HISTORY OF EASTERN EUROPE

Academic year
2018/2019 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
STORIA DELL'EUROPA ORIENTALE
Course code
LM1390 (AF:297899 AR:157292)
Modality
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Educational sector code
M-STO/04
Period
2nd Semester
Where
VENEZIA
Moodle
Go to Moodle page
The course is foreseen for students at the 1st year of the MA Degree Programmes “Comparative International Relations” (curriculum "Eastern Europe"; type of educational activity: core educational activity) and “European, American and Postcolonial Language and Literature” (curriculum "literature and culture" - Slavic and Balkan Studies; type of educational activity: core educational activity). The historical nature of the course contributes to the multidisciplinary goals of the two MA Degree Programmes. Furthermore, its geographical focus on Eastern Europe constributes to the teaching programmes specifically conceived for MA students interested in deepening their knowledge about that area.

The expected learning results are the following:

- to familiarize with and to be able to understand the main historical events and issues linked with the history of Eastern Europe, with particular attention to the history of Russia and the USSR, in the period between the late 19th century and the 1960s;
- to be able to apply this knowledge to a critical understanding of the present time in terms of continuities/changes and public use of history
- to reinforce and develop the ability of critically reading the historical academic literature, with particular attention to the international scholarship about Eastern Europe in the 19th-20th century
- to refine your communication skills
A basic knowledge of modern and contemporary history.
The main aim of this course is to introduce the students to the contemporary history of Eastern Europe. More specifically, the course aims at examining critical junctures, personalities and topics which characterized the history of late-Tsarist Russia and later the USSR. The following issues will be discussed: the Russian Empire at the turn of the 20th century; the Russian revolution and the civil war; the NEP, Stalin and Stalinism; industrial policy and collectivization; the Comintern; the Second World War and the East European countries; Stalin´s death and the Khrushchev years.
These topics will be approached in a comparative perspective, with particular regard to Central-East and South-East Europe. We will consider the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empire, the post-imperial nation-states, and the socialist countries emerged in this region after the Second world war.
Compulsory readings:
Paul Bushkovitch, Breve storia della Russia. Dalle origini a Putin, Torino, Einaudi, 2013 (chapters 12-22).
Andrea Graziosi, L’Unione sovietica, 1914-1991, Bologna, il Mulino, 2011 (chapters 2-5).

Reference handbooks:
Giovanna Cigliano, La Russia contemporanea. Un profilo storico, Roma, Carocci, 2013 (chapters 1-14).
Armando Pitassio, Storia dell’Europa Orientale, Perugia, Morlacchi Editore, 2011, pp. 113-155, 213-325.

Furthermore, for those, who don´t attend classes:
Stefano Bottoni, Un altro Novecento. L’Europa orientale dal 1919 a oggi, Roma, Carocci, 2011, chapters 3 and 4.
Stefano Petrungaro, Balcani. Una storia di violenza?, Roma, Carocci, 2012, chapters 2 and 5.

It is recommended to everyone, and particularly to students who do not attend classes, to consult the materials - ie. historical maps, visual sources, integrative texts, useful links etc. - published on the moodle platform (https://moodle.unive.it/ ).
The examination has three main goals:
1) to verifying the knowledge of the main historical facts and processes, as well as the most relevant personalities, with relation to the historical period under examination
2) to verify the analytical skills and the ability of the student to formulate critical reflections about the historiographical issues emerged during the lessons
3) to verify the knowledge of some elements of historical comparison in the framework of the East-European space during the time examined by the course.

The examination is written (duration: 1½ hours) and one further goal is to verify the written communicative skills of the student.
The course is structured through fronta lectures, with wide use of visual material.
Italian
written
Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 02/07/2018