SSEES MA Course Outline Guide 2012-13 - the UCL School of ...

SCHOOL SCHOOL OF OF SLAVONIC SLAVONIC & & EAST EAST EUROPEAN EUROPEAN STUDIES 

STUDIES 

SSEES MA COURSE OUTLINES 

2012-2013

Welcome Welcome Welcome to to SSEES! 

SSEES! 

Welcome to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 

University College London. 

As you know, SSEES is one of the world's leading specialist 

institutions, and the largest national centre in the UK, for the 

study of Central, Eastern and South-East Europe and Russia. 

More than 60 academic staff work at UCL SSEES, teaching and 

conducting research in the history, economics, politics, 

sociology, anthropology, culture, literature and languages of the 

countries of the region. We aim to provide you with stimulating, 

high quality, research-led courses within flexible and wideranging 

interdisciplinary degrees. Our Graduates have an 

enviable record in securing employment in both public and 

private sectors. 

SSEES is ideally located within the UCL campus in Bloomsbury 

and enjoys unrivalled resources for students and staff, 

especially our world-leading Library. We also have a rich 

programme of high-profile international speakers, conferences, 

seminars, and other events. 

You will soon be a member of a specialist institution with 

outstanding resources and expertise at UCL. 

We hope that you will make full use of the unique opportunities 

which lie before you. 

Robin Aizlewood 

Director of SSEES

Guidance Notes: 

This booklet contains a course description for each MA course that SSEES intends to run in 

the 2012-13 academic year. Please note that although SSEES endeavours to run all of the 

courses as advertised, all courses (particularly those which are not core or compulsory for a 

programme of study) require a certain number of students in order to run. SSEES therefore 

reserves the right to remove a module should an insufficient number of students select the 

module. 

The course outlines provide a brief summary of the course contents, the aims and objectives 

of the course and also information on the style and weighting of the assessment for the 

module and the credit value. 

All of our graduate programmes have a clear programme structure which requires that 

certain ‘core’ or ‘compulsory’ courses must be taken. In some cases, you may be asked to 

select at least one module from a choice of three. Please ensure to refer to your programme 

structure (found on the SSEES website or as included with the email) and bear this in mind 

when you are selecting the modules that you wish to take in the coming academic year. 

As you will see from the course outlines, SSEES provides a wide range of modules and makes 

every effort to ensure that every student on every programme has as much choice as 

possible. However, your programme structure may mean that some options may not be 

available (due to timetable clashes etc). Although SSEES makes every effort to provide a 

wide a choice of modules on all of its programmes, the number of clashes means that some 

combinations cannot be delivered. 

To help you make an informed and workable selection, the course descriptions also include 

the term the course is scheduled to run in, and also the provisional time of the main lecture 

or session (please note that all timings are provisional until the beginning of term). When 

selecting your elective courses please double-check to ensure that these times do not clash 

as teaching cannot be moved in order to cater for individual or personal timetables. In 

addition, a majority of these courses will also include mandatory small group teaching, 

seminars or labs which accompany the main lecture, these are not listed directly in the 

course descriptions as the UCL timetabling software will always attempt to allocate you to a 

group which does not clash with teaching in another courses. However, in some cases this 

may not be possible and you may have to reconsider your choice of courses. 

We would be grateful if you would return your selection on the accompanying form by the 

date requested. As stated above, SSEES may remove a course if insufficient interest is 

registered by this date and we would not wish to remove a course without giving it every 

consideration. Furthermore, some modules may run with restrictions on the maximum number 

who may be registered. An early return may help to ensure that you are allocated a place.

Contents 

For reference, the courses are listed in in alphabetically order as follows; 

Module Code Programme Area Module Name 

SEESGR12 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Advanced Language: Russian 

SEESGS45 MA Social Sciences Advanced Qualitative Methods 

SEESGS46 MA Social Sciences Advanced Quantitative Methods 

SEESGE18 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) All Quiet on the Eastern Front: 

SEESGE09 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Bakhtin and Others: Alterity, Identity and Dialogue 

SEESGR62 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Being Soviet. Typologies of Soviet Identity in Russian Cinema 1917-1956 

SEESGS09 MA Social Sciences Causes, Consequences and Control: Corruption and Governance 

SEESGS37 MA Social Sciences Cities in Eastern Europe 

SEESGR20 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Contemporary Russian Cinema and Society since the Collapse of the Soviet Union: 

The Journey into the Unknown 

SEESGS50 MA Social Sciences Corporate Finance and Investment in Emerging Markets 

SEESGS02 MA Social Sciences Corporate Governance 

SEESGS36 MA Social Sciences Cultural Anthropology of South-Eastern Europe 

SEESGS03 MA Social Sciences Development Economics and Policy 

SEESGS40 MA Social Sciences Dissertation Preparation 

SEESGS60 MA Social Sciences Empires, Nationalism and Communism: States and Societies of South-Eastern 

Europe 

SEESGS65 MA Social Sciences Energy, Technology and Innovation 

SEESGS49 MA Social Sciences Ethnopolitical Conflict in Central and Eastern Europe 

SEESGR25 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Exile, Prison and Hard Labour in Russian Literature: Isolate and Punish 

SEESGH01 MA History Fashions, Folly and the Fatherland in Polish Culture, 1730-1834 

SEESGS51 MA Social Sciences Financial Development 

SEESGE16 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Folly, Disaffection and Dystopia in Twentieth-Century Hungarian Literature 

SEESGE15 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Freedom, Death and Love: Polish Fiction 1918-2005 

SEESGR24 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Gender and Sexuality in Modern Russian Culture 

SEESGH07 MA History Historical Methods and Approaches 

SEESGE11 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) History, Myth and Nation in South Eastern Europe 

SEESGS39 MA Social Sciences Informal Practices in Post-Communist Societies 

SEESGS47 MA Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Area Studies I 

SEESGS48 MA Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Area Studies II 

SEESGE60 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Bulgarian 

SEESGE61 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Czech 

SEESGE62 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Finnish 

SEESGE63 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Hungarian 

SEESGE64 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Polish 

SEESGE65 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Romanian 

SEESGR11 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Intermediate Language: Russian 

SEESGE66 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Serbian and Croatian 

SEESGE69 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Intermediate Language: Ukrainian 

SEESGE07 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Introduction to Hermeneutics: How to Read and Interpret Texts 

SEESGR23 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Ire, Irony, Ideology: Satire and Humour in Russian Culture 

SEESGE94 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Linguistic Methods 

SEESGE95 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Literary and Cultural Theory 

SEESGH06 MA History Little Hitlers? Right Radicalism in Central and Eastern Europe, 1900-1945 

SEESGR26 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Nabokov and Russian Émigré Literature 

SEESGS34 MA Social Sciences Nation, Identity and Power in Central and Eastern Europe 

SEESGE70 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Bulgarian 

SEESGE71 

New Language: Czech 

SEESGE80 

MA Lang & Culture (EELC) 

MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Estonian 

SEESGE72 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Finnish 

SEESGE73 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Hungarian

SEESGE74 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Polish 

SEESGE75 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Romanian 

SEESGR10 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) New Language: Russian 

SEESGE76 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Serbian and Croatian 

SEESGE77 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Slovak 

SEESGE79 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) New Language: Ukrainian 

SEESGS11 MA Social Sciences Political Economy of International Business 

SEESGS61 MA Social Sciences Politics of South-Eastern Europe Since 1990 

SEESGS64 MA Social Sciences Post-Soviet Politics 

SEESGS15 MA Social Sciences Quantitative Methods 

SEESGH12 MA History Religion in South-Eastern Europe: From the Age of Empires to Post-Communism 

SEESGS18 MA Social Sciences Russian Foreign Policy since 1917 

SEESGH72 MA History Russian Monarchy: Court Ritual and Political Ideas, 1498-1917 

SEESGS19 MA Social Sciences Russian Politics 

SEESGR09 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Russian Thought 

SEESGS32 MA Social Sciences Security, Identity, Polarity: The Contemporary Debates 

SEESGR19 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) Soviet Cinema and Society from the Khrushchev 'Thaw' to the Collapse of the 

Soviet Union: End of the Radiant Future 

SEESGH16 MA History The Crisis Zone: Central Europe 1900-1990 

SEESGH73 MA History The Culture of Russian Revolutionary Terrorism 

SEESGS38 MA Social Sciences The Economics of Health and Population 

SEESGE20 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) The Jews in Polish Culture: Beyond Stereotypes 

SEESGS07 MA Social Sciences The making of modern Ukraine 

SEESGR04 MA Lang & Culture (Russian) The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel 

SEESGS53 MA Social Sciences The Politics of Change in the Baltic States 

SEESGH05 MA History The Self and the World: Theoretical Approaches to Travel Writing 

SEESGH13 MA History The Soviet Cultural Experiment I, 1917-1945 

SEESGH14 MA History The Soviet Cultural Experiment II, 1945-1991 

SEESGS42 MA Social Sciences Theories of Social and Political Research 

SEESGS23 MA Social Sciences Trade & FDI Policy with Ref. to Eastern Europe 

SEESGH71 MA History Transnational Cultural Exchange: Methods and Approaches 

SEESGS63 MA Social Sciences Understanding and Analysing Data 

SEESGE08 MA Lang & Culture (EELC) Walter Benjamin: Philosophy, Aesthetics, History, Politics

UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies 

MA Module Description for 2012/13 

Module Title: Advanced Language: Russian 

Module Code: SEESGR12 

Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 11-1, Thu 10-11 

Compulsory for: n/a 

Open to: All MA students (dependent upon personal timetable and availability) 

Module Outline 

This course aims to develop post-BA advanced skills in comprehension and the active use of written and spoken Russian. The course will 

concentrate on contemporary Russia – politics, society, culture, and also the changing Russian language itself – with materials drawn 

mainly from newspapers, journals and other media sources. 

The advanced skills developed in the course include: oral presentation and argument; extracting information from spoken and written 

sources; concise summarizing of information in Russian and English; translation into English; conveying information and argument in 

clear and coherent written Russian. 

The course requires BA 2.i class level in Russian language or equivalent and places on the module are extremely limited. A one-hour 

test of comprehension and written Russian, as well as a translation exercise from Russian into English, is held in the first week of 

term to assess required entry level. 

At the end of the module you should have fulfilled the following aims and objectives 

Aims: 

• Improve skills in comprehension and the active use of written and spoken Russian in the context of the contemporary 

language; 

• Improve translating and summarizing skills through the use of a wide range of stylistically diverse materials, mostly drawn 

from contemporary sources; 

• Improve oral presentational skills. 

Objectives: 

• An improved understanding of the Russian language as practised today, as well as an appreciation of the various political, 

social and cultural issues which lie at the heart of contemporary Russian experience; 

• The ability to chose and develop topics of research on the basis of Russian-language materials for the purpose of oral 

presentations and written essays; 

• An improved ability to translate and summarize accurately, coupled with an awareness of contemporary idiom. 

Assessment Style: Written & Oral Exam 

Assessment Weighting: 80% 20% 

Assessment Methods 

Reading 

Derek Offord, Modern Russian: An Advanced Grammar Course, Bristol Classical Press 

Terence Wade, A Comprehensive Russian Grammar, Blackwell Publishers, 2000 

Словарь русского языка в четырех томах, Москва, Русский язык, 1981-84 

С.И.Ожегов, Словарь русского языка, Москва, Русский язык, 1991



Module Title: Advanced Qualitative Methods 

Module Code: SEESGS45 

Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 2 Provisionally Taught at: Tues 4-6 

Compulsory for: IMESS (E&B Track), MRes (1 Year), Optional Core for MRes (2 Year Social Sciences & AH Track) 



This course provides advanced introductions to a representative range of qualitative methods. Such methods include: the practice of 

ethnographical and anthropological observation and participant observation; the use of interviewing (both structured and semistructured), 

questionnaires, focus groups, surveys and case studies; content and discourse analysis; the methodology of oral history; and 

the ethical application of research methods. The course provides practical, hands-on experience in using selected methods. Students 

gain a knowledge and understanding of issues central to the conduct of qualitative research, including issues of measurement, validity 

and 

reliability; the applicability of particular qualitative methods for particular research approaches; and how to critically appraise primary 

qualitative research, including the evaluation of the validity and appropriateness of other researchers’ qualitative methods. 

The classes in ‘Advanced Qualitative Methods’ are taught by specialists in different qualitative research methodologies. They share their 

experience of the application of qualitative methods in their respective fields and provide advice and consultation on the advanced use 

of cutting-edge qualitative methods. By the end of the course, students will have acquired the knowledge and understanding necessary 

to undertake and evaluate the results of advanced qualitative 

research. 


Aims 

• To develop and extend students’ knowledge of qualitative methods for the social sciences through both the presentation of 

methodological concepts as well as practical experience 

• To offer students the opportunity to explore and practise different qualitative approaches 

• To increase students’ understanding of the processes involved in doing qualitative research 

• To endow students with the knowledge and understanding necessary to undertake and evaluate the results of qualitative 

research 

Objectives 

• Have developed an advanced working knowledge of issues central to the conduct of qualitative research including issues of 

measurement, validity and reliability 

• Have developed a solid understanding of the qualitative research process as a whole and the methods available to the 

qualitative researcher 

• Be able to understand and assess the applicability of particular qualitative methods for particular research approaches 

• Be able critically to appraise primary qualitative research 

• Have gained practical experience of various qualitative approaches including the use of Nvivo for critical discourse analysis 


Assessment Style: 1x3000w Essay Assessment Weighting: 50% 50% 

Preliminary Reading 

Berg, B. (1989) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Allyn and Bacon. 

Bryman, A. (2000) Social Research Methods. OUP 

Bryman, A. & Burgess, R.G. (1994) Analysing Qualitative Data. London, Routledge 

Burns, Robert B. (2000) Introduction to Research Methods. Sage 

Burton, Dawn. (2000) Research Training for Social Scientists: A handbook for postgraduate researchers. Sage 

Gillham, Bill. (2000) The Research interview. London, Continuum 

Goldstein, Kenneth. (2002) Interview Methods in Political Science. Political Science, Vol. XXXV, No. 4 

Legard, Robin, Keegan, Jill & Ward, Kit. (2003) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. Sage 

Lilleker, Darren G. (2003) Interviewing the Political Elite: Navigating a Potential Minefield. Politics, 23 (3), pp. 207-14 

Morgan, D.L. (1997) Focus groups as qualitative research. Sage 

Richards, David. (1996) Elite Interviewing: Approaches and Pitfalls. Politics, 19 (3), pp. 199-204 

Tashakkori, Abbas. (1998) Mixed Methodology: mixing qualitative and quantitative research. Sage 

Travers, Max. (2001) Qualitative Research Through Case Studies. Sage



Module Title: Advanced Quantitative Methods 


Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 2 Provisionally Taught at: Wed 11-1 

Compulsory for: MRes (1 Year), Optional Core for MRes (2 Year Social Sciences & AH Track), MA CBE, MA CE&P 



The AQM course builds on the foundation techniques taught in 'Quantitative Methods' during Term1. It is designed to master students’ 

ability in empirical econometric analysis of economic and social sciences data. The course starts from advanced topics in multiple 

regression analysis followed by more specific analysis of time series data, panel data modelling and introduction to limited depended 

variable models. 

This course caters for students from diverse backgrounds with different levels of statistical knowledge. For those with a limited statistical 

background there is the opportunity to gain more quantitative skills, for those with limited experience in using statistical software 

classes in Stata will be on help and for those with more experience there is the opportunity to hone skills and undertake original 

quantitative research at a more advanced level. There is an emphasis throughout on the use, interpretation and understanding of results 

rather than proofs, which will be kept at an elementary/intermediate level. The course can though act as a lead into a more theoretical 

econometrically oriented course. 


Aims: 

• To equip students with intermediate level econometric techniques. 

• To enable postgraduate students to understand and apply econometrics and statistical techniques to real life economic and 

social sciences data. 

• To prepare postgraduate students for more advanced specialist econometric courses and research. 

• To develop an appreciation of the role of econometrics and statistical analysis in the social sciences – both strengths and 

weaknesses. 

• To make accessible applied econometric literature. 

Objectives: 

By the end of the course students will be equipped with the technical, statistical and interpretative skills and will be able to critically 

appraise published research and to design and carry out independent empirical research projects. These will constitute the foundation 

skills appropriate for embarking on a social science/economics research degree. 

Assessment Style: 1 x 5000w Stata project 

Assessment Weighting: 100% 



There is no single core text for this course as we cater for a range of levels. Many of the key resources are available online. However 

there are a couple of books (1, and 4) which refer to Stata directly and others with wider coverage of statistics for Social Scientists (3 and 

5). (2) is also highly recommended, as an introductory text, for anyone serious about using STAT for econometrics. 

1. Stock, James. H and Watson, Mark. W (2007) Introduction to Econometrics. 2nd ed., Pearson International Edition, 

http://wps.aw.com/aw_stock_ie_2/ 

2. Dougherty, C. (2002) Introduction to Econometrics, 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford. 

3. Verbeek M. A. (2008), Guide to Modern Econometrics, Wiley, 3rd ed. 

4. Rabe-Hesketh S., Skronda A. (2010) Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling Using Stata, 2nd ed., Stata Press. 

5. Baum, Chrisopher F. (2006) An Introduction to Modern Econometrics Using Stata. 

Stata Press. 

6. Kohler, U. and Kreuter, F. (2005) Data Analysis Using Stata. Stata Press. 

7. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. (2003) Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. 2 nd ed., South Western. 

8. Hamilton, Lawrence C. (2003) Statistics with Stata. Duxbury. 

There are a range of other accessible texts covering basic applied statistics and some introductory econometrics and the Stata supporting 

website (http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/) is excellent.



Module Title: All Quiet on the Eastern Front: Culture, Politics and Everday Life in Central and Eastern Europe 

Module Code: SEESGE18 

Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 2 Provisionally Taught at: Thu 2-4 




Western observers have primarily looked upon post-war Eastern Europe as the homeland of crisis: a region where history favours the 

dramatic props of show trials, tank divisions, and ethnic cleansing. Eastern Europeans, however, lived far more often in between such 

events. These periods of 'normalcy' could of course be bleak (encouraging idealization of the excitement of Western consumer culture) 

but also created their own particular possibilities for action and interaction. This course will explore how everyday life in Eastern 

Europe—simultaneously boredom and threat, shelter and surprise—could inspire powerful forms of cultural expression. 

The course is organized around dates that sound obscure: years or periods in which social change seemed distant rather than imminent, 

moments anchored in everydayness rather than buffeted by upheaval. These 'snapshot moments' may be less familiar from the history 

books, but they are more representative of broader social patterns. In each case that pattern shall be approached through analysis either 

of a significant work of literary, visual or cinematic art, or through popular culture produced at that time, allowing exploration of how 

cultural expression works through both rejection and exemplification of social norms. Further, for each moment a different country 

serves as a point of focus that may be contrasted and compared to events elsewhere: the region as a whole thus appears more complex, 

being characterized by both simultaneity and dissimilarity. In every case, however, special attention will be paid to the ways people have 

turned banal realities into sources of creativity, and to how these historical 'grey spots' might change our broader image of 

developments in post-war Eastern Europe. 

Assessment Style: 1x3000w Essay 




Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry, London, 2001. 

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkeimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, trans. John Cumming, London, 1979, ‘The Culture Industry 

Chapter.’ 

P. Aries and G Duby (eds), A History of Private Life, Harvard MA, 1990. 

Daphne Berdahl, Matti Bunzl, and Martha Lampland (eds), Altering States: Ethnographies of Transition in Eastern Europe and the Former 

Soviet Union, Ann Arbor, 2000. 

Yorick Blumenfeld, Seesaw: Cultural Life in Eastern Europe, New York, 1968. 

Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, trans. Richard Nice, London, 1984. 

Svetlana Boym, Common Places: Mythologies of Everyday Life in Russia, London, 1994. 

Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life, trans. Stephene Rendall, London, 1988. 

Rajendra Chitnis, Literature in Post-Communist Russia and Eastern Europe: The Russian, Czech and Slovak Fiction of the Changes, 1988- 

98, Abingdon, 2005. 

Crampton, R. J. Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century—And After. 2nd ed. London, 1997. 

David Crowley and Susan E. Reid (eds), Style and Socialism: Modernity and Material Culture in Post-war Eastern Europe, Oxford, 2000. 

Davd Crowley and Susan E. Reid (eds), Socialist Spaces: Sites of Everyday Life in the Eastern Bloc, London, 2002. 

Shelia Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, Oxford, 1999. 

Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz. Good-Bye Samizdat: Twenty Years of Czechoslovak Underground Writing. Evanston, IL, 1992.



Module Title: Bakhtin and Others: Alterity, Identity and Dialogue 






This 15 credit MA course explores ideas of the Other in aesthetics, ethics, psychoanalysis, theology, literature, anthropology, and postcolonial 

theory. It concerns central questions of how identity correlates to alterity and of how the Self constructs itself in dialogue with 

the Other. The first part of the course is devoted to an exploration of the ideas of the Russian thinker, Mikhail Bakhtin, and thinkers 

associated with him in the Bakhtin Circle. Here, we shall explore Bakhtin’s conception of dialogue in his writings on aesthetics and ethics. 

The second part of the course will look at other articulations of dialogue and alterity in a range of thinkers from Buber to Bhabha. 

1. Self and Other: A Philosophical Introduction 

2. Ethics and Alterity: Bakhtin 

3. Aesthetics and Alterity: Bakhtin 

4. Other Voices I: Voloshinov 

5. Other Voices II: Bakhtin and the Novel 

6. Theology and Alterity: Buber, Lévinas, Rosenzweig 

7. The Other Within: Freud and Lacan 

8. The Anthropological Other: Surrealism and Mimesis 

9. Becoming Other: Capitalism and Schizophrenia 

10. Ambivalence and the Other: Postcolonialism 



To follow 

Outline 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Being Soviet. Typologies of Soviet Identity in Russian Cinema 1917-1956 


Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Tue 11-1 




After the violent birth of the Soviet state, questions of affiliation and identity became of paramount importance. Opponents of the new 

regime were ‘Whites’, ‘former people’,‘enemies’; those who supported it were ‘new men’ and ‘new women’, initiators of a new 

society and permitted to enjoy its benefits. And Soviet leaders were acutely aware of the way in which the arts could be mobilized to 

inculcate these new values and outlooks into the minds of citizens. Thus debates arose in official discourse about Soviet film in the 

1920s and into the 1930s about the kinds of subject that were appropriate for Soviet cinema and the kinds of protagonist whose stories 

it was permitted to tell. This applied as much to films set in the past as to those set in the present, for right-thinking fore-runners, 

whether rulers or generals, writers or composers, were a valuable ideological asset. 

This course studies Soviet films from the Revolution to the Thaw in the socio-cultural and historico-political context of the time. It 

examines the formation of Soviet (or anti-Soviet) identities of various kinds in the protagonists of the films and compares and contrasts 

the attitudes and strategies displayed in films made during different decades of the period from the Revolution to the Thaw. It examines 

the films in the context of the theoretical statements of their makers, where appropriate; in the context of Party and other official 

statements about the 

role of Soviet cinema; in the context of evolving ideological discourse; and in the context of the films’ reception, both official and 

critical. 


Aims 

• To trace the representation of different kinds of Soviet identity in the films made in the Soviet Union from the Russian 

Revolution (1917) to the Thaw (1956). 

• To examine the changes in the representation of specific Soviet ‘types’ (such as revolutionary, politician, collective farmer, 

scientist) over the first half of the Soviet period. 

• To compare film practice with official discourse about the character and aims of Soviet cinema in this period. 

• To consider the competing impulses of aesthetic and political interpretation in the critical literature about these films. 

Outcomes 

• Thorough knowledge and understanding of the role of cinema in the first half of the Soviet period, and the ability to define 

and explain the relationship between art and power during these years. 

• The ability to define and apply appropriate theoretical and critical models to films from this period. 

• The ability to analyse, compare and discuss effectively a wide range of source materials, including feature films and written 

secondary sources, in both class discussions and written work on the topic. 

• Enhanced ability to frame an argument about Soviet film and society in a sustained manner. Arguments should be structured, 

coherent, relevant, and concise, and should take into account all aspects of a given problem. 


Assessment Style: 2hr Unseen Exam+1x1500w Essay Assessment Weighting: 50% 50% 


Cavendish, P. Soviet Mainstream Cinematography. The Silent Era, London, UCL Arts & Humanities Publications, 2008, ix + 186 pp. 

Dobrenko, E. Stalinist Cinema and the Production of History. Museum of the Revolution, Edinburgh, Edinburgh U.P. 2008, 263 pp. 

The Film Factory. Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents 1896-1939, edited by R. Taylor and I. Christie, London, 1988; paperback 1994 

Kenez, P. Cinema and Soviet Society, 1917-1953, Cambridge, 1992; reprinted London and New York, 2001 

Mayne, J. Kino and the Woman Question. Feminism and Soviet Silent Film, Columbus, Ohio, 1989 

Stalinism and Soviet Cinema, ed. R. Taylor and D. Spring, London and New York, 1993 

Taylor, R. Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, Cambridge, 1979, second, revised edition, London and New York, 1998 

Taylor, R. The Politics of the Soviet Cinema 1917-1929, London, 1979 etc. 

Youngblood, D. Movies for the masses. Popular cinema and Soviet society in the 1920s, Cambridge, 1992 

Youngblood, D. Russian War Films. On the Cinema Front, 1914-2005, University Press of Kansas, 2007



Module Title: Causes, Consequences and Control: Corruption and Governance 






Aims 

• DISCOVER the nature of corruption; 

• IDENTIFY its forms; 

• ANALYSE political, economic and social factors and implications of corruption; 

• COMPARE practices of corruption and methods of its control in the CIS region. 

Objectives 

• IMPROVE skills of searching for and working with academic, policy-making and popular literature and internet sources on the 

subject; 

• DEMONSTRATE ability to critically assess academic texts and policy-making documents as well as to present their own 

argument in a clear and structured form; 

• DEVELOP expertise required for the jobs of analysts and consultants. 

Teaching and Learning Methods 

The course work is organised as a WORKSHOP in analytical writing for business. The workshop involves some simulation of a business 

environment. Each of the 10 sessions consists of two parts. Part 1 is based on brief presentations by students and a group discussion. 

Presentations are based on academic and policy sources. Handouts are to be prepared for each session in the form of bullet points (one 

side of A4). Part 2 relates to individual research projects on corruption in the CIS region, which result in regional reports. Internet skills 

and access to Internet are essential, as well as ability to find the latest information about the region. 





Rose-Ackerman, S., Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences, and Reform. Cambridge University Press, 1999. 

Clarke, M. (ed.), Corruption: Causes, Consequences and Control, London: Francis Pinter, 1983.2 

Alatas, S. H., Corruption: Its Nature, Causes and Functions, Aldershot: Avebury, 1990. 

Karklins, R., The System Made Me Do It: Corruption in Post-Communist Societies. M.E. Sharpe, 2005. 

Johnston M., Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy, Cambridge University Press, 2005. 

Ledeneva, A. How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices that Shapes Post-Soviet Politics and Business. Cornell University Press, 

2006. 

Main databases: 

Eastview database; World Bank Institute - www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/ 

Transparency International - www.transparency.org and www.globalcorruptionreport.org 

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)- www.oecd.org



Module Title: Cities in Eastern Europe 






After the end of Communism, many cities in Eastern Europe are undergoing rapid social and economic change, which has had major 

effects on the physical outlook of these cities. It also has affected the ways in which people, urbanites as well as non-urbanites, perceive 

these cities and urban life in general. This course wants to investigate how, in the post-socialist context, city dwellers perceive, define 

and use this rapidly transforming urban space, as well as how they try to shape and appropriate it (make their own "place" out of urban 

"space"). The course will also look at the ideological uses of the city, i.e. the ways in which peasants and other non-urbanites (but also 

urbanites themselves) perceive cities not only as "free" and anonymous places, offering a wide range of new economic possibilities, but 

also as sources of widely felt insecurity, danger and threat. In some parts of Eastern Europe, such fears have been reinforced by the lack 

of political control over processes of urban growth and development. Many changes seem to evolve without planning, which is in 

marked contrast with the socialist period. During the 1990s, existential fears under new political and economic conditions have fuelled 

anti-urbanist discourses, and boosted forms of populism and nationalism. This has been salient in the case of the former Yugoslavia: the 

urban-rural division has been important in understanding the violence of the 1990s, some local intellectuals going as far as to 

characterise the war as a form of "urbicide". The course would like to investigate the urban experience in the post-socialist period, and 

contrast it with the socialist period, i.e. focus on the ways people have lived their urban lives, how they have lived through the changes 

and how they perceive the differences between the socialist and postsocialist period. Other topics the course will deal with is urban 

landscape, monuments, urban material culture, urban design and architecture, property issues, social cleavages and ethnic divisions, 

consumerism, leisure and life style, urbanisation and (transnational) migration. 


Aims 

• ANALYSE transformations cities in Eastern Europe have undergone in the post-Socialist period 

• DESCRIBE the ways in which urbanites and non-urbanites perceive these changes and how they use urban space. 

Objectives: 

• DEMONSTRATE ability to critically assess academic texts 

• DEVELOP research strategies for the study of urban life in Eastern Europe 

• MAKE clear, engaging, and coherent oral and written presentations 

• FRAME their MA dissertations within concepts and theories elaborated in this course. 





Low, Setha M. (ed.). 2002. Theorizing the City. The new urban anthropology reader. New Brunswick. 

