Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in European Studies

Programme Director: Prof AWAN-SCULLY, Roger

European civilization is among the most influential in the world. To understand Europe is to understand one of the main sources of modernity. The European Union has emerged as a major actor in world politics and economics; its growth and development are of vital global importance.

Within European Studies, Political Science provides the disciplinary core, underpinned by history and (cultural) area studies, business/economics or communication courses. Students also undergo rigorous training in either German or French up to levels of academic and professional fluency. The aim is to give students a firm knowledge of the basic features of the European world and the communicative skills necessary for a future professional or academic career in the fields of European-Asian relations. Knowledge of Europe is deepened by the Honours Project in the final year, based on first-hand research into a particular subject related to Europe. Successful graduates also possess the skills requisite for immediate entry to postgraduate programmes both locally and in Europe.

The objectives of the programme are:

  1. To provide students with a general and up-to-date knowledge of contemporary Europe, firmly grounded in the social sciences, with an emphasis on the European Union and its member states;
  2. To enable students to grasp the significance of Europe to world history, politics and economics and to train them to become skilled and knowledgeable communicators between Hong Kong/mainland China and Europe;
  3. To assist students in acquiring high, professionally relevant proficiency in one major European language (other than English);
  4. To provide orientation and intellectual stimulus for students to understand and appreciate their own and other cultures/societies in an increasingly multi-polar and multi-cultural world; and
  5. In these ways to contribute to Hong Kong’s role as a major international commercial and cultural crossroads.

European Studies consists of two years of full-time study in Hong Kong, a third year spent in Europe, followed by a fourth year in Hong Kong. The third year is designed as an integral part of the overall programme. It consists of academic study at a European university and possibly a placement with European companies/institutions. Students should gain the benefits of on-the-spot academic training and linguistic immersion as well as first-hand experience of work in a European environment. Please visit the following websites for the partner universities of the French and German Streams respectively:

- French Stream: https://europe.hkbu.edu.hk/french/partner_institutions.html

- German Stream: https://europe.hkbu.edu.hk/germanstream/partner-institutopns.html 

Bachelor of Social Sciences in European Studies (French) Combined Degree Programme with Sciences Po Lyon (SPL) and Sciences Po Bordeaux (SPB)

Students who have met the required qualifications in the first two years, may opt for a combined degree pathway with either Sciences Po Lyon (from 2019-2020 onwards) or with Sciences Po Bordeaux (from 2020-2021 onwards) — two elite higher education institutions in France  that provide rigorous training in social sciences at large, and contemporary world affairs in particular. Eventually, the students who fulfil the requirements will graduate with two degrees: the BSocSc (Hons) in European Studies at the end of the fourth year from HKBU and Sciences Po's master degree (Diplôme de Sciences Po) at the end of the fifth year. For more details, please visit: https://gis.hkbu.edu.hk/study/section/405/ (for SPL) and https://gis.hkbu.edu.hk/study/section/409/ (for SPB).

The structure of the curriculum is as follows:

I) Social Sciences Common Core 4 units
II) Major Required Courses 66 units
III) Honours Project 6 units
IV) University Core Courses 13 units
V) General Education Courses 18 units
VI) Free Electives 21 units
    128 units

Requirements

I. Social Sciences Common Core 4 units
  Core Course (1 unit)  
  SOSC1006 Invitation to Social Sciences 1 unit
  Experiential Learning in Action (3 units) +  
  Either  
  SOSC3005 Community and Civic Engagement 3 units
  Or  
  SOSC3006 Global Outreach  3 units
     
II. Major Required Courses 66 units
  EURO1205 French and German Societies through the World of Film 3 units
  EURO1206 Europe: Unity and Diversity 3 units
  EURO2007 The Political Economy of the European Union 3 units
  EURO2015 Model European Union 3 units
  EURO4005 Current Issues of European Integration 3 units
  Either  
  EURO4006 European Economic and Business Life: travailler en contexte international  3 units
  Or  
  EURO4007 European Economic and Business Life: Wirtschaft im Wandel/Deutsch-chinesische Wirtschaftsbeziehungen  3 units
  Either  
  EURO4205 European Foreign Relations and Diplomacy: Relations extérieures et diplomatie françaises  3 units
  Or  
  EURO4206 European Foreign Relations and Diplomacy: Deutschlands Aussenbeziehungen und Diplomatie  3 units
  Either   
  EURO4215 French-Speaking Countries and Communities: la francophonie 3 units
  Or  
  EURO4216 German-Speaking Countries and Communities 3 units
  Either  
  EURO4225 Contemporary European Societies: questions d’actualité  3 units
  Or  
  EURO4226 Contemporary European Societies: Struktur und Zukunft der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft  3 units
  Either  
  FREN1205 European Language in Context I (French) 9 units
  Or  
  GERM1205 European Language in Context I (German) 9 units
  Either  
  FREN2027 Summer School on European Language and Culture (French) 6 units
  Or  
  GERM2027 Summer School on European Language and Culture (German) 6 units
  Either  
  FREN2208 European Language in Context II (French)  9 units
  FREN2209 European Language in Context II (French) 9 units
  Or  
  GERM2208 European Language in Context II (German)  9 units
  GERM2209 European Language in Context II (German) 9 units
  POLS2007 Introduction to Research Methods 3 units
  Either  
  POLS2205 European Politics and Society: French Political and Government System  3 units
  Or  
  POLS2206 European Politics and Society: German Political Systems and Society  3 units
     
III. Honours Project 6 units
  EURO4898 Honours Project (European Studies) 3 units
  EURO4899 Honours Project (European Studies)  3 units
     
IV. University Core Courses 13 units
     
V. General Education Courses 18 units
     
VI. Free Electives+ 21 units
  European Academic/Internship Semesters (21 units)
 
  EURO3008 European Academic/Internship Semester I+ 9 units
  EURO3009 European Academic/Internship Semester II+ 12 units
  + Students taking EURO3008 European Academic/Internship Semester I and EURO3009 European Academic/Internship Semester II will fulfil the course requirement of Experiential Learning in Action under “Social Sciences Common Core”. Students have to fulfil the 3 units derived from Experiential Learning in Action by taking Free Elective course(s). Hence, students are required to take a total of 24 units of Free Elective courses.
    128 units

 

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