The borders of Europe. Geographically location or cultural artifice??
Upper secondary adult
Simon Marshall, Pilgrims, UK
To involve students in discussion of where they regard the boundaries of Europe to be.
To raise their awareness that "Europe" may be more of a cultural construct than geographical defined continent.
Materials: Photocopies of a map of the world for each student.
Time: 20-30 mins
Procedure:
1. Hand out the photocopied maps to each student. Ask them to work individually and write a capital "E" in each country that they personally regard to be part of Europe.
2. Ask them to move into groups of 4/5 and compare their answers. Where there is disagreement ask them to justify their answers.
3. Hold plenary feedback and highlight contentious countries on the board.
4. Show the following extract on an OHP transparency.
"I am often asked where Europe's ultimate borders lie. My answer is that the map of Europe is defined in the minds of Europeans. Geography sets the frame, but fundamentally it is values that make the borders of Europe." (From "Values Define Europe, No Borders," Olli Rehn, "Financial Times" 4 January 2005)
5. Ask the students to discuss in small groups what these European values might be.
6. Hold plenary feedback and pool them on the board..
7. Now show a further extract from this same article articulating these values.
"…the most fundamental…are liberty and solidarity, tolerance and human rights, democracy and the rule of law."
8. Compare these values with those pooled on the board.
9. Discuss the differences and ask the students if they think the countries they marked with "E," including the contentious ones, conform to the above values.
10. Finally, open up a discussion as to whether the students agree with the writer's view that "maps are defined in minds."
Extension.
1. Ask the students how many continents make up "America" (Countries like Iran and some Latin American countries claim that there are two)
Teacher's note.
The following fact may be worth throwing into the debate.
Israel, Ukraine and Turkey are eligible to enter football teams in the European Champions League.
It might be interesting to ask the class how many knew there were Muslims a) In the old Soviet Union before it broke up and b) in Yugoslavia before the Serbo-Croat war.
The writer of this exercise believes that, to the European mind, Europe is very often the equivalent of Christendom.
Please check the British Life, Language and Culture course at Pilgrims website.
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