Contributor(s): Professor Jennifer Jackson-Preece, Professor Sara B Hobolt, Professor Maurice Fraser, Professor Kevin Featherstone, Professor Paul De Grauwe | What is Europe - just a landmass, an area on the map? Or is it an idea; a way of thinking, of organising states in union? Is there such a thing as a "European identity"? And, in the midst of changing global patterns, can Europe resist the forces of fragmentation? In this short film, faculty of LSE's European Institute talk about what defines Europe, its limits and its future.

Contributor(s): Faculty and associates of the Hellenic Observatory | The Hellenic Observatory, located in the LSE's European Institute, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2016. To celebrate this important milestone it has produced a special video which showcases the Observatory’s achievements and activities over the last 20 years.

Contributor(s): Dr Robert Hancké | Dr Bob Hancké, Director of the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, gives insight into this specialist executive degree within the European Institute at LSE.

Contributor(s): John Walker, Emilie Turunen | Students from the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, class of 2015, provide an insight into the degree programme.

Contributor(s): Paul Glynn, Lenin Duenas, Pablo Calvillo | Students from the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, class of 2015, provide an insight into the degree programme.

Contributor(s): Lenin Duenas, John Walker | Students from the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, class of 2015, provide an insight into the degree programme.

Contributor(s): Emilie Turunen | Students from the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, class of 2015, provide an insight into the degree programme.

Contributor(s): Lenin Duenas | Students from the Executive MSc in the Political Economy of Europe, class of 2015, provide an insight into the degree programme.

Contributor(s): Dr Sara Hagemann | This course analyses the European Union as an emerging 'political system', where there as an on-going interaction between the processes of government (the operation of the institutional and legal framework), public policy (the adoption and impact of policy decisions and EU legislation), and politics (the interests, ideas, opinions and values of the political actors - e.g. citizens, businesses, regions, government ministers, bureaucrats, party leaders). The principal aim of the course is to provide a detailed knowledge of how national and EU institutions interact in European policy making. To achieve this the course is divided into two parts. The first will introduce principal theories of policy making along three core policy dimensions: agenda setting, decision making, policy implementation. In the second part the conceptual insights gained will be used to analyse a number of substantive policy areas. These will typically include: the single market, social and environmental policies, justice and home affairs policies, common agricultural policy, economic and monetary union, immigration and asylum policy, energy and climate change policy, and EU foreign policy.

Contributor(s): Professor Maurice Fraser | This course examines the cultural and intellectual origins of Europe in Ancient Greece and Christendom; the emergence of a shared European cultural space in the Middle Ages and Renaissance; contested definitions of Europe's final frontier and eligibility for EU membership; rationales of empire and the distinction between 'civilisation' and 'barbarism'; the fissile interplay of rationalism and romanticism; the uses and abuses of instrumental reason; secularisation and the role of Christianity in the public space; the 'universal mission' of Europeans and the idea of rights; and definitions of the European 'project'.