European Studies

EUROPE BEHIND THE SCENES: MINORITIES, MIGRATIONS, AND MICROHISTORIES

Since the Early Modern period, Europe has slowly but surely seen the rise of the nation state, a political entity defined by cultural, religious, linguistic, and political homogeneity. Examples of this process include Spanish authorities expelling or forcibly converting Muslims and Jews, the disappearance of regional and local French patois dialects, and the destruction of Roma and Sinti peoples during the German Third Reich. In many ways, this drive toward homogeneity has made modern Europe what it is today: a collection of nation states with distinct, but well-defined, majority cultures and political systems. However, the making of modern Europe was and is much more than an inevitable march toward national consolidation. European Jews have played an outsized role in European literature and culture. Borderlands like Alsace-Lorraine have called into question the reach and efficacy of majority cultures. And waves of migrations have permanently altered Spanish and Portuguese culture. Our spring 2026 European Studies study abroad program introduces students to some of these ethnic, religious, and cultural minority groups. Join us as we explore cities such as Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Strasbourg, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, and Lisbon. We will be sure to visit internationally renowned places like the Vienna State Opera and Prague Castle, but we devote a significant portion of our time to less famous spaces—for example, mosques in Paris, the Roma Museum in Barcelona, and Sorbian cultural centers in the beautiful Spreewald forest in Germany.

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