Crowley, David and Susan Reid (eds.). 2002. Socialist spaces: Sites of everyday life in the eastern bloc. Oxford. 

F.E. Ian Hamilton, Kaliopa Dimitrovska Andrews, and Nataša Pichler-Milanović (eds.). Transformations of cities in Central and Eastern 

Europe: Towards globalization. Tokyo. 

Cor Wagenaar (ed.), Happy cities and public happiness in post-war Europe. Rotterdam. 

Åman, A. 1992. Architecture and ideology in Eastern Europe during the Stalin era. Boston. 

French, R. Anthony. 1995. Plans, pragmatism and people. The legacy of Soviet planning for today’s cities. London. 

Tsenkova, Sasha and Zorica Nedović-Budić (eds.). 2006. The urban mosaic of post-socialist Europe. Space, institutions and policy. 

Heidelberg.



Module Title: Contemporary Russian Cinema and Society since the Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Journey into the Unknown 


Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Fri 3-5 




This course studies ten key films in the development of post-Soviet cinema since the collapse of the Soviet Union. These films reflect the 

momentous changes which have been felt in all areas of Russian society since 1991. These include the radical shift to a market-economy, 

the consequent challenge posed by American domination of the film-market, and competition from other forms of entertainment, all of 

which resulted in the mid-1990s in a catastrophic decline in terms of film production and audience figures. The story of how the filmindustry 

responded and overcame these challenges is very much the focus of this course. It will study the response of the older 

generation of directors, i.e. those who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s: many of these directors struggled to bridge the 

divide between Soviet and post-Soviet, but some of them have continued successfully to carve a niche for themselves in the new marketeconomy. 

It will also study the response of the younger generation of film-makers, known as the ‘brat-packers’, who have tried to solve 

this crisis by making films which are accessible to large-scale audiences. A new cinema has emerged on the ashes of the old, and it is one 

which is beginning to receive international plaudits as well enjoy cinematic releases in foreign countries. Issues for discussion include: 

the contemporary approach to the ‘myths’ of the Soviet period and the emergence of new, post-Soviet myths; questions of identity and 

the recent trend towards neo-nationalism and patriotism; the contemporary treatment of the war-genre; the emergence of new genres 

as a result of the commercial priorities of the film-industry; cinema as a reflection of new social and linguistic norms (the emergence, for 

example, of the ‘New Russians’, with their ostentatious wealth and celebrity culture); the semiotics of space and the architectural 

landscapes of post-1991 Moscow and Petersburg; gender issues and the contemporary focus on ‘fatherlessness’; the advent of 

digital cinema and new forms of visual experimentation; changing attitudes towards nudity, sex, and the eroticization of the male and 

female body; and postmodernist and self-consciously playful approaches to the construction of cinematic narrative; the relationship 

between cinema and other visual media, in particular advertising, music videos, and magazine culture. 


Aims 

1. Acquire an in-depth knowledge of the development of Russian cinema since the collapse of the Soviet Union through the study of key directors and 

their collaborators 

2. Analyse cinema as a means of visual representation which engages with the complex realities of post-Soviet Russian society in terms of ideology and 

culture, and in particular the commercial priorities which have increasingly dictated choice of genre, thematic material, and visual treatment 

3. To study some key trends in the evolution of post-Soviet cinema, in particular the emergence of neo-nationalism, the ways in which cinema has 

engaged with Soviet myths and the competition from Hollywood, the treatment of gender issues, and issues relating to the construction of post- Soviet 

identities 

Objectives: 

1. An increased understanding of the development of post-Soviet cinema and the ways in which different generations of Russian directors have sought to 

engage with post-Soviet realities 

2. An ability to engage with post-Soviet cinema as a visual medium which operates increasingly within a highly commodified and commercialized marketeconomy 

3. An increased awareness of the key trends of the period in terms of ideology, society and culture 

4. The skills with which to analyse film, in particular through close readings, which will provide 

the foundation for further research 


Assessment Style: 1x3000w Essay Assessment Weighting: 100% 


Faraday, G., Revolt of the Filmmakers: The Struggle for Artistic Autonomy and the Fall of the Soviet Film Industry, University Park, Pennsylvania, 2000 [see 

especially chapter 5, ‘From Masochism to Mythology’, pp.159-93] 

Russia on Reels: The Russian Idea in Post-Soviet Cinema, ed. Birgit Beumers, I.B. Tauris, London 

and New York, 1999 

Beumers, B., ‘Cinemarket, or the Russian Film Industry in “Mission Possible”’, Europe-Asia Studies, 51, 1999, pp. 871-96 [Very detailed information on the 

running of the industry in the 1990s and a number of useful tables.] 

Beumers, B., ‘Myth-making and myth-taking: lost ideals and the War in contemporary Russian cinema’, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 42, 2000, 1-2, pp. 171- 

89 

Boym, S., ‘Post-Soviet cinematic nostalgia: from «Elite cinema» to soap opera’, Discourse, 17, 1995, 3, pp. 75-84 [University of London Library] 

Condee, N., ‘The dream of well-being’, Sight and Sound, vol. 7, no. 12, December 1997, pp. 18-21 

Gillespie, D., ‘Reconfiguring the past. The return of history in recent Russian film’, New Cinemas. 

Journal of Contemporary Film, 1, 2002, 1, pp. 14-23 

Knox-Voina, J., ‘“Everything will be OK”: a new trend in Russian film’, Russian Review, 56, 1997, 2, pp. 286-90 Russian culture Ann Arbor 1995 pp 299-310



Module Title: Corporate Finance and Investment in Emerging Markets 



Compulsory for: Optional Core for MA CBE 



This MA course aims at examining a wide range of microeconomic issues in the emerging market finance. We will start by identifying a 

relevant group of countries classified as emerging markets, analyse their characteristics and economic performance and identify 

important challenges for their financial systems. 

We will continue by looking at the development, structure, and performance of the emerging markets debt and equity markets from the 

point of view of investors and the policymakers. A broad range of issues related to investing in emerging markets bonds, stocks, and 

private equity will be analysed. A special attention will be paid to the flexibility, resiliency, and adaptability of the financial markets.The 

lecture on valuation practices will illustrate some important challenges faced by investors when applying traditional valuation 

frameworks in the emerging market settings. We will define the relevant features of an emerging market, explain why traditional 

valuation techniques prove to be inadequate, analyse pros and cons of alternative valuation frameworks, and highlight the importance 

of unsystematic risk. Finally, we will look at the literature on the capital structure and financial constrains of the companies in the 

emerging markets. The analysis will focus both on the incentives of the company owners and constraints imposed by financial markets 

and institutions. In terms of countries coverage, special attention will be paid to the regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the 

former Soviet Union. 


Aims: 

• to cover fundamental concepts in finance; 

• to analyse debt and equity markets in emerging economies; 

• to analyse alternative valuation models of firms in emerging markets; 

• to analyse financial decisions of firms in emerging markets. 

Objectives: 

• 1the relevant features of emerging markets; 

• the development, structure, and performance of the emerging markets debt and equity markets; 

• framework for valuation of companies in emerging markets; 

• pros and cons of alternative valuation models; 

• the determinants of capital structure and financial constraints of firms in emerging markets. 




The New Titans, A survey of the world economy. The Economist, September 16th 2006 Campbell R. Harvey and Geert Bekaert, 

"Emerging Markets Finance," with, Journal of Empirical Finance 2003, 10, 3-56. 

Erb, Claude B., Campbell R. Harvey, and Tadas E. Viskanta (2000), “Understanding Emerging Market Bonds,” Emerging Markets 

Quarterly, Spring, pp. 1- 16. 

Eugene Nivorozhkin, “Firms’ Financing Choices in EU Accession Countries”, Emerging Markets Review 6 (2), June 2005. 

"Valuation in Emerging Markets", McKinsey Quarterly 2000, number 4. 

Luis E. Pereiro, “Valuation of Companies in Emerging Markets: A Practical Approach”, Wiley Finance. 

Bekaert, G., C. Erb, C. Harvey, and T. Viskanta, 1997, What matters for emerging equity market investments, Emerging Markets 

Quarterly 1, 17-46



Module Title: Corporate Governance 






The objective of this course is to develop the student's ability to understand and analyse the issues of corporate governance and 

privatisation in comparative perspective, in particular as applied to the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS 

countries. 

The course combines a short introduction to the modern theory of information, incentives and property rights with institutional analysis 

drawing from major categories of the privatisation programmes and corporate governance regimes and offers a discussion of empirical 

research. The topics include an introduction to the agency theory, moral hazard, risk sharing, incentive contracts and property rights. 

Building on that, the course offers a discussion of corporate governance models, capital markets and regulation, and of the main 

privatisation methods including mass privatisation, employee buy-outs, initial public offerings and direct sales to strategic investors. 

Students are expected to have a basic background in economics at the undergraduate level (a foundation course covering both micro 

and macroeconomics is the prerequisite). 


Aims: 

1. Apply the agency theory to analyse various economic phenomena 

2. Identify the key dimensions of the property rights 

3. Analyse the interdependence between the institutional frameworks of corporate governance, the nature 

of ownership and the structure and volume of financing and other resources available to firms 

4. Compare the corporate governance and ownership rights regimes using cross-country empirical evidence 

5. Draw policy conclusions 

Objectives: 

1. knowledge of the research methods applied in the corporate governance area 

2. skills of working with academic literature and quantitative information 

3. ability to critically assess academic texts and to present own argument in a clear and structured form 

4. skills to present own research in a well organised and engaging way 

5. competence in independent research on selected topics for individual essays 

Assessment Style: 2hr Unseen Exam+1x1500w Essay 




Tomasz Mickiewicz (2009), 'Hierarchy of governance institutions and the pecking order of privatisation: Central-Eastern Europe and 

Central Asia reconsidered', Post-Communist Economies, 21: 4, 399 — 423 

Tomasz Mickiewicz (ed) (2006), Corporate Governance and Finance in Poland and Russia, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. 

P. Milgrom and J. Roberts (1992), Economics, Organisation and Management, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 

O. Hart (1995), Firms, Contracts and Financial Structure, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

D. Saal and D. Parker (eds.), (2003), International Handbook on Privatisation, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2007), Transition Report 2007. Finance in Transition, London: EBRD. 

Main Journals: 

Quarterly Journal of Economics, Economics of Transition, Journal of Comparative Economics (available at UCL in electronic format 

from Ingenta and ScienceDirect)



Module Title: Cultural Anthropology of South-Eastern Europe 






This course offers an anthropological introduction to the Balkans, organised around the concept of identity. Because of the perspective 

‘from below’, the focus is not only on ethnic and national lines of division, but on various other criteria of identification (such as kinship, 

gender, religion, and the urban-rural division) which are important in everyday life. 

The aim is to correct the dominant 'ethnic' approach to the region and re-direct attention to other cultural and social divisions. In 

addition, the course will introduce students with the ethnography of the region, and with the work of Western anthropologists and 

indigenous ethnologists. 


Aims: 

• ANALYSE the ways in which people form identities, create groups and mark divisions 

• FOCUS on aspects of everyday life in South-Eastern Europe 

• ANALYSE and EVALUATE anthropological and ethnographic work on the region 

Objectives 

• DEMONSTRATE ability to critically assess academic texts 

• INTEGRATE anthropological theories and concepts in their own work 

• DEVELOP research strategies based on anthropological approaches 







PRELIMINARY READING 

Students with no familiarity in anthropology are advised to read first:Kottak, Conrad Phillip - 1996. Mirror for Humanity. A Concise 

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill. 

Eriksen, Thomas Hylland - 1995. Small places, large issues. An introduction to social and cultural anthropology. London: Pluto Press. 

Moore, Jerry D. - 1997. Visions of culture. An introduction to anthropological theories and theorists. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press. 

Other preliminary reading: 

Hann, C.M - 1995. The skeleton at the feast. Contributions to East European anthropology. Canterbury: Centre for Social Anthropology 

and Computing, University of Kent. 

Duijzings, Ger - 2000. Religion and the politics of identity in Kosovo. London: Hurst. 

Kideckel, David A. (ed.) - 1995. East European communities. The struggle for balance in turbulent times. Boulder: Westview Press. 

Halpern, Joel Martin & David A. Kideckel (eds.) - 2000. Neighbors at war: Anthropological perspectives on Yugoslav culture and history. 

University ark: Pennsylvania State University Press.



Module Title: Development Economics and Policy 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Thur 4-5 

Compulsory for: MA CE&P 



The objective of this course is to develop the student's ability to understand and analyse the process of economic transition in twenty 

nine economies of Europe and Asia that emerged from the former Soviet block after 1989. The theoretical framework is that of 

comparative 

economics, and the course covers the process of economic liberalisation and its interactions with political liberalisation, institutional 

reforms, stabilisation programmes and macroeconomic policies, fiscal and financial reforms, and labour market developments. Last 

but not least we discuss the factors affecting economic growth. The course combines theory, institutional analysis and investigation of 

empirical data. Students are expected to have a basic background in economics at the undergraduate level (a foundation course 

covering both micro and macroeconomics is the prerequisite). 


Aims: 

This course aims at enabling students to: 

1. Understand the key characteristics of the process of institutional reform and identify its principal 

components 

2. Analyse the interdependence between the components of institutional reforms 

3. Compare the institutional reforms programmes in the light of cross-country empirical evidence and 

assess the impact on economic performance 

4. Draw policy conclusions 

Objectives: 

By the end of the course, you will have acquired: 

1. knowledge of the research methods applied in the transition economics 

2. skills of working with academic literature and quantitative information 

3. ability to critically assess academic texts and to present own argument in a clear and structured form 

4. skills to present own research in a well organised and engaging way 

5. competence in independent research on selected topics for individual essays 





T. Mickiewicz (2010), Economic of Institutional Change, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. 

O. Havrylyshyn (2006), Divergent Paths in Post-Communist Transition, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Main Journals: 

Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Economics of Transition, Post Communist Economies, Acta 

Oeconomica, Economic Systems, (all available at UCL, in electronic format from Ingenta and ScienceDirect) 

Main Working Papers Series: 

William Davidson Institute (University of Michigan), International Monetary Fund,World Bank (Policy Research Working Papers), EBRD, 

CCE (SSEES UCL), (all available from the Web)



Module Title: Dissertation Preparation 


Credit Value: 0 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: 3xWednesday pm 

(Term 

1), 2xWednesday pm (Term 

2) 



• 

• 

• 

• 

Assessment Style: 

Assessment Weighting: 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Empires, Nationalism and Communism: States and Societies of South-Eastern Europe 


Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 3-5 




This seminar traces the development of national states in Southeast Europe from the late period of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian 

Empires to the period of decline of Communist regimes. While the material is drawn from a variety of perspectives the emphases are on 

political sociology and social history. We will seek to understand how nationalist ideologies developed and gained support in the region, 

the influence of imperial policies on later developments, and the experiences of states before and after the Second World War. Special 

attention will be paid to the role of national and ethnic politics in the political and social lives of the Southeast European states. While 

close attention will be paid to the states that comprised Yugoslavia, the material attempts to draw accounts of the entire region under 

discussion. 


Aims: 

1. An understanding of social and cultural change in Southeast Europe and their relation to political developments 

2. Familiarity with the debates regarding the history of national, ethnic and political conflict in Southeast Europe 

3. An understanding of the political challenges faced by the early national states of Southeast Europe and their Communist successors, 

and the strategies adopted to address them 

Objectives: 

1. Analyse factors correlating with political change in Southeast Europe 

2. Apply theories of nationalism and political mobilisation to events in the politics and history of the region 

3. Address the scholarly debates regarding the challenges of national policy across the 19th and 20th centuries 



Theories and histories of nationalism 

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities 

Breuilly, John. Nationalism and the State 

Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism 

Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780 



General histories of the region 

Jelavich, Barbara. History of the Balkans 

Rothschild, Joseph. East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars 

Roudometof, Victor. Nationalism, Globalisation and Orthodoxy 

Sugar, Peter. Southeast Europe Under Ottoman Rule 

Tomasevich, Jozo. Peasants, Politics and Economic Change in Yugoslavia 

National and political conflict 

Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugoslavia 

Djokić, Dejan. Elusive Compromise: A History of Interwar Yugoslavia 

Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie and Fischer, Bernd (eds.). Alnanian Identities: Myth and History



Module Title: Energy, Technology and Innovation 






This module aims to make students familiar with the major issues of the economics of technological change and innovation, and 

strategic technology management with special reference to energy and environment. Module focuses on: 

• Key concepts and models of innovation process; 

• The issues involved in measurements of technical change and innovation and interpretation of results; 

• Patterns of innovation and dynamics of technical change and innovation; 

• Socio-technical changes and energy transitions; 

• The systemic nature of innovation and transition to sustainability; 

• Microeconomics and management of innovation; 

• Open innovation and innovation collaboration 

• Diffusion analysis and international technology transfer; 

• Innovation policy: strategic issues 

Innovation policy: country and sector policy analyses 


The aim of this module is to make students familiar with the major issues of the economics of technological change and innovation, and 

strategic technology management with special reference to energy and environment. More specifically students will: 

- Learn to analyse, synthesise and critically use various indicators of technical change and innovation; 

- Understand major patterns of dynamics of technical change and evaluate ongoing structural changes within that context; 

- Learn how technology transitions are shaped by socio-economic factors and their mutual interactions including issues involved 

in transition to sustainability; 

- Learn major strategic issues involved in technology management at organisational level including in open and collaborative 

innovation; 

- Understand the major models of technology diffusion and factors involved in their design; 

- Understand various options in technology policy which relate to energy and environment and how these options reflect 

different criteria used by different stakeholders. They will acquire capability to identify underlying assumptions, and evaluate 

policy options based on evidence, detect false logic or reasoning, and identify implicit values 

- Acquire capacity to conduct strategic analysis in technology management at organisation and at policy level 

Acquire a critical awareness of current issues in strategic management of technology which is informed by leading edge research and 

practice in the field 

Assessment Style: 2X2000w Essay 


Assessment Methods



Module Title: Ethnopolitical Conflict in Central and Eastern Europe 






The aim of this course is to analyse the causes of ethnopolitical conflict and examine the main means by which states seek to eliminate 

or manage conflict between ethnic groups. The course will take an interdisciplinary approach, examining explanatory and normative 

literature from sociology, social psychology, history and political science. The course will be structured around specific concepts and 

theories, rather than case studies. However, students are expected to apply these concepts and theories to actual cases of conflict from 

the region, allowing them to develop a specialised understanding of inter-ethnic relations and conflict resolution in Central and Eastern 

Europe. 


Aims 

• to analyse a range of explanatory theories and perspectives on ethnic conflict 

• to integrate and apply knowledge from different social science disciplines 

• to make coherent presentations of the results of this research in lucid English 

• to enable students to frame dissertations within theories elaborated in this course 

Objectives 

• to analyse the scholarly debates regarding the cause of ethno-political conflict 

• to compare different approaches to eliminating and/or managing ethnic difference 

• to examine the explanatory power of such theories when applied to particular cases 



1. Ethnicity and ethnic diversity 

2. Theories of inter-group conflict 

3. Genocide and ethnic cleansing 

4. Partition, secession and irredentism 

5. Power-sharing and ethnic democracy 

6. Multiculturalism and minority rights 

7. International law and third-party intervention 

8. Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 

9. Gender and ethnic conflict 

10. Reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction 


Seminar Topics



Module Title: Exile, Prison and Hard Labour in Russian Literature: Isolate and Punish 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Thu 11-1 




The course examines the Russian tradition of writing about imprisonment and Siberian exile from the seventeenth to the twentieth 

century. Narratives of incarceration have played a crucial role in the foundation and development of modern Russian literature since the 

production of one of the first Russian autobiographical texts, and first works of Russian literature to be written in the vernacular, The Life 

of the Archpriest Avvakum, Written by Himself. The appearance of exiled Decembrists’ memoirs and Dostoevsky’s Notes from the House 

of the Dead in the mid-nineteenth century established political imprisonment and hard labour in Siberia within the Russian cultural 

imagination, and as a focus for reform and protest, while survivor testimonies of the Stalinist and post-Stalinist Gulag formed a vital part 

of the dissident movement and provided not only some of the most significant documents, but also some of the most memorable 

literature of the Soviet era. Tracing this tradition from its inception to the late Soviet period, the course provides an overview of a 

significant aspect of Russian history and its role in the development of culture. As well as close textual analysis, works from different 

periods are examined from a variety of perspectives: theories of autobiography, memory and trauma, in both the Russian and the wider 

context, including comparison with Shoah narratives such as Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table; questions of representation, history, fact 

and fiction, through analysis of developments of genre and narrative; and recurring themes such as identity and corporeality, religious 

faith and the cult of suffering, and the encounter between the intelligentsia and the people. Narratives by former convicts, including not 

only works by the best known Gulag writers, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Evgeniia Ginzburg and Varlam Shalamov, but also lesser known 

testimonies, for example by Ol’ga Adamova-Sliozburg and Iuliia Danzas, form the basis of the course. In addition, texts which have 

described this experience from other perspectives, such as camp guards (Sergei Dovlatov) and prisoners’ relatives (Lydiia Chukovskaia, 

Nadezhda Mandel’shtam), are examined both for contextualization and comparison, and to deepen understanding of the wider impact 

of imprisonment and exile on Russian society and literature. 

its 


Aims: 

To trace the development of exile and imprisonment as a genre within Russian literature, and to analyse its central themes and ideas 

across different narrative forms. 

To introduce students to a variety of theoretical perspectives surrounding issues of trauma, memory and representation, and to consider 

their applicability to the Russian context. 

To assess the role of gender, faith and political context in the experience of imprisonment and the production of witness testimony. 

Objectives: 

1. In-depth knowledge and understanding of the role of imprisonment and exile in Russian literature, 

history and cultural memory. 

2. The ability to define and apply appropriate theoretical and critical models to texts from a variety of genres and periods. 

3. Enhanced skills of literary analysis, and the ability to compare works of memoir, witness testimony, 




Students are strongly advised to read at least the following primary texts in advance: 

Dostoevsky, Notes from the House of the Dead 

Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 

Varlam Shalamov, Kolyma Tales 

Evgeniia Ginzburg, Journey into the Whirlwind 

The following texts will provide good preliminary historical context and theoretical background: 

Applebaum, Anne, Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps (London: Allen Lane, 2003) 

Agamben, Giorgio, Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive, trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen (New York: Zone Books, 1999) 

Caruth, Cathy, ed., Trauma: Explorations in Memory (Baltimore and London: JHUP, 1995) 

Foucault, Michel, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (London: Penguin, 1991) 

Merridale, Catherine, Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Russia (London: Granta, 2000) 

Todorov, Tsvetan, Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps, trans. Arthur Denner and Abigail Pollak (New York: Henry 

Holt, 1996)



Module Title: Fashions, Folly and the Fatherland in Polish Culture, 1730-1834 

Module Code: SEESGH01 





This 15-credit course explores the development of Polish culture through the last three decades of the Polish-Lithuanian 

Commonwealth and the first four decades of its aftermath; a period of intense drama and trauma, but also of some quieter interludes. 

Poland experienced the cultural and intellectual trends of the European Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment in the particular 

circumstances of a republican political culture and the destruction of the Polish-Lithuanian state by its neighbours. The course therefore 

seeks to explore the factors that shaped the particular experience of Poles in an age of political, intellectual and moral upheaval. 

Perhaps the key theme of Polish literature in this period was the condition of the ‘Fatherland’. Both traditional vices and foreign 

fashions were the target of satire, while the period also saw the development of a lyrical, nostalgic strain of patriotism ‘Culture’ is 

treated both as ‘the arts’ – a society’s finest creative achievements – and anthropologically as the customs, assumptions and language 

that enables social communication. 

It does so by a particular focus on how behavioural, linguistic, religious and mental trends of the age were explicitly addressed in its 

literary works, culminating in Adam Mickiewicz’s masterpiece, Pan Tadeusz (1834). Much can be learned about phenomena such as ‘the 

Enlightenment’ by paying close attention to how contemporaries perceived the times and trends through which they were living. 

Whether they enthused over the ‘philosophical age’ of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘tolerance’, replacing the folly of prejudice, whether they 

denounced it, or whether they applauded the renewal of the Fatherland while deriding the folly of many foreign fashions, Polish writers 

tended to concur on the direction and contours of cultural change. This course is made possible by: Bogdana Carpenter, Monumenta 

Polonica: The First FourCenturies of Polish Poetry (Ann Arbor, MI, 1989), Michael J. Mikoś, Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature. 

An Anthology (Columbus, OH, 1996), the translations of Pan Tadeusz, and an adequate historical literature on the period in English. 

There is no language requirement. However, those able to read Polish will be at an advantage. 


Aims: 

1. To introduce graduate students to the main tendencies in Polish culture from the late Baroque to early Romanticism, and 

2. To consider ‘culture’ both in terms of artistic expression and as the means of social communication within this historical context. 

Objectives: 

1. Enhanced ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context of the 

complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual outlooks. In particular, students should consider how people in 

the past have evaluated the times in which they were living. 

2. Enhanced ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as appreciating the 

limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the questions which 

historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a wide selection of literary and 

historical works. 

3. Enhanced ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner both orally and in writing. Arguments should be structured, coherent, 

relevant, and concise, and should take into account all aspects of a given problem. 




Peter Burke, What is Cultural History? (Cambridge, MA, 2004) 

Jerzy Lukowski, Liberty’s Folly: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Eighteenth Century 

(London: Routledge, 1991) 

Adam Zamoyski, The Last King of Poland (London, 1992) 

Richard Butterwick, Poland’s Last King and English Culture: Stanisław August Poniatowski 1732- 

1798 (Oxford, 1998) 

Richard Butterwick, ‘What is Enlightenment (Oświecenie)? Some Polish Answers, 1765-1820’, 

Central Europe, 3 (2005), 1, pp. 19-37. 

Piotr Wandycz, The Lands of Partitioned Poland 1795-1918 (Seattle, WA, 1974) 

Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz, trans. K. R. MacKenzie, 5th edn (London, 2002), or trans. Marcel Weyland (London, 2004)



Module Title: Financial Development 



Compulsory for: Optional Core for MA CE&P 



Financial Development is an optional course for MA students undertaking the Political Economy of Russia and Eastern Europe, 

Comparative Business Economics and IMESS degrees. The course provides an overview of the key issues related to the role of money 

and finance in economic development and links these issues to Central and East European countries (CEE). 

The course starts with an overview of some dominant theoretical models of financial development with a view of identifying the 

theories and concepts that could be relevant for the analysis of the developments in financial sector in transition economies. The course 

proceeds with focusing on the two major strands of literature, namely the financial repression and markets imperfection literature. On 

the one hand distortions from financial repression, particularly interest rate ceilings, discourage saving, reduce the average productivity 

of capital through the replacement of high-yielding with low-return investments which altogether hinder economic growth. Thus, 

Financial Liberalization is regarded as a growth-enhancing policy. On the other hand, information asymmetries rendered many emerging 

financial markets inefficient and prone to failure, so, ‘optimal’ financial repression was advocated to enhance economic growth through 

improving the efficiency of capital allocation. Along with the concept of financial repression, the course explores the concepts of 

Seigniorage and Inflation Tax, which appear to be complementary in considering the issue of implicit taxation of the financial system. 

Inflationary financing of the economy can distort resource allocation and reduce real growth. 

The financial sector plays a crucial role in the growth process through allocating savings towards investment projects, and so increasing 

the rate of capital accumulation and altering the rate of technological innovation, both regarded as fundamental for long-term economic 

growth. The role of the financial system has become central in transition economies. The issue of financial development is particularly 

intriguing due to the fact that the financial system, which transition economies of the post-communist camp inherited from the planned 

economy, was significantly divergent from that in a market economy, and widely regarded as one underdeveloped and inefficient in the 

orthodox literature. While the role of finance under a planned economy was rather passive, for finance served as a monetary 

counterpart of an enterprise’s output and input, it is assumed to gain a ‘new’ growth-enhancing role in a market system. All these issues 

are addressed in the course. (Note: By Central and Eastern Europe we also understand Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.) 


Aims: 

1. To review prevailing theories of financial development in the historical perspective and to enable students to assess the relevance of particular 

theories to the analysis of financial restructuring in transition economies. 

2. To understand methodological approaches in exploring relationship between finance and economic growth, primarily focusing on the two major 

strands of literature, namely the McKinnon-Shaw paradigm of financial repression and the market imperfections literature. 

3. To enable students to apply the relevant theoretical concepts to the evaluation of the financial and monetary developments in transition economies 

and to assess the importance of the role of financial markets in the economic growth process in the context of transition; 

4. To equip students with necessary learning skills to relate and apply macroeconomic analysis to the assessment of current debates on financial and 

monetary issues in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. 

Objectives: 

1. Understanding of the theoretical concepts pertaining to financial development and its role in the wider economy; 

2. Analytical skills necessary to relate existing theories to the analysis of financial developments in transition economies and to critically assess the 

progress in financial restructuring in Central and East European countries and its wider implications for national economies in comparative perspective; 

3. An awareness of the key current problems and issues surrounding financial sector in the Central and 

East Europe and beyond with ability to draw policy implications. 




Fry, M. J., 1995. Money, interest, and banking in economic development. 2nd edition. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 

Mishkin, F.S., 2007. The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets. 8th edition. Pearson: London. 

EBRD, 2006. The transition report 2006: Finance in Transition. London: Oxford University Press. 

The course is largely based on academic journal articles. A guide to supplementary sources, including 

journal articles, will be provided in the detailed course outline.



Module Title: Folly, Disaffection and Dystopia in Twentieth-Century Hungarian Literature 






This course aims to introduce students to a range of themes in Hungarian literature since the First World War, including dystopic 

fantasies, small-town absurdities, genitalist misogyny, misanthropic narcissism, ideology as sexual orientation, onanistic palimpsests, 

antisemitism for the pseudo-Dutch, and the monomaniacal jealousy of Dutch sea captains who have French wives. Close textual analysis 

of ten core works in Hungarian will be complemented by consideration of the broader historical and cultural context. 

Frigyes Karinthy, Kapillária [1921] 

Dezső Szabó, Csodálatos élet [1921] 

Lőrinc Szabó, Te meg a világ [1932] 

Sándor Szathmári, Kazohinia [1941] 

Milán Füst , A feleségem története [1942] 

Tibor Déry, G. A. úr X-ben [1964] 

István Örkény, Tóték [1966] 

Péter Esterházy, Kis magyar pornográfia [1983] 

Imre Oravecz, 1972. szeptember [1988] 

Gábor Németh, Zsidó vagy? [2004] 


Assessment Weighting: 100% % 


Assessment Methods



Module Title: Freedom, Death and Love: Polish Fiction 1918-2005 






For the last two hundred years because of its geographical situation Poland became a witness and participant of major European 

traumas. Thus the focus is not only on national and cultural divisions in literature but also on various criteria of identification which 

became important at different times. The course then offers an introduction to most important issues and themes as seen through 

modern Polish literature – from obsession with freedom and patriotism to beautiful dying from the times of partitions to Tadeusz 

Konwicki – the last living romantic fiction writer; (T. Konwicki, H. Krall), the myth of small homelands and love in a country with 

continuously redrafted borders (P. Huelle, T. Konwicki); dealing with trauma of WWII and the Holocaust (Z. Nalkowska, T. Borowski, A. 

Swirszczynska, M. Edelman), the unexpected rediscovery of Polish-Jewish past (S. Chwin, T. Konwicki, A. Szczypiorski), and finally with 

Polish understanding of fifty years of communism (A. Libera). 


To Follow 



To Follow 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Russian Culture 






This course examines issues of gender and sexuality in Russian culture and society from 1861 to the present day, with emphasis both on 

historical developments and on contemporary theoretical approaches. It will examine how Russia’s awareness of both its difference 

from and similarity to the West is reflected in matters relating to gender and sexuality. Explicitly interdisciplinary in its focus, the course 

will deal with questions of social and historical developments, as well as with debates in the artistic and cultural sphere (with literature 

serving both as a mirror of social life and as a site of debate). It will also consider how key texts in the field of gender studies might be 

applied in the Russian context. Four main topics are covered: nineteenth-century radical thought and the question of female 

emancipation and equality; Freud, decadence and fin-de-siecle sexualities; revolutionary identities and the New Soviet Man and Woman; 

and late-Soviet and post-Soviet developments, such as the rise of performative identities, the application of Western critical methods 

and growth of a gay rights movement. Students will also study a number of key Western theorists of gender and sexuality (Freud, 

Foucault, de Beauvoir, Woolf, Kristeva, Irigaray, Cixous,Butler, etc.) 


Aims: 

1. To introduce students to four key areas of gender and sexuality in Russian literature and culture since 1861 

2. To introduce students to various critical methodologies of gender studies, the study of sexualities and queer theory 

3. To consider the relationship between theory and practice in gender studies, to consider the relationship between developments in 

Russia and the West in the period covered, and to consider the relevance of Western theories of gender and sexuality to the Russian 

context 

Objectives: 

1. Awareness of and engagement with key themes and methodologies in gender studies. 

2. Understanding of the development of Russian ideas of gender and sexuality as shaped by social, 

cultural and historical factors. 

3. Application of theoretical models to specific case studies. 

4. Capacity to reflect on how theoretical models can be challenged by specific applications. 

5. Awareness of the relationship between Western theories and the Russian context and the willingness to explore this relationship. 





Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: Vol. 1: The Will to Knowledge (various editions) 

Sigmund Freud, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (various editions) 

Rachel Adams and David Savran, The Masculinity Studies Reader (Malden and Oxford: Blackwell, 2002) 

Mary Eagleton (ed.), Feminist Literary Theory: A Reader, 2nd edn (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996) 

Toril Moi, Sexual/textual politics: Feminist Literary Theory, 2nd edn (London: Routledge, 2002) 

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1990) 

Adele Marie Barker and Jehanne M. Gheith (eds), A history of women's writing in Russia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001) 

Barbara Evans Clements et al (eds), Russian Masculinities in History and Culture (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002) 

Barbara Heldt, Terrible Perfection: women and Russian literature (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987) 

Catriona Kelly, Refining Russia: Advice Literature, Polite Culture, and Gender from Catherine to Yeltsin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 

2001) 

An Anthology of Russian women's writing, 1777-1992 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) 

A history of Russian women's writing, 1820-1992 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) 

Eve Levin, Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slavs, 900-1700 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1989)



Module Title: Historical Methods and Approaches 



Compulsory for: IMESS (Optional core for NH&S Track), Optional Core for MA CSEES, Core for MA History, Optional Core for MA 

Russ. Studies 


This course will present students with a diverse range of methods and approaches to research on the rich and complex ‘stories of 

central and eastern Europe’. The course reflects the growing awareness among practising historians of the role of narratives in making 

sense of human existence – whether as individuals, or as local, national or regional communities. Such stories change over time; they 

usually interact with each other, and often compete with each other, especially in the central and eastern European space. On the one 

hand, these stories present historians with the challenge of stripping away layers of interpretation to discover ‘how it really was’ in the 

past, while, on the other hand, their construction and trajectories are in themselves objects of historical research. 


Aims: 

1. To give students an understanding of a range of approaches in historical research and the theoretical and methodological questions 

arising, particularly in relation to the history of Central and Eastern Europe 

2. To enable students to develop, present and justify their own methodological approaches to historical research 

3. To enhance understanding of the role of stories and narratives in the historical development and construction of the region 

4. To enhance the ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the complex contexts of the 

past 

5. To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically 

Objectives: 

1. Have understood a variety of historical methods and approaches 

2. Have read and mastered a diverse selection of sources and historical works 

3. Have articulated their own preferred methods and approach orally and in writing, and engaged critically and constructively with the 

preferred methods and approaches of others 

Assessment Style: 1x1500w Book Review & 1x4500w Essay 




John H. Arnold, History: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000) 

Peter Burke (ed.), New Perspectives on Historical Writing, 2nd edn (Cambridge, MA, 2001) 

Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, and Margaret Jacob, Telling the Truth about History (New York, 1994) 

Peter Burke, What is Cultural History? (Cambridge, MA, 2004) 

E. H. Carr, What is History?, 2nd edn (Harmondsworth, 1987) 

G. R. Elton, The Practice of History (London, 1967) 

Richard J. Evans, In Defence of History, 2nd edn (Cambridge, 2000) 

R. J. W. Evans, The Language of History and the History of Language (Oxford, 1998) 

Arthur Marwick, The New Nature of History (Basingstoke, 2001) 

Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The 'Objectivity Question' and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge, 1988) 

John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 3rd edn (Harlow, 2002) 

John Tosh (ed.), Historians on History (Harlow, 2000)



Module Title: History, Myth and Nation in South Eastern Europe 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Fri 3-5 




Events in the former Yugoslavia have demonstrated the power of history and nationalist myths. The course will look with an 

anthropological lens at the ways in which nations in South-Eastern Europe represent the past, and how these representations help to 

cement the community. It will also analyse the processes by which, in the post-Communist period, old narratives about the past have 

become obsolete and new ones have been constructed, in some cases also weaved from the experiences of violence and war such as in 

the former Yugoslavia. The course adopts a theoretical and comparative perspective, and covers a wide range of scholarly contributions 

to these issues, also from other parts of the world. It will look especially at how dissemination of historical myths and representations 

and transmission of memories across generations take place, and what vehicles are available for that. 


Aims 

The aim of the course is to: 

• INTRODUCE students to recent debates on history writing, memory, myth, and commemoration 

in various disciplines such as anthropology, history, and psychology 

• APPLY general theoretical approaches to South-East European cases 

• ANALYSE changes and continuities in how the past is represented in the region, against the background 

of post-socialist transformations and war 

Objectives 

At the end of this course students are expected to be able to: 

• DEMONSTRATE ability to critically assess academic and non-academic texts 

• INTEGRATE relevant theories and concepts in their own work 

• DEVELOP research strategies based on anthropological approaches 







Brunnbauer, Ulf. 2004. (Re)Writing History. Historiography in Southeast Europeafter Socialism. Münster: Lit-Verlag, 2004. 

Mazower, Mark. 2000. The Balkans. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 

Brown, Keith. 2003. The Past in question: Modern Macedonia and the uncertainties of Nation. Princeton University Press. 

Sutton, David E. 1998. Memories Cast in Stone. The Relevance of the Past in Everyday Life. Oxford: Berg. 

Kolstø, Pål. 2003. ‘Theorizing historical myths in Balkan societies and beyond’, Part I and II, in: RFE/RL East European Perspectives, 1, 

October 2003, Volume 5, Number 20, and 15 October 2003, Volume 5, Number 21 

http://www.rferl.org/reports/eepreport/2003/10/20-011003.asp 

http://www.rferl.org/reports/eepreport/2003/10/21-151003.asp 

Connerton, Paul. 1989. How societies remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Gillis, John R. 1994. Commemorations. The politics of national identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 

Ashplant, Timothy, Graham Dawson, and Michael Roper (eds.). 2000. The politics of war memory and commemoration. London: 

Routledg. (Introduction, pp.3-85).



Module Title: Informal Practices in Post-Communist Societies 





The course aims at enabling students to: 


• DISCOVER the nature of informal practices; 

• IDENTIFY them in post-communist societies; 

• ANALYSE political, legal, economic and social embeddedness of informal practices; 

• COMPARE informal practices in postcommunist societies. 

The course work is organised as a SERIES OF SEMINARS, each based on four presentations by students and a group discussion to follow. 

Presentations will focus on the reading list provided for each discussion and further search for materials on the Internet (via electronic 

databases) related to informal practices in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, with comparative angle where possible. 


• LEARN about the methods of research into informal practices; 

• IMPROVE skills of searching for and working with academic literature in the library and 

online; 

• DEMONSTRATE ability to critically assess academic texts and to present their own argument in a clear and structured form; 

• DEVELOP an in-depth knowledge on the topics selected for the examination essay. 





Ledeneva, A. (1998) Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Ledeneva, A. V. (2006) How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business. Cambridge 

University Press, 2006.



Module Title: Interdisciplinary Area Studies I 



Compulsory for: IMESS (All Tracks), MRes (1 & 2 Year) 



This course (core and compulsory for all first year IMESS and MRes students) introduces students to the process of designing, applying for and peer 

reviewing collaborative interdisciplinary research projects. It engages groups of students in the entire research project process, from developing a ‘call 

for proposals’, to putting together a detailed interdisciplinary ‘case for support’, to presenting and defending their project submissions and finally to peer 

reviewing the written submissions of their counterparts. This process is facilitated through the academic year by workshops, group meetings, mentoring, 

the development of an e-portfolio and through collaboration with the partner institutions of the IMESS consortium. 

The course starts in induction week with an informal workshop, based around discussion of interdisciplinarity and area studies. Early in the first term this 

is followed with a second afternoon workshop introducing and discussing research themes, including those that are specialised IMESS and/or MRes 

themes. These broad research areas will provide a vehicle for identifying approaches to interdisciplinary and area studies and will act as an introduction 

and overview to the course. Thereafter, the course will contain a mix of research workshop sessions (italics below), training in MyPortfolio, extensive 

team work around the MyPortfolio resources, and a final presentation to and interview by the ‘expert panel’ of reviewers. 

The course therefore proceeds as follows: 

a) Interrogating Boundaries: Opening workshop for development of group themes (2 hours). 

b) Introducing MASR I: Workshop for development of group themes (2 hours). 

c) Introduction to Interdisciplinary Research Design (2 hours) 

d) Assignment to teams and training in My Portfolio (2 hours). 

e) Poster workshop (2 hours) 

f) Confirmation of response to call 

g) Beyond research design: impact / outputs / managing interdisciplinary interactions (2 hours) 

h) Appointment of expert panel of reviewers 

i) Each group to meet with member of panel to discuss draft. 

j) Pre-submission of draft to panel of reviewers 

k) Expert panel interview: presentation of cases for support and e-profile: 30 minutes per group, presenting to the panel (not the rest of the 

groups), incorporating 15 minutes presentation and 15 minutes of discussion/questions 

l) Final submission within 48 hours of the panel interview 

m) Critical peer review of one of the other groups’ submissions. 

n) Final coursework portfolios assessed 


Aims; 

1. To develop a research project portfolio, including e-profiling of parts of that portfolio 

2. To facilitate the development of expertise in all parts of the research process 

3. To promote a greater awareness and understanding of how to develop interdisciplinary approaches to research 

4. To promote deeper theoretical understanding within and between disciplines 

5. To encourage an awareness of different research methodologies 

6. To teach students to showcase their research expertise in the form of an e-Portfolio 

7. To promote cooperative learning and e-learning 

8. To develop skills of peer review 

Objectives; 

1. A greater appreciation of interdisciplinary approaches 

2. Knowledge of and insight into a wide array of research methodologies 

3. Specialised knowledge in a particular research area 

4. Enhanced skills for both cooperative learning and e-learning 

5. Improved skills for working on complex projects requiring multiple researchers 

6. Enhanced skills of critical thinking and analytical awareness 

7. Improved understanding of how to structure and explore an argument in relation to sets of research questions. 


Assessment Style: 1 x Project (3500w equivalent) Assessment Weighting: 100%



Module Title: Interdisciplinary Area Studies II 



Compulsory for: MRes (2 Year AH Track - Year 2) 



IAS II is an advanced series of seminars/workshops in the first term of the second year that seeks to build and on and provide practical 

experience of the multi- and interdisciplinary approaches that have been introduced in MASR I. 

This course consists of ten workshops devoted to the three research themes of the Centre for East European Language-based Area 

Studies of which the MRes is a part. These themes are migration and diasporic citizenship, health and welfare, and cities and urban 

experience. It is here, in confrontation with topics in the research themes, that students are encouraged to explore directly the nature 

of interdisciplinary research, and here that theories of research engage directly with practice. 

Each workshop will consist of a number of short presentations by MRes students, PhD students and staff from SSEES and its partners 

from other universities in the CEELBAS consortium (Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, Bath, Sheffield, Kent, Warwick and Sheffield), and 

the post-doctoral fellows associated to CEELBAS, examining different disciplinary approaches to the themes, followed by discussion. 

Thus, the series of workshops embeds the training of students in research methods into a wider network of research excellence. 

