Princeton University 2008

Curriculum

Students will attend a morning course (10:00-11:30) on polish language and afternoon course (13:00-16:30) including lectures discussions and screenings. Both courses are mandatory for all students.

Each course is described below:

Political and Social History of Europe through Films and Lectures

Instructors: Petre Petrov, PhD; Princeton University and Elżbieta Ostrowska, PhD; University of Alberta.

Week 1
Historical introduction: defining the geopolitical and cultural borders of Central Eastern Europe. East vs. West, center vs. periphery. Early twentieth-century history of region. World War I and the dissolution of the old European Empires. The Soviet revolution and communist utopia. Inter-war regimes in Central-Eastern Europe. The bankruptcy of liberalism and the lure of fascism.

Week 2
World War II and its consequences for Central Europe. Collaboration with and resistance to Nazi Occupation. Pro-Nazi and resistance movements. The Warsaw Uprising. Soviet "liberation" of Central Europe countries. The experience of the Holocaust. The destruction of traditional Jewish culture(s) in Central Europe. Ghettoes and concentration camps. Historical guilt and ethical reflections in the aftermatch of the Holocaust.

Week 3
Post-war Stalinist regimes in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. The Big Soviet Brother and his East-European siblins. Popular fronts and national democracies. Consolidation of communist power in the region. Building socialism. Collectivization, purges, and repressions. New social and cultural elites. Dealing with the heritage and traumas of Stalinism.

Week 4
Post-Stalinism and de-Stalinization. Political and cultural "thaws" in eastern Europe. Relaxation of political and cultural regimes. Popular protest and resistance against Soviet domination. Abortive anti-Soviet revolutions (Hungary-1956, Prague-1968). "Socialism with a human face:. Failed attempts at democratization and independent "road to socialism".

Week 5
State socialism after 1968. Political and economic stagnation. Social unrest in Poland and the formation of "Solidarity:. Incursions of popular taste into culture.

Week 6
Collapse of the Soviet system and dissolution of the Eastern bloc. Resurgence of nationalism and re-forging of post-communist identities. Turning toward the West and away from the East; settling scores with the socialist past. De-communization and the road to democracy. Dramatic cultural and social transformations. New economic elites and social values.

Schedule: Afternoon, 1.00 pm.

Polish Language

Elementary Polish Language
Instructors: Tomasz Bilczewski, PhD; Jagiellonian University and Dorota Sędziwy, MA.

Students will be taught basic communication skills in the Polish language, both written and spoken, to further aid their adjustment to life in Kraków. Students will meet and interact with faculty, staff and students from the Jagiellonian University, participate in directed field excursions to sites of cultural and historical significance, and attend presentations by Jagiellonian University faculty about Polish society.

Schedule: Morning, 10.00 am.