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77980-01 - Seminar: Living In-Between: Borders, Identities, and Nation-Making in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Olena Palko (olena.palko@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar explores the turbulent history of borderlands in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from the late 19th century through the 20th century. Focusing on three diverse case studies - Transylvania, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia - we will examine how multiethnic communities coexisted, clashed, and resisted state-imposed social engineering in the wake of imperial collapse. Students will investigate state strategies of ordering and control, assimilation and ethnic homogenization, alongside bottom-up responses and local strategies of defiance. Through primary sources and scholarly debates, the course highlights the complexities of nation-making, belonging, interethnic relations, and contested memories in regions where borders and identities were constantly renegotiated. As part of the course, selected students will participate in an academic excursion to Transylvania, scheduled for 1–10 September 2026. The title of the excursion is "Contested Belonging: Transylvania's Identity and History across Empire s and Nations" |
| Bibliography | Bartov, Omer, and Eric D. Weitz, eds. 2013. Shatterzone of Empires: Coexistence and Violence in the German, Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman Borderlands. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Judson, Pieter M., and Tara Zahra. 2025. The Great War and the Transformation of Habsburg Central Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kovács, Éva, Raul Cârstocea, and Gábor Egry, eds. 2025. Ethnicizing Europe: Hate and Violence After Versailles. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. Negura, Petru, Andrei Cusco, and Svetlana Suveica, eds. 2025. Nationalism from Below in the East European and Soviet Borderlands: Popular Responses to Nation Building, 1900–1940. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Stergar, Rok, and Tamara Scheer. 2018. “Ethnic Boxes: The Unintended Consequences of Habsburg Bureaucratic Classification.” Nationalities Papers 46 (4): 575–591. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2018.1448374 Zahra, Tara. 2010. “Imagined Noncommunities: National Indifference as a Category of Analysis.” Slavic Review 69 (1): 93–119. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25621730 |
| Comments | As part of the course, selected students will participate in an academic excursion to Transylvania, scheduled for 1–10 September 2026. The title of the excursion is "Contested Belonging: Transylvania's Identity and History across Empire s and Nations" |
| Admission requirements | Für Masterstudierende sowie fortgeschrittene Bachelorstudierende der Geschichte mit abgeschlossener Grundstufe (Nachweise: drei Proseminare, drei Proseminararbeiten). Die Teilnehmer:innenzahl ist auf 25 beschränkt. Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende der Geschichte bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 16.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 23.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Fasnachtsferien |
| Monday 02.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 09.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 16.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 23.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 30.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 06.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ostern |
| Monday 13.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 20.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 27.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 04.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 11.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 18.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 1 |
| Monday 25.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Pfingstmontag |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Osteuropa (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Aufbau Osteuropäische Geschichte (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History) Modul: Osteuropäische Geschichte: Räume und Epochen (Master's degree subject: Osteuropäische Geschichte) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Statehood, Development and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Book review (800 words) |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |