Graduate Certificate in European Studies

The Graduate Certificate in European Studies enriches the disciplinary and professional training of students with a focused multidisciplinary curriculum of courses. The certificate is available to graduate students in all participating schools and departments who fulfill the following requirements within an existing degree program. CAS/GRS departments likely to participate would include Anthropology, History of Art and Architecture, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Romance Studies, World Languages and Literatures, and Sociology. Other schools for which the certificate would be appropriate include College of Communication, College of Fine Arts, School of Law, Questrom School of Business, School of Theology, and Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate advanced knowledge of European Studies (whether history, culture, literature, politics, law, economy, culture, or society) and do so from an interdisciplinary perspective.
• Students will demonstrate understanding of the shared traditions that unite “Europe” (not only geographically but economically and politically) as well as the cultural and societal differences within Europe
• Students will demonstrate intermediate-level proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and oral comprehension of at least one European Language.

Requirements of the Graduate Certificate Program

• Students must successfully complete at least 16 credits of coursework (four standard courses) primarily focused on Europe, with a minimum grade of B in each course.
• Concentration requirement: At least two of the four courses must focus on a single European country, sub-region, or substantive area.
• No more than 4 credits can be in directed study or research, except with written permission of the director of the Center for the Study of Europe.
• Students must complete a piece of significant research such as an MA or MFA thesis, doctoral dissertation, or two substantial research papers in graduate-level seminars.
• Students must demonstrate a high level of competence in a European language, including the capability to read, write, and speak the language with sufficient proficiency to understand and be understood. Competence in the foreign language of the student’s choosing will be determined by examination by BU language instructors. For languages not taught at Boston University, an examination with an external language instructor may be arranged. In lieu of examination, proficiency may be demonstrated by an undergraduate or other degree from a university where the language of instruction was a European language other than English or a transcript showing six semesters of instruction in the European language.
• Students must receive approval of completion from the Center for the Study of Europe director and the student’s departmental academic advisor. Students are expected to consult with the Center for the Study of Europe director at the beginning of their studies in order to ensure that their planned courses will fulfill the goals of the certificate program.