Introductory description

In Autumn Term we will be discussing how Polish, Russian and Ukrainian intellectuals and politicians in the 19th century 'imagined' their nations and how they tried to include the peasantry in the nation. In Spring Term the module concentrates on the 20th century, especially the period of the two World Wars (1914 - 1945) and the period from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

LECTURES
Autumn Term

1. History and the Present: the conflict in Ukraine
2. Nation and Memory
3. Russia's Mission
4. Poland's Misfortune
5. Ukraine's Struggle
   READING WEEK
6. Peasants into ... (Russians, Ukrainians, Poles)
7. Nation and Literature
8. Nation and Art
9. Nation and Music

Spring Term
10. And what about the Jews?
11. The Great War
12. The Russian Civil War
13. The Polish-Ukrainian War
14. War Remembrance
READING WEEK
15. Soviet nationality policy
16. Poland between the wars
17. Bloodlands: Atrocities and mass murder in the Second World War
18. Memory conflicts

SEMINARS
Autumn Term
A) The annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine
B) Theoretical Approaches
C) The Disputed Past
D) The Glorified Past
E) The Contested Past
READING WEEK
F) Empires, Nationalists and the Peasantry
G) Reading Clubs and National Poets
H) History Painting and National Styles
I) National Operas, Anthems and Folk Songs
Spring Term
J) Assimilation, Zionism and Anti-Semitism
K) Going to War
L) Nationalism vs. Socialism
M) War and Nation Building
N) The Political Cult of the Dead
READING WEEK
O) The Ukrainian Famine
P) Minority Policy and Anti-Semitism
Q) Survivor Testimonies
R) Giving National Meaning to War
Summer Term
S) The Next Generation: (Re-) Visiting Lviv and Czernowitz
T ) How Russians, Poles and Ukrainians see themselves

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• To gain familiarity with a wide range of sources (from historiography to works of art), connected with processes of nation building in Eastern Europe
• To understand the importance of cultural factors, shared memories and shared forgetting, common suffering and cultural artefacts in nation building
• To get an overview of Polish, Ukrainian and Russian history
• To be able of analysing visual as well as text sources
• To become acquainted with modern methods of presentation (PowerPoint)
• To write essays based on an up-to-date understanding of the state of the historical debate.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Subject specific skills

-Gain familiarity with a wide range of sources (from historiography to works of art), connected with processes of nation building in Eastern Europe
-To get an overview of Polish, Ukrainian and Russian history
-To write essays based on an up-to-date understanding of the state of the historical debate
-To understand the importance of cultural factors, shared memories and shared forgetting, common suffering and cultural artefacts in nation building

Transferable skills

-To be able of analysing visual as well as text sources
-To become acquainted with modern methods of presentation (PowerPoint)