Europe is big. That may be an absurd sentence, but it’s worth stating twice: Europe is big. If you are looking to study Europe in college, there’s a lot of literal ground to cover. As you look into major programs, you’ll see that some programs focus on a particular geographic area, others gravitate around particular social issues, while still others are rooted firmly in language.
We’ve pulled together our favorite European history and European studies programs in the United States, and they come in all these different shapes and sizes. If you’re down to learn a Nordic language, there’s one for you, and if you never want to take another foreign language class ever again, there’s one for you as well. What all of them have in common (other than focusing on Europe, of course), is the opportunity for study abroad. If you’re going to spend four years studying somewhere thousands of miles away, you may as well go — right?
Once you’ve graduated with your major (and with honors because you’re awesome like that), you’ll be in a great position to go into academia, education, consulting, or any job with an international perspective.
If you’re a prospective history major who isn’t sure where to start, send us an email. We help students chart a course to a successful future.
Yale University — New Haven, Connecticut
Yale offers four majors for students interested in European history. The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies major is in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and the German Studies major covers five centuries of history in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the surrounding area. If romance languages are more your thing, you could opt for an Italian Studies major, which is focused on Italy’s role in “formation of Western thought,” and has the Italian language at its core. Last but certainly not least, Yale offers a history major that you can shape to fit your area of interest.
Harvard University — Cambridge, Massachusetts
If Harvard is calling your name, the Department of History at this iconic university offers thematic or career-oriented clusters of courses that allow you to shape your major. Students interested in European history should consider the Imperial History cluster or Book History cluster, and then select courses to shape the major to your geographic specifications. For example, you could take courses including “Frontiers of Europe: Ukraine since 1500” and “The Birth of the Author: Pictorial Paratexts in the Middle Ages.”
Princeton University— Princeton, New Jersey
The broad and deep European history offering at Princeton are some of the best in the country, and reflect the breadth of the faculty. Students can pursue concentrations in Contemporary European Politics and Society, which focuses on post-WWI, European Cultural Studies, or Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, which has a language component. Each has study abroad opportunities to match.
University of California - Berkeley — Berkeley, California
Students at Berkeley love to dig deep into niche subjects, and the academic offerings are just as focused. The school offers a broad range of major and minor choices for history fanatics interested in focusing on Europe, and who are interested in building language skills in their region of focus. Note that: nearly every major or minor in European history and studies at Berkeley has a language requirement of some sort. If that doesn’t scare you off, check out their programs in Dutch Studies, East European/Eurasian Languages and/or Cultures, Russian Culture, Scandinavian, or Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Columbia University — New York, New York
For centuries, New York City has been known as a hub of international food ways, cultures, and languages. These deep histories inform the programs on European history, language, culture, and literature at Columbia, including programs in Germanic Languages and Literatures, French and Francophone Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore, Maryland
Instead of having a bunch of smaller majors, often linked to a language program, the Johns Hopkins Department of History covers just about everything — but the major is designed to focus on an issue or topic rather than a geographic region. Through this lens, students can shape the major to focus on Europe through courses like “Netherlandish Painting in the Fifteenth Century,” “Modern Paris on Film,” and “Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe.”
University of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois
The History major at the University of Chicago is geared toward students interested in eventually entering into academia themselves. The curriculum is heavily research-based and trains academic historians who will move on to be researchers and teachers. You also have the option to pursue the Germanic Studies major with tracks in German, Norwegian, and Yiddish, which is built around the “hub and spoke” system, with the hub being Germanic-language traditions, with the spokes being all the interdisciplinary connections and paths students can take.
Stanford University — Stanford, California
The Europe Center at Stanford works towards the mission of raising interest in the study of Europe at the university and offers the European Studies minor — a multidisciplinary examination of Europe through the lens of society, culture, security, and politics. This can be paired with a History major, which can be focused on Europe through courses like “Renaissance to Revolution: Early Modern Europe” and “The Problem of Modern Europe.”
University of California - Los Angeles — Los Angeles, California
The major in European Languages and Transcultural Studies at UCLA aims to break down the idea of east and west in Europe to better reflect modern Europe. Students in the program dive into the “richness of European cultures, societies, and languages,” examining it both historically and through contemporary studies.
New York University — New York, New York
Students in the European and Mediterranean Studies major in the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at NYU in the College of Arts & Science can pick one of two tracks. Majors can select “European and Mediterranean societies of the past and present” or “European and Mediterranean cultures of the past and present.” There is also the opportunity to organize courses around a problem or question that applies to one country, or to a group of countries.
As you’ve probably noticed, there are many different ways to study Europe in college. You can do a major or a minor, approach it from a historical or a contemporary perspective, or through language or travel (or both). Whatever path you take, you’ll gain a deep understanding of cultures, histories, and contemporary events that shape global events.
If you want to pursue a humanities major at one of the best colleges in the US, send us an email. We help students like you find, and get into, their perfect fit.