The Forces That Have Shaped Modern Europe
The Minor in European Studies is designed for students who are seeking a fuller understanding of the forces that have shaped modern Europe. The geographical and chronological scope of the Minor Program has been made deliberately broad to accommodate the wide variety of student interests. Subjects range in content from the Renaissance to the present, and from the British Isles to Central Europe. A student can choose to focus on one particular country or on a broader region, with a comparative perspective. Given the breadth of offerings, the student should consult closely with his or her Minor Advisor in order to devise a coherent program of study.
Students are expected to demonstrate intermediate level proficiency in a modern European language other than English by taking two intermediate (Levels III and IV) subjects, but they need not concentrate their other subjects on the country associated with that language.
The Minor Program in European Studies consists of six subjects (at least three of which must be MIT subjects) arranged in four areas of study:
Area I: Language
Area II: Humanities and Arts
Area III: Social Sciences
Area IV: Historical Studies
As with all HASS Minors, only five of the six minor subjects may be counted toward the 8-subject Institute HASS Requirement. Of these five, at most one (1) shall count toward satistaction of the HASS Distribution Requirement.
Area I: Language
Two intermediate (levels III and IV) subjects in a European language (except for English). Students with the equivalent proficiency (but who are not native speakers), can either take two advanced (post IV) language subjects (highly recommended), or another two from Areas II, III, and IV. Languages besides those presently taught at MIT (French, Spanish, German), can be taken at Harvard or Wellesley, or during the summer with permission from relevant transfer credit examiner.
Language subjects offered at MIT
21F.303 French III HASS-D Language Option
21F.304 French IV HASS-D Language Option
21F.308 Writing (Like the) French
21F.310 French Conversation: Intensive Practice
21F.403 German III HASS-D Language Option
21F.404 German IV HASS-D Language Option
21F.405 Germany Today: Intensive Study of German Language and Culture (IAP)
21F.410 Professioanl Communication in German
21F.703 Spanish III HASS-D Language Option
21F.704 Spanish IV HASS-D Language Option
21F.705 Oral Communication in Spanish
21F.712 Spanish Conversation and Composition
21F.713 Advanced Reading and Writing in Spanish
21F.714 Spanish for Bilingual Students
Areas II, III, IV: Four subjects to be selected from at least two areas.
Area II: Humanities and the Arts
A. The Arts
4.641 19th-Century Art
4.651 Art Since 1940
21M.011 Introduction to Western Music HASS-D, CI-H
B. Literature and Culture
(In English )
21F.051 Topics in French Film
21F.052 French Film Classics
21F.055 Media in Weimar and Nazi Germany CI-H
21F.056 Visual Histories: German Cinema 1945 to Present CI-H
21F.059 Paradigms of European Thought and Culture HASS-D, CI-H
21F.080 Masterpieces of Hispanic Culture
21L.012 Forms of Western Narrative HASS-D, CI-H
21L.463 Renaissance Literature CI-H
21L.470 Eighteenth-Century Literature
21L.471 Major English Novels
21L.472 Major European Novels CI-H
21L.481 Victorian Literature and Culture
(In French)
21F.311 Introduction to French Culture HASS-D
21F.312 Basic Themes in French Literature and Culture
21F.315 Cross-cultural Perspectives on Contemporary French Society
21F.320 Introduction to French Literature
21F.345 Contemporary French Theater
21F.346 Topics in Modern French Literature
(In German)
21F.412 Texts, Topics, and Times in German Literature
21F.414 German Culture, Media, and Society
21F.415 Germany and its European Context
21F.416 Twentieth-Century German Literature
(In Spanish)
21F.420 Visual Histories: German Cinema 1945 to Present
21F.716 Introduction to Contemporary Hispanic Literature HASS-D
21F.717 Introduction to Spanish Culture
21F.738 Literature and Social Conflict: Perspectives on Modern Spain
21F.735 Advanced Topics in Hispanic Literature and Film
21F.736 The Short Story in Span and Hispanic America
21F.740 The New Spain: 1977-Present
Area III: The Social Sciences
A. Political Science
17.534 Domestic Politics of Western Europe
B. Economics
14.72 Capitalism and Its Critics HASS-D
Area IV: Historical Studies
21H.346 France 1660-1815: Enlightenment, Revolution, Napoleon
21H.416J Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective HASS-D [14.70J]
21H.418 Form Print to Digital: Technologies of the World, 1450-Present
21H.421 Introduction to Environmental History HASS-D, CI-H
21H.433 The Age of Reason: Europe from the 17th to Early 19th Centuries HASS-D, CI-H
Students that have taken the following subjects that are no longer offered can count these subjects toward their minor:
14.75J Theories of Economic Development [11.102J]
17.158 Political Economy of West Europe
21F.013 Out of Ground Zero: Catastrophe and Memory
21F.017 Germany and its European Context
21F.031J Topics in the Avant-Garde in Literature and Cinema [4.608J]
21F.050J French Literature in Translation [21L.490]
21F.061 Topics in European Studies: Plotting Terror in European Culture
21F.062J The City is a Woman: Modernity and Gender [4.610] [SP.453J]
21F.418 German Poetry and Short Fiction
21F.742 Cervantes and His Times: Spanish Golden Age Literature and Thought in Don Quixote
21H.315 Writing the History of Modern Europe
21H.320 Europe in the 20th Century
21H.336 Modern Spain, 1469-Present
21H.411 The History of Western Thought, 500-1300
21H.447 Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
21H.451 Spanish Civil War, 1936-39
Questions?
Additional information can be obtained from the Minor Advisor, or from the Foreign Languages and Literatures Office, Room 14N-305, x3-4771.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology