelor of European Studies (BAES), as a novel joint degree programme among ten European universities, to explore the diversity of European Studies curriculums. Kicked off in 2022, its starting point is the idea that ‘to understand Europe, you have to experience Europe’. The programme combines an international (i.e., high mobility of students among the ten universities), multidisciplinary (i.e., various choices for majors and minors taught jointly and in parallel across the universities), and multilingual approach (i.e., necessary language learning across mobility stations). As such, it represents a relevant case study for how novel programmes and various programme partners incorporate considerations of diversifying European Studies. The insights of this paper are based on document analysis and surveys with BAES students and instructors across the ten European campuses/cities (Bologna, Krakow, Leuven, Madrid + Berlin, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Leiden, Paris, Zurich). Taken together, the paper will help to understand the extent to which diverse curriculum choices and teaching practices are successful in conveying diverse ideas about Europe to students. These insights will inform both academic research on super-mobile students and the decentring/decolonizing of European Studies curriculums, but can also inform teaching practice and educational policy-making.