On March, the 7th students of the French philology department began their work on Module 2 "History of the European Union" (Histoire de la construction européenne) within the framework of Jean Monnet PolidEU project. During the lecture several topics were discussed: main stages of the European idea development and personalities who have contributed to it. In addition, the key stages of the European Union creation were presented (the creation of the first European Communities, main treaties and principles of functioning of the united European).

The following topics were chosen for students’ project work:

  1. The European idea in the works of thinkers of different epochs (L’idée européenne dans les oeuvres des penseurs à travers les époques).
    The project was carried out by students of the 4 year (Theory and Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching) Svetlana Glotova and Irina Zhikhareva. They presented main theories of a united Europe that existed since the Middle Ages, and told about the contribution of the EU’s founding fathers.

  2. The Founding Fathers of the European Union (Pères fondateurs de l’Union Européenne).
    The project was presented by students of the 4 year (Theory and Practice of Translation) Yuri Parinov and Vera Toreeva. They presented the main milestones of the lives of A. De Gasperi, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, noting that all the great leaders, who founded the EU had a multicultural identity.

  3. European integration in the mirror of the EU treaties (Intégration progressive des Etats-membres à travers les Traités).
    The project was carried out by the 4th year students (Theory and Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching) Ksenia Kuzmina and Victoria Makarenko. During the presentation, they talked about the key stages of European integration, and how they were reflected in the main EU treaties.

  4. Challenges of the EU enlargement (Enjeux de l’élargissement de l’UE).
    The project was prepared by the students of the 4th year (Theory and Practice of Translation) Oleg Voronkov and Polina Kiseleva. In his presentation, the students reviewed the main stages of the EU enlargement, the criteria for applicants, the main economic and administrative measures that accompany the process of expansion. They also analyzed the prospects of EU enlargement on the example of Turkey and Ukraine.

In their feedback after having presented the results of their project work students noted that major challenges were related to specific terminology, unknown European realia and selection of relevant information. However in spite of difficulties the project work gave them the opportunity to develop their vocabulary and general knowledge on the EU.