East Central Europe after the Collapse of the USRR

obligatory courses

Blended learning
Self-reading

The purpose of this course is to examine contemporary political, social, and intellectual issues in the countries of East Central Europe. Students will accomplish this by attending every class and participating actively in class discussion. The readings listed below are not an exhaustive treatment, nor are they required reading; they are meant simply to help guide students through the literature and to stimulate discussion. The collections and databases of the University's library and those of Studium Europe Wschodniej will have to be consulted as students will be expected to tap a wide range of journals in preparation for their final assignments.

The purpose of this course is to examine contemporary political, social, and intellectual issues in the countries of East Central Europe. Students will accomplish this by attending every class and participating actively in class discussion. The readings listed below are not an exhaustive treatment, nor are they required reading; they are meant simply to help guide students through the literature and to stimulate discussion. The collections and databases of the University's library and those of Studium Europe Wschodniej will have to be consulted as students will be expected to tap a wide range of journals in preparation for their final assignments.

Lectures will address:

Outline of the Class and Introduction to the topic

The notion of East Central Europe

The experience of countries in the region between 1939 and 1989

The crisis of communism in East Central Europe

The collapse of the USSR

Russia under Presidents Yeltsin and Putin

Individual presentations on:

Ukraine and Belarus

The Czech and Slovak Republics

Hungary

Poland

The Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Georgia

Yugoslavia and its successor states

Albania.

Similarities and differences in the exit from Communism by countries of the region.

Bugajski, Janusz, America's new allies : Central-Eastern Europe and the transatlantic link, Washington, D.C. : CSIS Press/Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2006.

Bozo, Frederic, ed. [et al.], Europe and the end of the Cold War: a reappraisal, London; New York: Routledge, 2008.

The Central and Eastern European countries and the European Union, eds.Michael Artis, Anindya Banerjee, Massimiliano Marcellino, Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

DeBardeleben, Joan, The boundaries of EU enlargement : finding a place for neighbours, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

De Waal, Clarissa, Albania today: a portrait of post-communist turbulence, London: I. B. Tauris, 2005.

Democratic transition in Slovenia : value transformation, education, and media, eds. Sabrina P. Ramet and Danica Fink-Hafner, College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 2006.

Dismantling tyranny: transitioning beyond totalitarian regimes, eds.Ilan Berman and J. Michael Waller (Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006.

East-Central Europe's position within Europe : between East and West ed. Jerzy Kłoczowski, Lublin: Instytut Europy S?rodkowo-Wschodniej, 2004

Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia ISP PAN, Warszawa, różne roczniki.

Europa S?rodkowo-Wschodnia : ideologia, historia a społeczen?stwo, redakcja naukowa Jarosław Dudek, Daria Janiszewska, Urszula S?widerska-Włodarczyk, Zieolona Go?ra: Uniwersytet Zielonogo?rski, 2005.

Fisher, Sharon, Political change in post-Communist Slovakia and Croatia: from nationalist to Europeanist, New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Karpiński J. Lekcja anatomii, Drogi od komunizmu [w:] ABC polityki Alfa, Warszawa 1997

Michta, Andrew A. The limits of alliance : the United States, NATO, and the EU in North and Central Europe , Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.

Nygren, Bertil, The rebuilding of Greater Russia: Putin's foreign policy towards the CIS countries, London; New York: Routledge, 2008.

Rothschild, Joseph, Return to Diversity: a political history of East Central Europe since World War II, New York, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Schmidtke, Oliver and Serhy Yekelchyk, Europe's last frontier?: Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine between Russia and the European Union, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Svasek, Maruska. Postsocialism : politics and emotions in Central and Eastern Europe, New York: Berghahn Books, 2006.

Vermeersch, Peter, The Romani movement: minority politics and ethnic mobilization in contemporary Central Europe, (New York : Berghahn Books, 2006.

Wolchik, Sharon L. and Jane L. Curry, Central and East European politics: from communism to democracy, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008.

Internet resources:

http://www.copri.dk

http:// www.naa.be

http://www.stabilitypact.org.

http://tol.cz

http://www.terra.es

Upon completion of this course, students should have a better

understanding of contemporary political, social, and intellectual issues

in the countries of East Central Europe following the fall of communism in

the region. They will have developed the skills to research topics on

countries they are not very familiar with and be able to compare and

contrast current trends in the region.

PowerPoint Presentations of contemporary issues in the region

Mandatory attendance in class -- no more than two absences

Participation in class discussion