Workshops will be coordinated, as appropriate, by the MRes Programme Tutor, the CEELBAS Post-Doctoral Fellows, and by the CEELBAS 

Managing Director. 


Aims 

1. To expose students to and involve students in leading-edge and multiinterdisciplinary research in area studies 

2. To develop skills of high level critical thinking and analysis in interdisciplinary research 

3. To provide an opportunity for students to discuss research papers with peers and leading academics 

Objectives: 

1. Have engaged with leading research from diverse disciplinary perspectives 

2. Have contributed to leading area studies research 

3. Have discussed as a cohort and with senior academics how to critically analyse research papers from across different disciplines 

4. Have more developed workshop participation skills and critical writing skills 



To follow 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Bulgarian 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 3-4, Wed 11-1 




This course aims to develop a range of language skills primarily for the purposes of conducting research: to support master’s 

dissertation work, for PhD research and for use in other contexts where advanced reading skills, along with a range of further skills, are 

required. The course builds on the reading skills for research developed in ‘X as New Language’ and is also appropriate for students with 

some prior knowledge, e.g. a unit of language at university. The course develops reading skills for research to an advanced level, in 

particular in relation to the student’s specific disciplinary/research topic interests; at the same time the course acquaints the student 

with a range of discourses and materials in order to develop a broader base for the comprehension of written texts. The course also 

consolidates command of the grammar of the language and develops productive skills of writing and speaking, in particular in relation 

to the student’s specific disciplinary/research topic interests, but also with a view to developing communication skills for use in practical 

situations. by 

the end of the course the student will be well equipped to read written material for research purposes, and will also be able to talk and 

write about his/her research interests/topic, as well as having developed a more general competence across the range of productive 

and receptive skills 


Aims: 

1. To enable research students to acquire advanced reading skills of information retrieval, reading for gist, summarizing and translation 

so as to be able to undertake a Masters dissertation using target language materials and to undertake doctoral research 

2. To develop a broad base across all four skills areas of reading, listening, speaking, and to develop targeted productive skills of written 

and spoken X in relation to the student’s area and discipline of research 

3. To consolidate and further develop a knowledge of grammar and syntax, lexis, register and style, as well as language awareness and 

language learning skills 

4. To introduce students to a wide range of authentic materials, as well as materials drawn from their specific area and discipline of 

research, and to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of X life and culture through the materials studied 

Objectives: 

1. advanced reading skills that fully equip them to undertake doctoral research 

2. improved general skills in reading, listening, writing and speaking as well as productive skills in relation to the conduct of research targeted 

a sound understanding of the structures of the language 

3. 

4. the ability to select and work confidently with authentic materials related to their chosen area of research 

5. time management skills and the ability to work to deadlines 



Supplied separately for each language. 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Czech 














situations. By the end of the course the student will be well equipped to read written material for research purposes, and will also be 

able to talk and write about his/her research interests/topic, as well as having developed a more general competence across the range 

of productive and receptive skills 


Aims: 









Objectives: 


2. improved general skills in reading, listening, writing and speaking as well as targeted productive skills in relation to the conduct of 

research 

a 3. 

sound understanding of the structures of the language 







Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Finnish 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 4-5, Thu 9-11 






required. The course builds on the reading skills for research developed in ‘X as New Language’ and is also appropriate for students 

with some prior knowledge, e.g. a unit of language at university. The course develops reading skills for research to an advanced level, in 




to the student’s specific disciplinary/research topic interests, but also with a view to developing communication skills for use in 

practical situations. By the end of the course the student will be well equipped to read written material for research purposes, and will 

also be able to talk and write about his/her research interests/topic, as well as having developed a more general competence across 

the range of productive and receptive skills 


Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Hungarian 














situations. by 

the end of the course the student will be well equipped to read written material for research purposes, and will also be able to talk and 

write about his/her research interests/topic, as well as having developed a more general competence across the range of productive 


Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Polish 


















Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Romanian 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 3-5, Tue 3-4 















At the end of the module you should have fulfilled the following aims and objection 

Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Russian 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 1-2, Tues 9-10 

& 12- 1 




The course aims to develop a range of production and comprehension language skills in the spoken and written language at 

intermediate level; these skills will relate both to the students’ studies and to practical situations in the relevant country. Students on 

the two-year MRes, and most SSEES MA programmes are entitled to enrol on this course. The course will include the development of 

oral skills, the reading of more complex authentic texts, grammar exercises and writing in the language. The communicative 

component (oral and aural) will cover both everyday situations and formal presentations related to students’ research interests. The 

starting level for this course is a direct continuation of the language skills attained as part of the Russian MA New Language module. It 

can also be taken by those who have passed at least GCSE in Russian or one course unit at university level and have not gone beyond A 

level or equivalent (rough equivalents are a Russian intensive year at a British university, or two years of college Russian in the USA). 

The course is not appropriate for students who have studied Russian beyond A-level or equivalent. 


Aims 

• enhance their reading skills of information retrieval, summary and translation, introducing them to a wide range of authentic texts, 

including materials drawn from their specific discipline and area of research; 

• consolidate and further develop a knowledge of grammar, syntax and lexis; 

• develop a broad base across all four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing; 

• develop targeted productive skills in the written and spoken language which will equip them to undertake research in the relevant 

Objectives 

• enhanced reading skills that equip them to undertake doctoral research; 

country. 

• a broad base of listening, speaking and writing skills; 

• targeted productive skills relating to the conduct of research; 

• the ability to select, and work confidently with, authentic materials related to the chosen area of research. 





Collins Russian Dictionary, Harper Collins, 1994 

Oxford Russian Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2000 

Nicholas J. Brown, Russian Learners’ Dictionary, Routledge, 1996 (a frequency dictionary for vocabulary building) 

S. I. Ozhegov, Словарь русского языка, Moscow: Russkii iazyk, 1991 


Terence Wade, A Russian Grammar Workbook, Blackwell Publishers, 1996 

Edwina J. Cruise, English Grammar for Students of Russian, Arnold, 2000 

F. M. Borras and R. F. Christian, Russian Syntax (Aspects of Modern Russian Syntax and Vocabulary), Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. 

NB: Students will be informed at the start of the course which textbooks they should purchase.



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Serbian and Croatian 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 12-1. Wed 11-1 
















Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Intermediate Language: Ukrainian 


















Aims: 









Objectives: 



research 

a 3. 








Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Introduction to Hermeneutics: How to Read and Interpret Texts 






You may discover that you already know more about hermeneutics than you thought. This course focuses on the basic questions in 

interpretation theory, such as: is there only one right interpretation? What are the conditions of understanding? How do texts 

and readers produce meaning? How can we understand a text better than its author? How does ideology influence understanding? 

This course will offer you a simple, clear and useful survey of the main topics in hermeneutics, such as prejudice, fore-understanding, 

the hermeneutic circle, the dialogical nature of understanding, authorial intention, institutional control of interpretation, historicity 

of understanding, appropriation, and meaning versus significance. The course provides a brief historical overview of traditional 

hermeneutics (theological, juridical and philological) and of contemporary developments in interpretation theory (psychoanalysis, 

phenomenology 

and poststructuralism), with a special emphasis on recent debates within the social sciences, anthropology, literary theory, political 

science and historiography. We shall read together brief essays by Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Nietzsche, Freud, Habermas, Ricoeur, 


Aims 

The aim of the course is: 

• to provide a brief historical overview of traditional hermeneutics and of contemporary developments in interpretation theory. 

• to analyse the main concepts of hermeneutics. 

• to analyse discipline-specific interpretative problems in social sciences and humanities. 

Objectives 

By the end of the course, students will have: 

• acquired an advanced understanding of the ways in which they themselves and other readers approach texts. 

• acquired an awareness of the circumstances that lead to distorted understanding. 

• become familiar with writing and reading procedures that can secure meaning. 





David Jasper: A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics, Louisville/London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. 

Lawrence K. Schmidt: Understanding Hermeneutics, Stocksfield: Acumen, 2006.



Module Title: Ire, Irony, Ideology: Satire and Humour in Russian Culture 






This course examines the production and reception of satire and other forms of humour in Russia from the beginning of the imperial 

period to the present, with an emphasis on the twentieth century. Additionally, it provides an introduction to major theories of humour, 

and their applicability in Russian cultural studies. A theme common to all the periods to be considered is the tension between a more or 

less “organic” impulse towards satirical expression on the part of artists and the public, on one hand, and the various institutions 

dedicated to controlling, suppressing, or eradicating such expression, on the other. Textual production and consumption in Russia was 

dominated until the eighteenth century by the church, whose view of the comic mode was summed up in the phrase smekh i grekh 

(laughter and sin). With the secularization of Russian letters, authors began to produce satirical and other comic texts, drawing both on 

native folk traditions and short, humorous genres imported from Europe. The place of the satirical in Soviet culture—initially celebrated 

as a potential “weapon” to be mobilized in the service of the Revolution—was rethought during the Cultural Revolution of the late 

1920s and early 1930s, and with the canonization of socialist-realist aesthetics in 1934, it entered a new phase of development that 

emphasized different types of (and targets for) humour. The comic underwent further transformations in subsequent periods of Russian 

cultural history: the relatively liberal post-Stalinist Thaw; the so-called Age of Stagnation under Brezhnev; the compensatory discursive 

free-for-all of perestroika; and the nascent market conditions since 1992. We will examine texts from all of these periods, with an eye to 

how the combination of various media and the comic mode has been used as a vehicle for artistic engagement with the underlying 

tropes, values, and conflicts of Russian society. (Knowledge of Russian is not a requirement for this course) 


Aims: 

1. To survey the modes of satire and humour as manifested in Russian literature, film, folklore, and other genres from the beginning of 

the imperial age (16th c.) to the present. 

2. To provide an introduction to general theories of humour and satire. 

Objectives: By the end of the course, you will have acquired: 

1. Knowledge of major satirical and humorous verbal and visual texts in Russia. 

2. An understanding of the major theoretical debates within humour studies. 





Bergson, Henri. Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. 1900. Trans. Cloudesley Brereton and Fred Rothwell. Copenhagen: 

Green Integer, 1999. 

Bulgakov, Mikhail. The Master and Margarita. 

Chapple, Richard L. Soviet Satire of the Twenties. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1980. 

Douglas, Mary. “Jokes.” Rethinking Popular Culture: Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Studies. Ed. 

Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson. Berkeley: U of California P, 1991. 291-310. 

Erofeev, Venedikt. Moscow-Petushki. 

Gogol’, Nikolai. ‘The Nose’, ‘Nevsky Avenue’ and other Petersburg tales. 

Il’f and Petrov. The Twelve Chairs. 

Koestler, Arthur. The Act of Creation. Chapter One, ‘The Jester’. London: Arkana, 1989. 

Milne, Lesley, ed. Reflective Laughter: Aspects of Humour in Russian Culture. London: Anthem Press, 2004. 

Ryan-Hayes, Karen L. Contemporary Russian Satire: A Genre Study. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. 

Siniavski, Andrei. “The Joke Inside the Joke.” Sintaksis 1978. 

Tucker, Janet G., ed. Against the Grain : Parody, Satire, and Intertextuality in Russian Literature. Bloomington, Ind: Slavica, 2002. 

Vishevsky, Anatoly. Soviet Literary Culture in the 1970s: The Politics of Irony. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1993.



Module Title: Linguistic Methods 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Thur 1-2 




This course introduces students embarking on postgraduate study in History, Literature, or Social Sciences to Basic Linguistic Theory. 

The theory is introduced via illustrations of how linguistic methods may be brought to bear in the analysis of sounds, syllables, words, 

phrases, clauses, sentences, and larger units such as catch-phrase, slogan, joke, advertisement, screenplay or novel. Topics explored 

range from the anatomical-physical (articulatory phonetics) through intra- and intercultural communication (social codes, paraphrase, 

translation, rhetoric, poetics) to the transcendental (the creation of meaning and the origins of reality). 


Aims 

1. To provide students with an overview of basic linguistic theory. 

2. To give students an understanding of the place of this intellectual tradition within the overall development of the human 

sciences. 

3. To make students familiar with the political ramifications of language description and documentation. 

Objectives 

1. A better understanding of the role of language in the constructions of societal and personal norms, intentions, and values. 

2. A sharpened critical awareness of the metalanguages used in the human sciences and in everyday discourse 

3. Heightened alertness in the presence of language texts, and an increased ability to analyse texts with linguistic tools. 

4. Diminished ethnocentredness, particularly with regard to linguistic differences. 



To follow 


Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Literary and Cultural Theory 



Compulsory for: Optional Core for MRes (2 Year AH Track), Optional Core for MA CSEES, Compulsory for MA REELC, Optional Core 

for MA Russ. Studies 


The course introduces students to the main currents of literary and cultural theory in the 20 th and 21 st centuries: Russian formalism, 

Mikhail Bakhtin’s thought, French and Czech structuralism, semiotics of the Tartu school, poststructuralism (Derrida, Foucault, the Yale 

School, New Historicism), phenomenology, hermeneutics and reader-response criticism, psychoanalysis, Marxist and post-Marxist 

approaches to literature and culture, and gender and postcolonial theories. The course relates these approaches to each other, 

showing how literary and cultural research may converge, and also relates them to the theories of social research and to the context of 

area studies. 


Aims 

1. To widen and deepen students’ understanding of key methods and theories in literary and cultural research and of the wider and 

comparative relevance of these theories and methods; 

2. To offer students the opportunity to explore key theoretical questions concerning the interpretation of texts, the analysis of 

literature and culture; 

3. To increase students’ understanding of the processes involved in conducting research in literature and culture 

4. To endow students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to undertake research in literature and culture and 

write a postgraduate dissertation or thesis 

Objectives 

(i) self-direction and self-discipline 

(ii) independence of mind, and initiative 

(iii) the ability to work with others and to have respect for the reasoned views of others 

(iv) the ability to identify, gather, deploy and organize evidence, data and information; and familiarity with appropriate means of 

achieving this 

(v) analytical ability and the capacity to consider and solve problems, including complex problems 

(vi) structure, clarity and fluency of expression, both written and oral 

(vii) intellectual maturity and integrity 

(viii) empathy and imaginative insight 

(ix) ability to organize time, work and personal resources to optimal effect 



Clare Connors: Literary Theory, Oxford: Oneworld, 2010. 

Jonathan Culler: Literary Theory, Oxford University Press, 2011. 



Nicholas Birns: Theory After Theory: An Intellectual History of Literary Theory from 1950 to the Early 21 st Century, Broadview Press, 

2010.



Module Title: Little Hitlers? Right Radicalism in Central and Eastern Europe, 1900-1945 






The course will introduce students to the ideologies and histories of the major right radical and fascist movements of the region during 

the first half of the twentieth century. The course will also cover some of the inter-war and war-time authoritarian regimes which 

frequently appropriated the symbols and rhetoric of the radical right while remaining essentially conservative (eg King Carol II’s 

dictatorship in Romania). During the course, students will be asked to consider the extent to which right radical movements in Eastern 

Europe were influenced by the Italian or German ‘model’ of Fascism and Nazism or were, in fact, indigenous or ‘native’. The course will 

open with an exploration of the various definitions and causal theories of right radicalism, fascism and authoritarianism which have been 

put forward in the post-war decades. We will also look at the cultural conditions of fin de siècle Europe which were conducive to the rise 

of right radicalism and authoritarian nationalism. Important precursors to fascism, such as Georg von Schönerer and the Pan-Germans in 

Austria and Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Fiume regime, will be considered. We will also look at the impact of the First World War in shaping the 

mindset of interwar right radicals. The ideologies of Italian Fascism and German Nazism will also be briefly discussed for comparative 

purposes. 

At the end of the module you should have fulfilled the following aims and objectiv 

Aims: To acquire a body of historical knowledge relating to right radical movements in Central and Eastern Europe from 1900 to 1945. 

This knowledge will relate not only to the facts of history but also to broader concepts and explanatory tools. 


1. Enhanced ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context of the 

complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual outlooks. 

2. Enhanced ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as appreciating the 

limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the questions which 

historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a wide selection of historical works 

drawn from the historiography on this period. 

3. Enhanced ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner both orally and in writing. Arguments should be structured, coherent, 



Assessment Style: 1x3000w Essay Assessment Weighting: 100% % 


R Griffin, International Fascism: Theories, Causes and the New Consensus, 1998 

M A Ledeen, The First Duce: D’Annunzio at Fiume, 1977 

N O’Sullivan, Fascism, 1983 

S Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, 1995 

A Polonsky, The Little Dictators: the History of Eastern Europe since 1918, 1975 

H Rogger and E Weber (eds), The European Right, 1965 

Z Sternhell, The Birth of Fascist Ideology: From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution, 

1994 

A G Whiteside, The Socialism of Fools, 1975



Module Title: Nabokov and Russian Émigré Literature 






This course examines Russian émigré literature, a distinct phenomenon that emerged as a result of mass emigration from Russia after 

the Revolution of 1917 and effectively ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. While the primary focus will be on the 

writings and creative evolution of Vladimir Nabokov, selected works of other representative émigré authors will be studied, including 

Ivan Bunin, Nina Berberova, Georgi Ivanov, Gaito Gazdanov, and Joseph Brodsky. Close textual analysis will be complemented by 

consideration of the broader historical and cultural context, with particular reference to the primary waves of emigration and centres 

of the Russian diaspora; exile and nostalgia as archetypal themes in world literature; the peculiarities of the exilic experience for 

writers; the complexities of émigré identity; literary polemics; biculturalism and bilingualism. The course will also address such general 

issues as the nature of fiction, artifice, the fictional component in the memoir and “human document” genres, parody, postmodernism, 

and the distinction between elite and mass literature. 


Aims: 

1. Acquire an in-depth knowledge of key texts of Russian émigré authors in different genres (novels, poetry, short stories, essays) 

2. Analyse these texts in the context of Russian émigré culture 

3. Gain an understanding of the psychological, philosophical, and aesthetic implications of emigration for a writer 

Objectives: 

1. An increased understanding of the evolution of Russian émigré fiction, aesthetic views, and style 

2. An ability to engage in close textual analysis 

3. Enhanced skills in the critical assessment of literary texts and critical writing, with some preparation for potential future research 





Students are strongly advised to read as many as possible of the following works in advance: 

Nabokov Despair; Lolita; Bunin The Dark Avenues; Berberova The Accompanist; Gazdanov The Specter of Alexander Wolf; Ivanov “The 

Atom Explodes”; Brodsky “Watermark,” “A Guide to a Renamed City,” “The Condition We Call Exile.” 

Reference: 

G. Struve. Russian Writers in Exile: Problems of Émigré Literature. U of California Press, 1959; 

G. Adamovich. The Cultural Achievement of the Russian Emigration. Oxford, 1962; 

M. Raeff. Russian Abroad: A Cultural History of the Russian Emigration, 1919-1939. Oxford UP, 1990; 

J. Connolly. The Works of Ivan Bunin. Twayne, 1982; 

B. Boyd. Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years Princeton U P, 1990; 

B. Boyd. Vladimir Nabokov : The American Years Princeton U P, 1991; 

V. Alexandrov, ed. The Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov Garland, 1995; 

Harold Bloom. Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita Chelsea House, 1987; 

L. Dienes. Russian Literature in Exile: The Life and Works of Gaito Gazdanov. O. Sagner, 1982; 

D. Bethea. Joseph Brodsky and the 

Creation of Exile. Princeton UP, 1994.



Module Title: Nation, Identity and Power in Central and Eastern Europe 






The aim of this course is to analyse the concepts of nation, nationalism and national identity and, in particular, their relationship to 

political power and democracy. The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach, examining explanatory and normative literature 

from sociology, social psychology, history and political science. The course will be structured around specific concepts and theories, 

rather than case studies. However, students are expected to apply these concepts and theories to actual cases from the region, 

allowing them to develop a specialised understanding of the political power of nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. 


The aims of the course are to: 

• analyse and assess a range of explanatory theories and perspectives on nationalism 

• develop appropriate research strategies based on the specialist literature 

• make coherent oral and written presentations in lucid English 

• enable students to frame their dissertations within theories elaborated in this course 

Objectives 

At the end of this course students are expected to be able to: 

• analyse and evaluate a range of explanatory theories and perspectives on nationalism 

• examine the explanatory power of such theories when applied to specific cases in CEE 

• analyse the relationship between national identity and political power in CEE 



1. What is a nation? 

2. The psychology of group identification 

3. The ethnic origins of nations? 

4. The social construction of nations 

5. The nation, modernity and the state 

6. National identity and political legitimacy 

7. National identity and ideology 

8. National identity and gender 

9. National identity and foreign policy 

10. National identity and security 


Seminar Topics



Module Title: New Language: Bulgarian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Bulgarian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 

complete the course successfully will be able to assure both potential employers and academic supervisors that they possess the 

necessary foundation-level Bulgarian language skills to work with original Bulgarian texts and to enable them to undertake study 

and/or research in Bulgaria. The course provides an intensive introduction to Bulgarian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, 

practice in the 

skills of oral communication in Bulgarian in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Bulgarian texts 

on Bulgarian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not 

already speak or understand Bulgarian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 


The course aims to enable students to: 

• develop competence in and use of Bulgarian to a pre-intermediate level 

• develop basic communicative skills of aural comprehension and oral production 

• develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Bulgarian, through the use of a 

range of stylistically diverse materials, drawn in the main from contemporary sources 

• acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in 

Bulgaria 

• develop a knowledge of grammar and syntax, lexis and register, as well as language awareness and language learning skills 

• study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Bulgarian life and 

culture through the materials studied. 

On successful completion of the course students will have acquired: 

• a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Bulgarian 

• comprehension of written Bulgarian at a pre-intermediate level 

• the ability to communicate in Bulgarian in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 

• the ability to retrieve information and translate accurately 





Course materials produced by the teacher will be provided. Students will find the following useful for independent study: 

· Ronelle, Alexander. Intensive Bulgarian: a textbook reference grammar. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000. 

Students will require a dictionary at an early stage in the course. The following are recommended: 

Atanassova, T. Bulgarian-English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Sofia: Nauka I izkustvo, 1980. 

Атанасова т. и др. Българско-английски речник, Т. 1-2. София: Наука и изкуство, 1987 – 1988. 

Ранкова, М и др. Английско-български речник, Т. 1-2. София: Наука и изкуство, 1987 – 1988. 

Bojanova, S. et al. English- Bulgarian Dictionary. Sofia: Gaberoff, 2001. 

Нанов, Л. Български синонимен речник. София: Наука и изкуство, 1987. 

Андрейчин, Л. Български тълковен речник. София: Наука и изкуство, 2002. 

Пашов, П. Правоговорен и правописен речник на българския език. София: СУ „Климент Охридски”, 2002. 




Module Title: New Language: Czech 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Czech and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Czech language skills to work with original Czech texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in the Czech Republic. The course provides an intensive introduction to Czech grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, 

practice in the skills of oral communication in Czech in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using 

Czech texts on Czech and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who 

do not already speak or understand Czech. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 

Progress is carefully monitored, in particular in the early stages of the course. 



• develop competence in and use of Czech to a pre-intermediate level 


• develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Czech, through the use of a 


• acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in the 

Czech Republic 


• study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Czech life and 

culture through the materials studied. 


• a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Czech 

• comprehension of written Czech at a pre-intermediate level 

• the ability to communicate in Czech in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 



Assessment Style: Written & Oral Exam Assessment Weighting: 75% 25% 


Course materials produced by the teacher will be provided. 

Material from the following will also be used in class: 

· David Short: Teach Yourself Czech 

· Jelínek-Bečka-Těšitelová: Frekvence slovních druhů a tvarů v českém jazyce 

· Oxford Photo Dictionary anglicko-český 

Students will find the following useful for independent study: 

· James Naughton: Czech. An Essential Grammar 

· James Naughton: Colloquial Czech 

· Any of the Czech phrase-books published by the BBC, Penguin (Rough Guide), Infoa 

· Lukáš Vodička: Anglicko-český slovník frázových sloves 

· Aleš Klégr, Norah Hronková: Znáte anglická přídavná jména? 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the 

course. 

Students will require a dictionary at an early stage in the course. The following is recommended: 

· Josef Fronek: Anglicko-česká česko-anglický slovník 




Module Title: New Language: Estonian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Estonian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students 

who complete the course successfully will be able to assure both potential employers and academic supervisors that they possess the 

necessary foundation-level Estonian language skills to work with original Estonian texts and to enable them to undertake study 

and/or research in Estonia. The course provides an intensive introduction to Estonian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, 

practice in the skills of oral communication in Estonian in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using 

Estonian texts on Estonian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for 

students who do not already speak or understand Estonian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of 

language learning ability. Progress is carefully monitored, in particular in the early stages of the course. 



· develop competence in and use of Estonian to a pre-intermediate level 

· develop basic communicative skills of aural comprehension and oral production 

· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Estonian, through the use of a range of 

stylistically diverse materials, drawn in the main from contemporary sources 

· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Estonia 

· develop a knowledge of grammar and syntax, lexis and register, as well as language awareness and language learning skills 

· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Estonian life and culture 

through the materials studied. 


· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Estonian 

· comprehension of written Estonian at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Estonian in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 

· the ability to retrieve information and translate accurately 




Course materials produced by the teacher will be provided. Material from the following will also be used in class: 

· E NAGU EESTI by HELVE AHI & MALL PESTI, TEA 2003, ISBN 9985-71-111-4 

· T NAGU TALLINN by HELVE AHI, TEA 2006, ISBN 978-9985-71-553-6 

· NALJAGA POOLEKS by MARE KIRSNIK, RAHVA RAAMAT 2006, ISBN 9949134579 


· ESTONIAN TEXTBOOK: GRAMMAR, EXERCISES, CONVERSATION by JUHAN TULDAVA, INDIANA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR 

INNER ASIAN STUDIES 1994 

· EESTI KEELE GRAMMATIKA TABELITES by AINO SIIRAK, PANGLOSS 1998 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. Students will require a dictionary 

at an early stage in the course. The following are recommended: 

· ESTONIAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY by PAUL F. SAAGPAKK, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1982, ISBN 0300028490 

· ENGLISH-ESTONIAN DICTIONARY by JOHANNES SILVET, TEA 2002, ISBN 9985712315 




Module Title: New Language: Finnish 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Finnish and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Finnish language skills to work with original Finnish texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Finland. The course provides an intensive introduction to Finnish grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in the 

skills of oral communication in Finnish in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Finnish texts on 

Finnish and international cultural, political and social themes. 

The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not already speak or understand Finnish. It requires intensive study and 

applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. Progress is carefully monitored, in particular in the early stages of the 

course. 



· develop competence in and use of Finnish to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Finnish, through the use of a range of 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Finland 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and 

understanding of Finnish life and culture through the materials studied. 


· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Finnish 

· comprehension of written Finnish at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Finnish in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 






· From Start to Finnish by Leila White, Finn Lectura, 2007. ISBN 9789517921053. 

· Harjoituskirja suomen kielen perusopetusta varten by Leena Silfverberg, Finn Lectura, 2001. ISBN 9517920369. 

· Hyvin menee! Suomea aikuisille by Satu Heikkilä, Pirkko Majakangas, Otava, 2002. ISBN 9511171178. 

· Hyvin menee! Suomea aikuisille CD 1/2 by Satu Heikkilä, Pirkko Majakangas, Otava, 2002. ISBN 9511181300. 

· Kieli käyttöön – Suomen kielen alkeisoppikirja by Marjukka Kenttälä, Helsinki University Press, 2002. ISBN 9515704634. + CDs. 

· Kuulostaa hyvältä – Sounds good by Lili Ahonen, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 2005. ISBN 9517464932. 

· Kuulostaa hyvältä video by Lili Ahonen, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 2007. ISBN 9510001011. 

· Sounds good – Kuulostaa hyvältä by Lili Ahonen, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 2005. ISBN 9517464940. 

· Suomi sujuvaksi by Marjukka Kenttälä, Gaudeamus Kirja, 2006. ISBN 9789524950237. 


· A Grammar Book of Finnish by Leila White, Finn Lectura, 2006. ISBN 9517921462. 

· Colloquial Finnish – The Complete Course for Beginners by Daniel Abondolo, Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0415113903. 

· Finnish – An Essential Grammar by Fred Karlsson, Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0415207053. 

• Teach Yourself Finnish – A Complete Course for Beginners by Terttu Leney, Teach Yourself Books, Hodder Education, 2005. ISBN 

0071451080. 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course.



Module Title: New Language: Hungarian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Hungarian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Hungarian language skills to work with original Hungarian texts and to enable them to undertake study 

and/or research in Hungary. The course provides an intensive introduction to Hungarian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, 

practice in 

the skills of oral communication in Hungarian in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Hungarian 

texts on Hungarian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do 

not already speak or understand Hungarian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 



• develop competence in and use of Hungarian to a pre-intermediate level 


• develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Hungarian , through the use of a range of 


• acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Hungary 


• study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Hungarian life and culture 

through the studied. 

materials 


• a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Hungarian 

• comprehension of written Hungarian at a pre-intermediate level 

• the ability to communicate in Hungarian in straightforward everyday and study-related 

Situations 


• time management skills and the ability to work to deadlines. 






• Peter Sherwood, Concise Introduction to Hungarian, SSEES, University of London, 1996 

• Carol Rounds, Hungrian: An Essential Grammar, Routledge, London and New York, 2001, 

reprinted: 2003, 2004, 2006. 


• Carol H. Rounds, Erika Sólyom, Colloqial Hungarian, The Complete Course for 

• Beginners 2002. (Grammar points, glossary, and dialogues.) 

