European Studies 435: Culture and Identity in Post-Communist Europe
Spring 2015
EUROP 435
COURSE INFORMATION
Class Days: TTH
Class Times: 2:00- 3:15
Class Location: M-245
Office Hours Location: SH 228B
Office Hours Times (and by appointment): TTH 10-12
Email: ematthews@mail.sdsu.edu
Course Overview
Please describe the purpose and scope of the course including, but not limited to:
Course Description:
This course examines the social, economic and cultural transformations in Europe since the collapse of communism. Particular
focus is given to the construction of communism in in people’s daily lives and the impact of its collapse on language, economics,
space, identity and European culture. Students will utilize a wide variety of course materials including primary and secondary
texts, scholarly articles, literature, memoirs and film.
Goals and Outcomes:
- Define the relationship between the individual and the state under communism and analyze the role of the state in
constructing “identity” under communism (propaganda, policy and social institutions).
- Situate the lived experience of individuals in communist countries within the broader context of the state-promoted values
and ideals of communism and socialism.
- Identify the key social, political and cultural factors which contributed to the end of communism.
- Examine the ways in which individuals and institutions redefined themselves and their ideologies after the collapse of
communism.
- Analyze the role of personal and institutional nostalgia for the collapsed system and how this influences life in former
Communist nations.
- Assess and evaluate the different paths post-Communist countries have taken. Particular focus will be given to examining the
wars, ethnic cleansing and revolutions that have been part of establishing a new political order in Post-Communist Europe.
- Evaluate contemporary life in formerly Communist countries.
Enrollment Information
Please include information about enrollment for the course including, but not limited to:

Prerequisites: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.C., Humanities.

Add/Drop: You may email me for add codes or attend the first day of class. You are responsible for dropping the
course if you are unable or do not want to remain in the class.
Course Materials

All reading materials for this course are posted on Bb.
Course Structure and Conduct
Please provide information about the structure of the course including, but not limited to:

This course offers a blend of lecture and discussion with a heavy emphasis on student participation and in-class small
group work.

The course will utilize the Bb system including the discussion board, online testing and Turnitin.
Course Assessment and Grading
Grading:
Participation in class discussions: 15%
10 Page Research Paper: 25%
Film Response Papers: 15% (5% Each)
Map Quiz: 5%
Midterm: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Policy on reading, homework, and late assignments:
• All assigned readings should be done prior to the class. Late assignments will receive lower grades: one day late = one
grade lower, two days late = two grades lower, etc. Exception: pre-approved or approved late submission or lateness in
connection with an excused absence.
• All written homework must be turned in as a TYPED HARD COPY, double-spaced in 12-point font, and stapled. Any
written homework that is not typed will not be graded and will receive a zero. I will not open emailed written assignments
unless you’ve made arrangements with me before the day it’s due.
• For both missing class and late submission of assignments: I strongly encourage you to communicate with me about any
problems you’re having. I usually work with my students on helping them catch up and get on track again, if there are
serious reasons beyond their control for having missed class or assignments. Being overworked, forgetting, having too
little time, tests/exams in other classes, etc. are NOT reasons that would qualify.
Accommodations
The learning environment should be accessible to all. SDSU provides reasonable accommodations in the following situations:



Disability: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your
responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your
accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that
accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you
have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is
appreciated.
Religion: By the end of the second week of classes, students should notify the instructors of affected courses of
planned absences for religious observances.
Official university activities (e.g., Athletics): Within the first two weeks of classes, a student who expects to be part of
an official university event or activity shall notify the instructors of affected courses. At that time, the student shall
request accommodation for any missed examinations or other assignments. If scheduling changes occur, the student
shall immediately notify the instructors.
Academic Honesty
The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. These activities will not be tolerated in this class.
Become familiar with the policy (http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html). Any cheating or plagiarism will result in failing
this class and a disciplinary review by Student Affairs.
Examples of Plagiarism include but are not limited to:

Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences,
paragraphs and/or pages of work)

Copying and pasting work from an online or offline source directly and calling it your own

Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit

Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases

Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class
If you have questions on what is plagiarism, please consult the policy (http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html) and this
helpful guide from the Library: (http://infodome.sdsu.edu/infolit/exploratorium/Standard_5/plagiarism.pdf)
Cheating and Plagiarism
Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses. You are plagiarizing or cheating if you:









for written work, copy down or cut anything from a book, article or website and add or paste it into your paper
without using quotation marks and providing the full reference for the quotation, including page number
for written work, summarize / paraphrase in your own words ideas you got from a book, article, or the web without
providing the full reference for the source, including page number
for an oral presentation, copy down or cut anything from a book, article, or website and present it orally as if it were
your own words. You must summarize and paraphrase in your own words, and bring a list of references in case the
professor asks to see it
use visuals or graphs you got from a book, article, or website without providing the full reference for the picture or
table
recycle a paper you wrote for another class
turn in the same (or a very similar paper) for two classes
purchase or otherwise obtain a paper and turn it in as your own work
copy off of a classmate
use technology or smuggle in documents to obtain or check information in an exam situation
In a research paper, it is always better to include too many references than not enough. When in doubt, always err on the side
of caution. If you have too many references it might make your professor smile; if you don’t have enough you might be
suspected of plagiarism.
In foreign language study, cheating also includes the following:




Doing your written homework and then having a third party correct it, or having someone else write your homework
for you and turning that in for credit
Doing assignments with another student and turning in the same or almost the same work. (Unless you are
specifically directed to work in pairs on in groups, college-level work is always expected to be solely your own.)
Using an automated translation engine to translate your homework
Using an available translation of a text on which to base your own translation and turning that in for credit.
What IS acceptable includes the following:



Asking your professor for help.
Brainstorming answers and/or ideas with another student; then, each student writes up the homework separately
and turns in his or her own work.
Doing your written homework and/or translation and then having a third party circle your mistakes; you then do the
corrections on your own and turn in your own work.
If you have any question or uncertainty about what is or is not cheating, it is your responsibility to ask your instructor.
TAKE THE TUTORIAL:
Test your knowledge of what constitutes plagiarism through a tutorial offered by the SDSU Library. To access the tutorial go to:
http://library.sdsu.edu/guides/tutorial.php?id=28
Consequences of cheating and plagiarism
SDSU instructors are mandated to report all instances of cheating and plagiarism to the Center for Student Rights and
Responsibility. Consequences are at the instructor’s and the Center for Student Rights and Responsibility’s discretion. They may
include any of the following:






