Master's Degree in European Studies

 Daytime Programme  120 credits  2 years  bilingual or full English
 European Qualifications Framework (EQF): Level 7 
 Internship: no   Final assignment: yes   Exchange Programmes: yes

Introduction

Students can follow the "Master 120 en études européennes / Master 120 in European Studies" as a blilingual programme in French and English or they can choose to take all the courses in English only.

This programme is organised jointly by the Université Saint-Louis and the Université catholique de Louvain. Except for some activities, the courses are held in Louvain-la-Neuve. The enrollment and the student cursus are managed by the Université catholique de Louvain.

The European dimension is playing a growing role in social and economic affairs, in lawmaking and in the political lives of Member States, and has an increasing influence - directly or indirectly - on the lives of European citizens.
The Master in European Studies aims to prepare students for positions where this European dimension is important.

Your profile

You

• are considering a career in the public administration, interest representation or consultancy associated with the European institutions, or a job in one of the various economic or social activities which require expertise in European affairs;
• are looking for a course which provides real insight into how the institutions work, the international role and policies of the European Union, and which guarantees a high level of specialisation.

Your future job

Graduates may work as advisers, representatives, analysts, managers or in posts in organisations and bodies in some way connected with the European Union. They will be asked to take a thoughtful, critical stance vis-à-vis Europe, based on the knowledge and analytical elements needed to grasp and evaluate the European integration process.
Many possible careers will be open to them, in both the public and private sectors.
After the course, graduates find work in:

• one of the many management or executive administrative posts in public administrations or international organisations;
• policy or research departments within the European institutions, in commercial and industrial companies, professional associations, private consultants, planning organisations working in various areas (social, regional, family, social security, etc.);
• international careers (on passing a competitive exam);
• teaching and research.

Your programme

This Master’s programme will give you:

• economic, political, legal and historical knowledge related to European integration;
• skills to analyse its internal and external aspects;
• a multi-disciplinary approach to European integration issues;
• a detailed look at a topical European issue;
• subject specialisations involving a number of fields;
• a strong international dimension (a four-month ERASMUS stay as well as bilingual English-French teaching).

Specialisations
Course: "European Governance and societies"

• module 1: European society, human rights and values in Europe;
• module 2: the European Union’s role in the world, a global player in international relations in the age of globalisation;
• module 3: main policies of the European Union, budgetary resources and European decision-making.
  
  For this programme the student needs to have a working knowledge of French and English, but the course also includes the learning of another language.

The programme consists of a common core of 90 credits and a specialised orientation of 30 credits. The first year courses provide the fundamental legal, economic, historical and political knowledge, needed to take on the courses of the specialisation and to engage in writing the final dissertation.

Various methodological, reflexive and linguistic elements enrich the programme: introduction to research of European documentary sources, cross disciplinary approach to the various course materials during seminars; learning a foreign language in addition to French and English, thus highlighting a European multilingual profile.

During his second year of master each student will choose, in addition of the core courses, 30 credits from the orientation European governance and policies. This orientation contains the following 

• History, cultures and societies
• External relations of the European Union and Global Governance
• Governance and policies of the European Union

The programme, which welcomes many international students, offers the opportunity to follow part of the course abroad under the Erasmus agreements. Erasmus exchanges take place in the first semester of the second year of the master.

Alternative week

During Autumn, an alternative week is organized in Brussels. This week allows the students to take part in conferences, to meet actors of the European construction or to visit institutions and organizations in the heart of the European Union.