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Semester | fall semester 2021 |
Course frequency | Once only |
Lecturers | Alexander Balistreri (alexander.balistreri@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
Content | Ranging from the Baltics to the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus, the Eurasian borderlands are zones of inter-imperial and inter-national contact that historians have blamed for global calamities ranging from the First World War to the Cold War. In this master's seminar, students will discuss some of the major questions in the modern political history of the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe. Among others: How can we best characterize the transition between the multiethnic land empires and nation-states? What are the causes of interethnic violence in borderlands? Are genocides sui generis, comparable, or even related catastrophes? Students will apply the discussions on these broad topics to their own empirical research interests. |
Learning objectives | Students will: -- become acquainted with some of the main research questions that have defined the historiography of the Middle East and Eastern Europe -- be able to define some key concepts in Eurasian history, including empire, colonialism, nationalism, modern states, territoriality, collective violence, and others -- have the opportunity to develop their own research interests through a personalized choice of readings |
Bibliography | Students seeking background knowledge on the basic chronology may consult: Aviel Roshwald, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East, 1914-1923 (London: Routledge, 2001). Example literature to be discussed in class: - Omer Bartov and Eric D. Weitz, eds., Shatterzone of Empires: Coexistence and Violence in the German, Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman Borderlands (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2013). - Krista A. Goff and Lewis H. Siegelbaum, eds., Empire and Belonging in the Eurasian Borderlands (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2019). - Marc Levene, The Crisis of Genocide, Vol. I (Devastation: The European Rimlands, 1912-1938) and Vol. II (Annihilation: The European Rimlands, 1939-1953) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). - Alfred J. Rieber, The Struggle for the Eurasian Borderlands: From the Rise of Early Modern Empires to the End of the First World War (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2014). The final reading list will be adjusted according to students' research interests. |
Admission requirements | This is a course designed for master's-level discussion of academic literature and its application to students' research agendas. Advanced bachelor's students may enroll, but see: "Anmeldung." This is a reading-intensive course. Most of the readings will be in English. |
Course application | Prior to enrolling in the course, students should send a brief statement (150-300 words, English or German) outlining their motivations for taking the course, their research interests, and the titles of any previous written work they have submitted on topics related to the main themes of the course. |
Language of instruction | English |
Use of digital media | No specific media used |
Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
---|---|---|---|
wöchentlich | Wednesday | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Date | Time | Room |
---|---|---|
Wednesday 22.09.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 29.09.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 06.10.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 13.10.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 20.10.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 27.10.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 03.11.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 10.11.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 17.11.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 24.11.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 01.12.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 08.12.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 15.12.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Wednesday 22.12.2021 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Modules |
Modul: Areas: Europa Global (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Aufbau Geschichte: Südosteuropa (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Fortgeschrittene Nahoststudien (Bachelor's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Modul: Geschichte Südosteuropas (Master's degree subject: East European History) Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree subject: Eastern European Cultures) Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Themen der Near & Middle Eastern Studies (Master's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Wahlbereich Master Geschichte: Empfehlungen (Master's degree subject: History) |
Assessment format | continuous assessment |
Assessment details | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
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 | Fachbereich Nahost-Studien |