failing the assignment
failing the class
warning
probation
suspension
expulsion
For more detailed information, read the chapter on plagiarism in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition,
2003), visit the following website http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml and talk to your professors before
turning in your paper or doing your oral presentation.
The University of Indiana also has very helpful writing hints for students, including some on how to cite sources. Please visit
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets.shtml for more information.
Course Schedule
Table 1 - Course Schedule with Date, Activity, and Assignment
Date
Activity
Assignment: due on day listed
WEEK 1
Jan. 22
NOTE: You must bring 3 discussion questions to class
each day – these will be collected and used, in part,
to determine your participation grade. For full
credit, these must be typed
Introduction
Map Pre test
WEEK 2
Jan. 27
The Rise and Fall of Communism
Jan. 29
Living Communism
Wolchik and Curry, “Central and East European
Politics: From Communism to Democracy.” Pages 327 (Bb)
Excerpts from Slavenka Drakulic’s How We Survived
Communism and Even Laughed: “The Trivial is
Political;” “Forward to the Past” and “How We
Survived Communism and Even Laughed.” (Bb)
Feb. 3
Perestroika and Beyond
Screening of Film: My Perestroika Film
Introduction from Glasnost: An Anthology of Russian
Literature Under Gorbachev (Bb)
Feb. 5
Film, contd.
Discussion of Film
Gidadhubli, “Perestroika and Glasnost” (Bb)
Excerpt from Yurchak, Everything Was Forever Until It
Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation:
“Contradictory West” (Bb)
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
Feb. 10
Adjusting to post-Communist life
***MAP QUIZ***
Feb. 12
Language Politics after the Collapse of the
USSR
Boym: “Nostalgia and post-Communist
Memory” (Bb)
Ch. 2 from: Bilianiuk, Laada. Contested Tongues:
Language, Politics and Cultural Correction in Ukraine
(Bb)
*** Film Response Paper #1 Due***
WEEK 5
Feb. 17
Decommunization: What to do with the
Communist leaders?
Welsh, Helga, “Dealing with the Communist Past:
Central and East European Experiences after 1990”
NYT: “Poland Leads the Way” (Bb)
Feb. 19
Decommunization: What to do with The Wall?
Rosenberg: pp. 262-289, 340-355
Excerpts from Berlin Now, 154-164,
WEEK 6
Feb. 24
Decommunization: What to do with the files?
Rosenberg: pp. 289-305
Ash, Timothy Garton, “The Stasi on our Minds” (Bb)
Feb. 26
Economic Transition
Film: Kapitalism: Our Secret Recipe
NPR: “Corruption Mars Romania’s Post-Communist
Progress” (Bb)
Date
Activity
Assignment: due on day listed
Economic Transition
The Villas of the “New Russians”: A Sketch of
Consumption and Cultural Identity in Post-Soviet
Landscapes” (Bb)
Women in Transition: Attwood: “The post-Soviet
woman in the move to the market: a return to
domesticity and dependence?” (Bb)
WEEK 7
March 3
Film (contd.) + discussion
March 5
Women in the new Economy
Patico, Jennifer, “Kinship and Crisis: Embedded
Economic Pressures and Gender Ideals in Postsocialist
International Matchmaking” (Bb)
WEEK 8
March 10
*** Midterm ***
Midterm will be taken online
March 12
Entering the EU
“EU Expansion, the unspoken cost” (Bb)
WEEK 9
March 17
Success and Failure in the Eurozone
*** Film Response #2 Paper Due***
March 19
Ethnic Unrest in the New Europe: Chechnya
Excerpts from Meier, Andrew: “Black Earth: A
Journey Through Russia After the Fall” (Bb)
March 24
Ethnic Unrest in the New Europe: Migration
***
March 26
Sexuality in post-Communist States
Nationality and sexuality in Latvia (Bb)
WEEK 10
The State of the LGBT Community in Ukraine (Bb)
SPRING
March 31/April 2
BREAK!!!
WEEK 11
April 7
Riotous Women: Femen & Pussy Riot
See Femen Readings on Bb
Film: Ukraine is Not a Brothel
April 9
Film (contd)
“The Frightening Hungarian Crackdown” (Bb)
Free Speech in Hungary
WEEK 12
April 14
Contested Borders: Transnistria & Crimea
Bobick, Michael S. “Separatism Redux: Crimea,
Transnistria, and Eurasia’s de facto states” Bb
“After Crimea, Moldova too fears "unwanted" events
on road to EU” Bb
April 16
Ukraine
Ukraine Crisis and Moldova (Bb)
TBD
*** Film Response Paper #3 Due***
WEEK 13
April 21
Ukraine
TBD
April 23
Putin’s Russia
Appelbaum “How He and His Cronies Stole Russia”
(Bb)
Date
Activity
Assignment: due on day listed
Putin’s Russia (contd)
Julia Ioffe, “Remote Control: Can an exiled Oligarch
persuade Russia that Putin must go?
WEEK 14
April 28
Khodorkovsky
April 30
European Response to Russia’s actions in
Ukraine
Mungiu-Pippidi, Alina, “The Splintering of
Postcommunist Europe” (Bb)
“Europe Reborn” (Bb)
WEEK 15
May 5
A new Cold War?
“Russia’s Fifth Column” (Bb)
May 7
Current Events
Please bring a current event article about a former
communist country
***Research Paper Due via Turnitin (Bb)***
May 12
Final Exam
Exam will be taken online