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1hls week we sLarL off Lhe course wlLh Lhe baslc quesLlon, "WhaL ls Lurope?" 1hls may seem llke
a no-bralner, because no doubL you all learned someLhlng abouL Lhls "conLlnenL" way back ln
elemenLary school. Lurope ls LhaL place over Lhere "across Lhe pond," as Lhe 8rlLlsh puL lL
(meanlng, on Lhe oLher slde of Lhe ALlanLlc Ccean), where we flnd flne arL and culslne and
classlcal muslc and casLles and royalLy and popes, eLc., eLc.
ln reallLy, whaL we Lake as a glven abouL Lurope has noL always been Lhe case, even
geographlcally speaklng. llrsL, dld you know LhaL Lurope ls noL really a separaLe conLlnenL, ln
Lhe sLrlcL geographlcal and geologlcal deflnlLlon of Lhe Lerm? lL's acLually a penlnsula dangllng
off Lhe wesLern end of Lhe largesL landmass on earLh, LhaL belng Lhe conLlnenL of Lurasla. Llke
lndla, a 'dangllng cousln' of Lhe Luraslan famlly, lL ls more properly labeled a sub-conLlnenL. Look
aL a map of Lhe world and compare Lhe physlcal reallLles of Lhe area labeled "Lurope" wlLh Lhe
oLher conLlnenLs. Make a noLe of whaL's dlfferenL abouL lL.
CulLurally whaL consLlLuLes 'Lurope' ls noL so clear, elLher, as your readlngs for Lhls week suggesL.
AddlLlonally, from an anLhropologlcal perspecLlve, Lhe ldea of clear boundarles ls problemaLlc.
1he challenges we face when lL comes Lo deflnlng 'Lurope' and 'Luropean-ness' sLem from Lhe
facL LhaL eLhnlc and culLural boundarles are noL Lhe hard-fasL, lmpervlous walls LhaL people
frequenLly Lhlnk Lhey are. ln facL, Lhey are fluld, flexlble, changeable over Llme and accordlng Lo
clrcumsLances, and exLremely porous, lndeed. ?eL, as Chang noLes ln Lhls week's arLlcle on Lhe
meanlng of boundarles, people can feel very uncomforLable abouL LhaL fluldlLy and porousness,
when Lhey are made aware of lL. Whlle lL all seems very 'naLural' and self-evldenL Lo
anLhropologlsLs LhaL boundarles are noL 'flxed', Lhe people llvlng wlLhln Lhose loose boundarles
frequenLly would raLher Lhey be very clear and noL loose aL all.
:"$79$$"(- ;#(5'%$)
- As you read Lhe debaLes and oplnlons, whaL are your LhoughLs on Lhls quesLlon of 'whaL
ls Lurope'?
- WhaL crlLerla would you come up wlLh Lo label some place or people 'Lurope' or
'Luropean', as opposed Lo noL Luropean? Why?
- Summarlze whaL you undersLand abouL Chang's dlscusslon of boundarles and how you
Lhlnk Lhls welghs on a clear deflnlLlon of Lurope.
- WhaL role dld colonlal expanslon -- and decolonlzaLlon afLer WWll -- play ln Lhe shaplng
of Lurope?
- lf Lurope ls noL a conLlnenL, why dld we all learn abouL lL as one of Lhe "seven
conLlnenLs of Lhe world" ln school?

?ou may use any of Lhe ob[ecLlves llsLed ln Lhls week's folder as dlscusslon prompLs.
<+5"-,+#$
8emlnder #1: lease noLe LhaL Lhese prompLs are noL Lhe lasL word on whaL you could dlscuss,
nor do you have Lo 'answer' all of Lhem. WhaL else from Lhe readlngs and fllm sparks your
lnLeresL or do you Lhlnk worLhy of dlscusslon? 1he only requlremenL ls LhaL you sLay generally on
Loplc and reference/draw from Lhe maLerlals for Lhls week.

8emlnder #2: ?our lnlLlal posL may noL end up belng Lhe mosL subsLanLlal one you make, and
raLher Lhan posLlng a new, lndependenL commenL, you mlghL parLlclpaLe subsLanLlally ln a
dlscusslon Lhread sLarLed by anoLher sLudenL. 1he deadllne for geLLlng Lhe ball rolllng on Lhe
dlscusslons ls Wednesday nlghL, buL be on Lhe lookouL for posLs made prlor Lo Lhe deadllne LhaL
mlghL serve as good dlscusslon sLarLers for your own parLlclpaLlon.

8emlnder #3: ?ou should expecL your mosL subsLanLlal posL Lo be aL leasL 200-230 words ln
lengLh (LhaL's abouL one page of LexL lf you were Lo wrlLe lL up double-spaced ln Word, buL no, l
do noL expecL your forum posLs Lo be double-spaced).

8emlnder #4: ?ou can subscrlbe Lo Lhe forum and be noLlfled vla emall when someone posLs a
new commenL (l use forum subscrlpLlons raLher Lhan lndlvldual Lhread subscrlpLlons because,
whlle LhaL mlghL noL be as handy Lo you, Lhey work beLLer for Lhe monlLorlng work l need Lo do).