HIST 4/576: Mod East Europe
Fall 2009
DEAN 203
M-F 12:00-12:50
Dr. Roxanne Easley
LL 100-I; 963-1877
easleyr@cwu.edu
Office Hours: M-F 10-11
systems. Finally, we might link the two themes to consider how it is
that in East Europe the rights of the nation seem to outweigh the
rights of the individual. What are the prospects for an economically,
culturally, or even politically united Europe in our own times?
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
COURSE SYLLABUS
HIST 4/576 surveys the history of the "lands between" Central
Europe and Russia from the middle of the eighteenth century to the
present. Specifically, the course concerns the modern historical
development of what are now Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
(Serbia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Albania. Despite the
crucial significance of East Europe on the world scene--two world
wars and a "cold war" began there, and recent wars in the Balkans
were one of the gravest threats to European security in our time--the
region's bewildering mélange of cultures and its constantly changing
geography have isolated it from the serious historical attention it
deserves. Squeezed dynamically--and often tragically--between
great multinational empires, East Europe represents a fruitful
confluence of some of the world's most powerful civilizations as well
as rich and diverse national traditions of its own. This term, we will
explore two main themes: first, how we might explain the distinctive
and particularly virulent nationalism that emerged in East Europe,
and the relationship of this development to the region's multiethnicity
and imperial subjugation; and second, by what means we might
assess East Europe's "backwardness" in relation to West Europe,
such as the relative weakness of civil society, retarded industrial
growth, and maintenance of feudal or totalitarian sociopolitical
After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
• Identify key political and physical features of East European
geography on map quizzes
• Identify and describe the historical significance of key terms in
East European history on exams
• Reconstruct patterns of historical continuity and change in East
Europe in papers, presentations, and exams
• Prepare and present historical analysis orally (presentations,
discussions) and in writing (papers and exams)
• Plan and write a seminar-length research paper based on a literary
source, other primary evidence (HIST576) and secondary
evidence
• Identify the relationship between historical fact and historical
interpretations, on exams and papers
• Analyze cause and effect relationships, bearing in mind multiple
causation, on exams and papers
• Bring sound and relevant historical analysis to the service of
informed decision making, in discussion
• Research, organize, and present a research-in-progress lecture
(HIST 576)
REQUIRED TEXTS (available at CWU Bookstore and Jerrol's):
1. Robin Okey, Eastern Europe: 1740-1985
2. Peter Jones, The 1848 Revolutions
3. Slavenka Drakulic, How We Survived Communism and Even
Laughed
4. Tina Rosenberg, The Haunted Land
5. Dennis Hupchick and Harold Cox, The Palgrave Concise
Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
READING: The study of history requires frequent and considerable
reading. In addition to the assigned texts, you will be responsible for
reading an East European novel (see "Novel Project Guidelines"
below) and for consulting several secondary surveys in the library.
In a ten-week course covering so diverse and vast an area as East
Europe, it is crucial that you begin the reading early and stay on top
of the assigned reading schedule. Given the complexity of the
reading material, it is also important that you attend lectures and
discussions regularly. Examinations will be drawn both from
lectures and class reading.
several key themes relevant to the region's history, and should tie in
to our more general class themes, as expressed in lecture. DO NOT
simply present a chronology. Your group must familiarize the rest of
the class with what is distinctive about your region--the key events,
conditions, culture, people, and/or trends within it. Each group must
prepare to hand out to the rest of the class a short chronology of key
events and dates in the history of your region. These may be as
detailed as you like, but should be at least one typed page in length.
At the end of the chronology, the group should write five
identifications, drawn from the presentation and suitable for the
midterm or final examination. All members of the group must
participate equally to the presentation (though each member need not
present; members may be researchers, visual designers, or
presenters). Beyond these mandatory guidelines, the group may wish
to use visual aids, such as Powerpoint, film clips, maps, and charts;
or handouts, such as brief readings, vocabulary lists, or questions for
discussion. It is up to you to make the presentation informative and
interesting for the rest of the class. Presentation grades are generally
assigned to the group as a whole.
WRITING: One of the main goals for the course is to help you plan
and prepare a paper exploring the historical context and meaning of
an East European novel. There will also be two in-class
examinations combining short essays and identifications. Given the
geographical complexity of the area we are studying, there will be
one or more map quizzes during the term.
PRESENTATION: The class will be divided into seven groups,
each representing one of the nations or regions in East Europe
(Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria,
and Albania). Each group will prepare a presentation for the rest of
the class on the history of the assigned nation/region, from 1750 to
the present. Your geographical area of expertise will also determine
the novel you choose.
Presentation Guidelines: The presentation should focus on one or
Novel Project Guidelines: Choose a novel from the list attached (or
another approved novel) which falls within your region of expertise.
