Bio
Renaud Dehousse is Rector at SAIS Europe
Renaud Dehousse is the Inaugural Rector of SAIS Europe and Vice Dean of SAIS. He began his term at SAIS in January 2024, following the completion of his term as president of the European University Institute (EUI). Before becoming EUI president, Dehousse was a professor and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law and Policy Studies at Sciences Po Paris, where he founded and directed the Centre for European Studies. He chaired Sciences Po’s Board from 2013 to 2016. He also was a scientific advisor to the center for study and research founded by Jacques Delors, Notre Europe, and was a member of several working parties on the reform of European institutions established by the European institutions and national governments.
After studying law at the University of Liège (Belgium), Dehousse obtained a doctorate at the European University Institute. Before joining Sciences Po in 1999, he taught at the European University Institute, then at the University of Pisa. He was a visiting professor at the Universities of Florence (Cesare Alfieri), Cologne, Rome (LUISS), Lausanne, the College of Europe and at the University of Michigan Law School. His research covers multiple aspects of European law and politics.
Courses
- The European Experiment: from Peace Project to Polycrisis
Today, the European Union is undergoing a series of major transformations. These developments are difficult to interpret because, more than seventy-five years after its inception, European integration remains a complex and often misunderstood process. Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that the European Union is unlike any other political or international organization. Originally conceived as a peace project, it was established as an atypical form of international cooperation. Although it has acquired significant influence in areas traditionally regarded as the prerogative of sovereign states, it is not itself a state and may never become one.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the EU has also faced what scholars describe as a “polycrisis”: a succession of interconnected challenges, including the global financial crisis, the Eurozone crisis, migration pressures, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the rise of populism. Together, these crises have led to profound changes in the governance of the Union. Considering the resurgence of power politics on the global stage, an important question remains whether the EU’s current modes of governance are capable of responding effectively to these multiple challenges.
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to understand how European integration has evolved, how the EU functions today, and the principal challenges it currently faces. In doing so, the course will critically examine some of the major academic debates surrounding European integration and assess their relevance for understanding contemporary developments.
The course is designed to be accessible to all interested students, regardless of their prior knowledge of the European Union or its institutions.
