PhD course on a differentiated Europe

The core objective of this course is to address differentiation as a central concern in European studies, across academic disciplines from political science, public policy and public administration, to law, sociology and history. All modern political systems are differentiated; the EU is distinctly so. Precisely how and what the implications are for the EU and its member states remain contested. The course aims to conceptualize differentiation, discuss causes and effects of differentiation, and show how differentiation manifests itself internally in the EU and in the EU’s relations with non-members.

Through a combination of lectures by leading scholars and group work, the PhD course will introduce doctoral students to theories and observations on core aspects of differentiation. Training will draw resources from a large network of scholars with whom ARENA researchers collaborate. Students will gain access to state-of-the-art research and obtain knowledge on the type of critical theory of political differentiation that enables separating constructive from pathological forms of differentiation.

The PhD course, A differentiated Europe and its implications, will build upon a large collaborative network of scholars established as part of the EU-funded ARENA-coordinated project EU Differentiation, Dominance and Democracy (EU3D), and the broader network of its sister projects InDivEU and EU IDEA, which come together in the EU-funded Collaboration and Support Action DiCE.

Lecturers

• John Erik Fossum, Professor of Political Science, ARENA and EU3D Scientific Coordinator
• Jarle Trondal, Professor of Political Science, ARENA and EU3D

Other lecturers

• Dirk Leuffen, Professor of political science and international politics at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, at the University of Konstanz, and work-package co-leader in EU3D
• Benjamin Leruth, Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society, University of Groningen
• Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor of International Relations in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Professor of Political Science at Boston University
• Sieglinde Gstöhl, Director of the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies and full-time Professor, College of Europe in Bruges

To apply, please complete and send in the application form within 15 May 2022.

• Read more: Course description and admission
• Read more: Student experiences from the 2021 course