Begin reading the novel immediately. Use your presentation
research and lecture notes as contextual background as you read the
novel. The purpose of the assignment is not to simply summarize the
novel book-report-style, nor to interpret it in a literary sense, but to
appreciate and analyze it as a source of historical data. There are
three important ways of writing a historical paper based on a literary
source, and you should make use of all three approaches. First, in
what context was the novel written? Who is/was the author, and
what do we know about the circumstances of his/her life? Does or
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did the novel reflect contemporary problems or conditions? Do or
did these contemporary problems or conditions color the way in
which the author tells his story? Second, how does the description in
the novel enrich your understanding of the cultural, economic,
political, social, and/or intellectual structures of your region? What
can you tell about daily life based on the novel? Third, what general
background information about the history of the region not contained
in the novel itself must we know to appreciate it fully?
The paper must draw on at least three book-length secondary
sources, beyond our course texts (two articles or chapters equal one
book, and internet sources may not be used as part of the number
requirement). Develop a clear analytical thesis. In the paper you
must quote liberally from the novel in support of the thesis, and your
summary of the plot must be limited to no more than a paragraph or
two. Minimum length of the paper is seven typed, double-spaced
pages (one-inch margins, 12-pt. font). You must include a separate
title page, formal notes and bibliography (Turabian style). Rough
drafts are optional, but highly recommended.
ATTENDANCE, PREPARATION, AND PARTICIPATION:
Given the complexities of our topic and the relatively short period of
time to cover them, regular attendance is assumed. Five absences are
permitted, no questions asked; beyond this, the instructor must
excuse all absences, or the course grade will be adversely affected.
More than ten absences will result in a failing grade. Preparation for
and participation in all class discussions is absolutely essential. Your
course grade depends in part on your contribution to discussions.
HISTORY 573 ONLY: In addition to the above requirements,
graduate students must include in their novel projects at least one
additional primary source and no fewer than four book length
secondary sources. The length of the paper should be from 10 to 12
pages, 12 pt. font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. Each
graduate student must also prepare and deliver a twenty-minute
lecture on the content of his/her research paper. Dates TBA.
POLICIES ON LATE WORK AND ACADEMIC HONESTY:
Unexcused late assignments will be docked 1/3 grade daily.
Incidences of plagiarism will be fully prosecuted according to
University guidelines. Don’t risk it.
COURSE EVALUATION:
25% Novel Project
20% Presentations (2)
20% Midterm Examination
25% Final Examination
10% Discussion Preparation/Participation
SPECIAL NEEDS:
Students who have special needs or disabilities that may affect their
ability to access information or material presented in this course a re
encouraged to contact me or the office of Disability Support Services
at (509) 963-2171 for additional disability-related educational
accommodations.
THE WRITING CENTER:
Writing Consultants offer free, one-on-one sessions to all CWU
students, of all disciplines and levels. Students can brainstorm ideas,
find research, and revise their drafts for organization, citation style,
and grammar, learning how to edit their own papers. You can drop
in or make an appointment for an in-person session or request a live,
interactive, online session. There are three campus locations: Hertz
103, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday;
library Fishbowl, 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday; and SURC 273, 6 to 9 p.m.
Monday-Thursday. Please call 963-1296/1270. Also available are
grammar handouts and other writing resources at
www.cwu.edu/~writingcenter
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COURSE CALENDAR (TENTATIVE):
Discussions on the assigned readings will take place most
Fridays. Specific presentation dates TBA.
WEEK ONE (9/23 – 9/25):
READ: Okey, Preface; reserve articles
Course Introduction
Landscape and Peoples
MAP QUIZ handout
WEEK TWO (9/28 – 10/2):
READ: Okey, chaps. 1 and 2
First States
Subjugation by Foreign Powers
Reason and Romanticism
MAP QUIZ
WEEK THREE (10/5-10/9):
READ: Jones, entire; Okey, chaps. 3 and 4
Springtime of Nations: 1848
Search for New Structures
Economy and Society in the 1860s
PRES: Poland
WEEK SIX (10/26-10/30):
READ: No assignment; individual research
World War I and Its Aftermath
The Failure of Constitutional Democracy
Film, “Eastern Europe, to 1939”
PRES: Romania
WEEK FOUR (10/12-10/16):
READ: Okey, chap. 5
The Origins of Mass Politics
PRES: Hungary
WEEK SEVEN (11/2 – 11/6):
READ: Okey, chaps 7-9, and Epilogue
World War II and the Holocaust
Communism Triumphant
Film, “Eastern Europe, 1939-1953”
PRES: Bulgaria
WEEK FIVE (10/19-10/23):
READ: Okey, chap. 6
Road to Sarajevo
PRES: Czechoslovakia
PRES: Yugoslavia
MIDTERM
WEEK EIGHT (11/9-11/13—no class 11/11):
READ: Drakulic, entire
Destalinization and National Roads to Socialism
PRES: Albania
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WEEK NINE (11/16-11/20):
READ: No assignment: individual research
The Revolutions of 1989
Film, “Eastern Europe, 1953-1991”
OPTIONAL ROUGH DRAFTS DUE
WEEK TEN (11/23-11/24—NO CLASS 11/25-11/27):
READ: Rosenberg, entire
Eastern Europe since 1989
WEEK ELEVEN (11/30-12/4):
READ: No assignment: individual research
Problems and Prospects
Graduate presentations
Final review
NOVEL PROJECTS DUE
FINAL EXAM TUESDAY, 12/8, 12-2
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