- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
The Second World War brought huge devastation to the eastern half of Europe. Reckless, brutal and genocidal acts by Eastern Europe’s Nazi occupiers undermined the foundations of societies there to such a degree that total transformation appeared unavoidable once the war was over. To the West, Eastern Europe seemed to disappear behind an ‘Iron Curtain’ after 1945 – as the new hegemonic power of the region, the Soviet Union, took control. The rhetoric and writing of Cold War era politicians and commentators in the West constructed a simple image of countries dominated by the USSR and gripped by intolerable living conditions and incompetent officials – lasting until the collapse of Moscow’s 'empire' in 1989-90.
This module seeks to move beyond such simplifications and pull open the Iron Curtain for a more complex view. Through study of diverse primary sources, new trends in scholarship and conducting independent research, we will range across the eastern half of the continent, with a particular focus on Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and East Germany. We will examine the radical social, political and economic transformations which took place in the first decade after WWII as well as sweeping Stalinist repression. We will investigate mass opposition and uprisings - including the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and Polish Solidarity of 1980. We will study the everyday lives of ordinary people, consumerism, questions of gender, dissident activities, and attempts to reform communism - including the Prague Spring of 1968. We will study international and transnational relations, the collapse of Communism and how its legacy has been handled since 1989.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2023-24 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).
For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.
Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading: