Official launch of the 2nd edition of the Arqus Joint Master in European Studies

50 new students from all over the world were welcomed by the representatives of the participating Arqus universities, local coordinators, academic directors and first-generation Masters students, who shared their experiences of being part of the first promotion.

A hybrid event on 2 October brought together the new students who are the second generation to start the Arqus Joint Master in European Studies. Representatives from all four partner universities cordially welcomed the new group. Prof. Ana María García Campaña (Vice-Rector for Postgraduate Studies and Continuing Education, University of Granada), Prof. Mireille van Poppel (Vice-Rector for Internationalisation and Equal Opportunities, University of Graz), Prof. Matthias Middell (Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, University of Leipzig) and Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas (Rector, University of Vilnius) underlined the uniqueness and ambition of this transnational MA programme. They were joined by the local coordinators and academic directors as well as students from the first generation in the Arqus Joint Master students, who enthusiastically reflected on their first year experiences. The 50 newly enrolled students from all over Europe and the world are embarking on a journey that combines virtual and physical mobility.

The global challenges facing European societies have multiplied and become ever more complex in recent years, as people in all parts of the world face multiple, overlapping and intertwined crises, some more long-term than others, such as climate change, others rooted in longer historical trajectories but resulting in new emergencies, such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Profound questions arise: How should actors in Europe respond to multiple and interconnected crises, including climate change, the rise of populism, global health, economic disruption, and war?

Against this background, the Arqus Joint Master in European Studies aims to provide students with critical perspectives, specialised knowledge and advanced expertise to analyse, comprehend and mediate insights into the changing position of European actors and societies in a globally interconnected world, and about the interplay between processes of globalisation, European integration and fragmentation. In a transnational consortium, experts from the Universities of Granada, Graz, Leipzig, and Vilnius have developed a programme that combines social, cultural, political, economic, legal, and historical approaches to the study of contemporary Europe. We have done so because we are convinced that we need interdisciplinary expertise to address these challenges, that we need to situate European actors in an interconnected and fragmented world, that we can develop better insights through inter- and transregional comparisons and that we need to combine these with up-to-date research on European transformations.

The unique design of our Master programme, with its combination of joint core modules on the one hand and specialised local courses on the other, integrates innovations in digital teaching and allows for both virtual, blended and physical mobility between the four partner universities. In this way the programme develops a shared perspective on the challenges facing European societies which find themselves in an interconnected world characterised by multiple crises, while highlighting the specific expertise of the different partners in the consortium.

Written by Dr. Steffi Marung, Leipzig University