Central Europe and the Balkans Today: Comparative Studies

Timetable

20 hours online; 10 hours on site.

Online classes: MS Teams, MONDAY, 11.30-13.00.
On-site classes: MONDAY, 11.30-13.00; Collegium Maius, Fredry 10 Street, room 220.

Module aim (aims)

The students gain the general knowledge about the main components of the Central European and the Balkan contemporary high cultures in the comparative perspective. They also gain the ability to analyse and synthesize the most influential mass media narratives, visual arts music and both the natural and the intangible cultural heritage of the Central Europe and the Balkans.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

1. Synchronous online classes (20 hours) - basic computer and MS Teams skills 
2. Critical abilities, interdisciplinary skills, ability to appreciate cultural diversity, ability to work in the individual and collective way

Syllabus

Course learning content:

Central European and Balkan cultures from the foreign point of view

Values and Attitudes of the Central European and Balkan societies

Central European and Balkan mass media today: tv and radio– iconic brands and their narratives

Central European and Balkan mass media today: press – iconic brands and their narratives

Central European and Balkan mass media today: internet – iconic brands and their narratives

Contemporary Central European and Balkan visual arts

Contemporary Central European and Balkan cinema

Contemporary Central European and Balkan music culture

Intangible cultural heritage of the Central Europe and the Balkans

Natural heritage of the Central Europe and the Balkans

Tourist attractions: the mutual history of the Central Europe and the Balkans

Reading list

• Chosen number of periodical “Herito”– a bilingual English-Polish quarterly on Central European heritage and culture published by the International Cultural Centre (http://www.herito.pl/en).
• Quarterly “Aspen Review” (chosen issueas). Available at: https://www.aspen.review/aspen-review/.
• History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe. Junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries, Eds. M. Cornis-Pope, J. Neubauer, Amsterdam 2004.
• Ash, T.G. (1999). The Uses of Adversity. Essays on the Fate of Central Europe. London: Penguin Books.
• Couroucli, Maria & Tchavdar Marinov. (2015). Balkan Heritages. Negotiating History and Culture. Routledge.
• Fowkes Maya, Reuben Fowkes. (2020). Central and Eastern European Art Since 1950, Thames and Hudson.
• Papadimitriou Lydia, Ana Grgić. (2020). Contemporary Balkan Cinema: Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits. Available at: (86) Contemporary Balkan Cinema Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits | Ana Grgic - Academia.edu
• Sowards Stewen. Twenty-five lectures on modern Balkan history (The Balkans in the age of nationalism), available at: Available at: Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History (msu.edu)
• Todorova Maria. (1997). Imagining the Balkans. Oxford University Press.
• Voskopoulos (2001/2002). Western Europe and the Balkans: A Geo-Cultural Approach of International Relations? Available at: Western Europe and the Balkans: A Geo-Cultural Approach of International Relations? on JSTOR