• Edit Hlavacska, István Hoffmann, Tibor Laczkó, Sándor Maticsák, Hungarolingva 1-2 (Course 

book and Work book for Elementary and Intermediate Level), Debrecen, 1996. (Conversation 

practice.) 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the Students will require a dictionary at course. 

an early stage in the course. The following are recommended: 

• Any medium/unabridged English-Hungarian/Hungarian-English dictionaries published by 

• Akadémiai Kiadó Budapest, with László Országh and Tamás Magay listed as compiler(s).



Module Title: New Language: Polish 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Polish and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Polish language skills to work with original Polish texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Poland. The course provides an intensive introduction to Polish grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in the 

skills of oral communication in Polish in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Polish texts on Polish 

and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not already speak or 

understand Polish. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. Progress is carefully 

monitored, in particular in the early stages of the course. 



· develop competence in and use of Polish to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Polish, through the use of a range of 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Poland 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Polish life and culture 



· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Polish 

· comprehension of written Polish at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Polish in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 


· time management skills and the ability to work to deadlines. 





· Bartnicka Barbara et al. 1984 Uczymy się polskiego Wiedza powszechna, Warszawa; (coursebook + tapes) 

· Gałtyga Danuta 2001 Ach, ten język polski! Universitas, Kraków; (handbook + CD) 

· Janowska Aleksandra, Pastuchowa Magdalena 2002 Dzień dobry! Śląsk, Katowice; (handbook + CD) 

· Kucharczyk Janusz 1995 Zaczynam mówić po polsku WING, Łódź; (coursebook + tapes) 

· Mazur Bolesław 2001 Colloqual Polish Routledge London 


· Bielec Dana 1998 Polish. An Essential Grammar Routledge, London and New York 

· Bielec Dana 2002 Basic Polish. A Grammar and Workbook Routledge, London and New York 

· Kowalska Marzena 2003 Polish in 4 Weeks Rea, Warszawa; (coursebook + CD) 

· Kucharczyk Janusz 1995 Zaczynam mówić po polsku WING, Łódź; (coursebook + tapes) 

· Miodunka Władysław 1996 Uczmy się polskiego 1 Polska Fundacja Upowszechniania Nauki, Warszawa (coursebook + video) 

· Miodunka Władysław 2001 Cześć, jak się masz? Universitas, Kraków (coursebook + CD) 

· Seretny Anna 2003 A co to takiego? Obrazkowy słownik języka polskiego Wydawnictwo Universitas, Kraków 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. Students will require a dictionary at 

an early stage in the course. The following is recommended: 

· Fisiak Jacek (ed.) 1997 Collins English-Polish and Polish – English Dictionary. Collins słownik angielsko-polski i polsko-angielski 

Wydawnictwo BAW, Warszawa. 

NB: Students will be informed at the start of the course which textbooks they should



Module Title: New Language: Romanian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Romanian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Romanian language skills to work with original Romanian texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Romania. The course provides an intensive introduction to Romanian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in 

the skills of oral communication in Romanian in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Romanian 

texts on Romanian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do 

not already speak or understand Romanian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 




· develop competence in and use of Romanian to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Romanian, through the use of a range of 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Romania 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Romanian life and culture 



· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Romanian 

· comprehension of written Romanian at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Romanian in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 






· Romanian An Essential Grammar by Ramona Gonczol-Davies 

· Colloquial Romanian by Ramona Gonczol-Davies and Dennis Deletant 

· Learn Romanian by Gheorghe Doca 

· You can speak Romanian by Dana Cojocaru 

· Romana de baza by Dorobat, Fotea 

· Limba romana pentru straini by Olga Balanescu 

· Romana cu sau fara profesor by Liana Pop 

· Romanian at the first sight by Suciu, Fazakas 

· Limba Romana by Brancus, Ionescu, Saramandu 


· Romanian An Essential Grammar by Ramona Gonczol-Davies 

· Colloquial Romanian by Ramona Gonczol-Davies and Dennis Deletant 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. Students will require a dictionary at 

an early stage in the course. The following are recommended: 

· Dictionar Roman-Englez, Teora 

· Dictionar Englez- Roman, Teora 

· Dictionarul explicativ al limbii romane 




Module Title: New Language: Russian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Russian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Russian language skills to work with original Russian texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Russia. The course provides an intensive introduction to Russian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, and practice in 

the skills of oral communication in Russian in straightforward situations, translation, summary and information retrieval, using Russian 

texts on Russian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not 

already speak or understand Russian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 




• develop competence in and use of Russian to an intermediate level 


• develop the comprehension skills of reading, translating from Russian and summarising, through the use of a range of stylistically 

diverse materials, drawn in the main from contemporary sources 

• acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Russia 


• study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Russian life and culture 



• a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Russian 

• comprehension of written Russian at an intermediate level 

• the ability to communicate in Russian in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 

• the ability to translate, summarise and retrieve information accurately 




The course will use the following textbook: 

Svetlana le Fleming and Susan E. Kay, Colloquial Russian, Routledge, 1997 

In addition, students will find the following books useful: 

Edwina J. Cruise, English Grammar for Students of Russian, Arnold, 2000 


Terence Wade, A Russian Grammar Workbook, Blackwell Publishers, 1996 

A dictionary will be essential from about the middle of the first term: 

Nicholas J. Brown, Russian Learner’s Dictionary, Routledge, 1996 (a frequency dictionary for vocabulary building) 

Oxford Russian Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2000 

Collins Russian Dictionary, Harper Collins, 1994 




Module Title: New Language: Serbian and Croatian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Serbian/Croatian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students 

who complete the course successfully will be able to assure both potential employers and academic supervisors that they possess the 

necessary foundation-level Serbian/Croatian language skills to work with original Serbian/Croatian texts and to enable them to undertake 

study and/or research in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro or Serbia. The course provides an intensive introduction to 

Serbian/Croatian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in the skills of oral communication in Serbian/Croatian in 

straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Serbian/Croatian texts on Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, 

Serbian and international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not already 

speak or understand Serbian/Croatian. It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. 




· develop competence in and use of Serbian/Croatian to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Serbian/Croatian, through the use of a 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Bosnia, Croatia, 

Montenegro or Serbia 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Bosnian, Croatian, 

Montenegrin or Serbian life and culture through the materials studied. 


· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Serbian/Croatian 

· comprehension of written Serbian/Croatian at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Serbian/Croatian in straightforward everyday and study related situations 






Course materials produced by the teacher will be provided: 

· Jelena Ćalić and Ivana Jović, Serbian/Croatian for Beginners, London 2003 (available as a study pack) 

Material from the following will also be used in class: 

· *Alexander, Ronelle, Elias-Bursać, Ellen.: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a textbook: with exercises and basic grammar Madison, Wis.: 

University of Wisconsin Press, 2006 

· *C. Hawkesworth, Colloquial Serbian:The Complete Course For Beginners, London: Routledge, 2005. 

· *C. Hawkesworth, Colloquial Croatian: The Complete Course For Beginners, London: Routledge, 2005. 

* with accompanying cassettes/CDs 


· Alexander, Ronelle.: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a grammar : with sociolinguistic 

commentary Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006 

· *D. Norris, V. Ribnikar, Teach Yourself Croatian, London: Teach Yourself, 2003 

· *D. Norris, V. Ribnikar, Teach Yourself Serbian, London: Teach Yourself, 2003 

· *I. Bjelaković, J. Vojnović, Naučimo srpski 1 (Let c s learn Serbian I), Novi Sad: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, 2004 

* with accompanying cassettes/CDs 




Module Title: New Language: Slovak 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Slovak and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Slovak language skills to work with original Slovak texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Slovakia. The course provides an intensive introduction to Slovak grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in the 

skills of 

oral communication in Slovak in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Slovak texts on Slovak and 

international cultural, political and social themes. The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not already speak or 

understand Slovak . It requires intensive study and applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. Progress is carefully 



· develop competence in and use of Slovak to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Slovak, through the use of a range of 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Slovakia 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Slovak life and culture 



· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Slovak 

· comprehension of written Slovak at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Slovak in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 






Course materials produced by the teacher will be provided. The following textbook will be used: 

· James Naughton: Colloquial Slovak, London 

In addition, students will find the following useful: 

· David Short: ‘Slovak’, in Comrie & Corbett: The Slavonic Languages, London 


· A Grammar of Contemporary Slovak. Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo, 1983. 

A list of relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. 

Students will require a dictionary at an early stage in the course. The following is recommended: 

· A.Caforio: Slovak-English Dictionary, Bratislava (an English-Slovak companion also exists) 




Module Title: New Language: Ukrainian 






This course aims to provide a competent reading knowledge of Ukrainian and basic communicative skills in the language. Students who 


necessary foundation-level Ukrainian language skills to work with original Ukrainian texts and to enable them to undertake study and/or 

research in Ukraine. The course provides an intensive introduction to Ukrainian grammar, a knowledge of basic vocabulary, practice in 

the skills of oral communication in Ukrainian in straightforward situations, translation and information retrieval skills, using Ukrainian 

texts on Ukrainian and international cultural, political and social themes. 

The course is designed for beginners, i.e. for students who do not already speak or understand Ukrainian. It requires intensive study and 

applicants must provide evidence of language learning ability. Progress is carefully monitored, in particular in the early stages of the 

course. 



· develop competence in and use of Ukrainian to a pre-intermediate level 


· develop the comprehension skills of reading, retrieving key information and translating from Ukrainian, through the use of a range of 


· acquire the basic writing skills necessary to facilitate language learning and support a period of study and/or research in Ukraine 


· study a wide range of authentic language materials and acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Ukrainian life and culture 



· a grasp of the basic grammatical structures and vocabulary of Ukrainian 

· comprehension of written Ukrainian at a pre-intermediate level 

· the ability to communicate in Ukrainian in straightforward everyday and study-related situations 






· Olena Bekh and James Dingley, Ukrainian – A Complete Course for Beginners, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2003 (with cassettes/ CDs) 

· Ian Press and Stefan Pugh, Colloquial Ukrainian – A Complete Language Course, Routledge, London, 2003 (with cassettes/CDs) 


· Stefan Pugh & Ian Press, Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar, London, 1999 

· George Y. Shevelov, ‘Ukrainian’, in Comrie & Corbett: The Slavonic Languages, London, 1993 

· Marko Pavlyshyn, Ukrainian Phrasebook, Lonely Planet, Victoria, 2005 

· Read Ukrainian!, an online reading course: www.lww-cetl.ac.uk/ukrainian. 

A list of other relevant websites and online reference materials will be provided at the start of the course. Students will require a 

dictionary at an early stage in the course. The following are recommended: 

· V. Busel, English-Ukrainian/Ukrainian-English Dictionary, Kyiv-Irpin 1997 

· Popov & Balla, Comprehensive Ukrainian-English Dictionary, Kyiv, 1998 

· Balla, English-Ukrainian Dictionary, Kyiv, 1996 

· Andrusyshen and Krett, Ukrainian-English Dictionary, Toronto, 1985 




Module Title: Political Economy of International Business 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Mon 11-1, Mon 4-5 

Compulsory for: MA CBE 



This course introduces students to the area of economic integration at micro level, i.e. at the level of international business. A micro 

focus is essential in order to understand how multinational enterprises (MNEs) are shaping patterns of trade, finance and the nature of 

globalization. This course exposes students to the latest thinking, debates and theories and applies them in the context of the wider 

Europe. A significant portion of the course relies on general economic, international business, international relations and governance 

studies. When introducing latest research and empirical analyses the course is focused on CEEs within the context of the wider 

Europe. A political economy, rather than purely management or economic perspective of the course, enables students a realistic 

perspective in studying the way international economic integration affects growth in the wider Europe. Also, this perspective is more 

appropriate for social science students. This course addresses the following topics: 

1. Globalisation and international production in historical perspective; 2. Theories of international production 3. Evolution of 

multinational enterprises ; 4. Foreign direct investment and growth; 5. International technology transfer and ‘catching up’; 6. Finance, 

ownership and strategies of globalization; 7. International industrial networks (value chains); 8. Globalisation and industry evolution; 9. 

CEE within the European and global system of international production; 10. State and international production 


Aims: In this course, students will learn: 

a) Various theoretical perspectives on international production and their relevance for understanding current global changes 

b) To understand key factors driving equity and non-equity forms of investments 

c) To understand methodological approaches in exploring linkages between growth and foreign 

direct investment 

d) To relate and apply the main stylized facts of foreign direct investments in CEE to previously presented theoretical and methodological 

issues 

Objectives: By the end of the course, students will: 

1. Be able to critically and analytically interpret a variety of real world phenomena in international business from political economy 

perspective; 

2. Be able to follow the latest research in different areas of international business and link it to the existing theories within international 

business area; 

3. Have the ability to do independent analyses in international business issues related to the area of the wider Europe 


Assessment Style: 2 x 3000 Essay Assessment Weighting: 50% 50% 


• Rugman A.M. and T. L. Brewer (eds.) (2001) The Oxford Handbook of International Business, OUP, Oxford. 

Michie, Jonathan (ed.) (2003) The handbook of Globalisation, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. 

Grazia Ietto – Gillies (2005) Transnational Corporations and International Production. Concepts, Theories and Effects, Edward Elgar, 

Cheltenham 

Giorgo Barba Navaretti and Anthony J. Venables (2004) Multinational Firms in the World Economy Princeton University Press 

UNCTAD, World Investment Reports, Geneva, various years (SSEES -Misc.XVI.9WOR) Also downloadable at: 

(http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=1485&lang=1) 

Moran, H. T., E.M. Graham andM. Blomstrom (2005) Does Foreign Direct Investment PromoteDevelopment? Institute for International 

Economics,Washington, April



Module Title: Politics of South-Eastern Europe Since 1990 






The seminar examines politics in the states of Southeast Europe since the demise of Communist regimes in the region. Particular 

attention will be given to the wars of Yugoslav succession and the regimes that participated in them. Topics may also include, but are not 

limited to: international administrations in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, international and domestic initiatives to promote political 

and institutional reform, war crimes and transitional justice, organised crime and corruption, Processes of EU accession and 

conditionality, and initiatives for reconciliation and regional cooperation. A major emphasis of the material is on the relation of political 

change to economic and social factors. 

At the end of the module you should have fulfilled the following aims and objective 

Aims: The course aims to provide: 

1. A broad understanding of the controversies surrounding events in the region in the 1990s 

2. A familiarity with domestic and international initiatives for political and institutional reform 

3. Insight into contemporary issues involving the states and societies of Southeast Europe 

Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have gained knowledge and understanding allowing them to: 

1. Evaluate policies both in the region and directed toward the region of Southeast Europe 

2. Analyse contemporary issues and controversies involving Southeast Europe 

3. Apply theoretical models from social science to understanding developments in Southeast Europe 

4. Address scholarly controversies involving the wars of Yugoslav succession in the 1990s, the regimes that participated in them, their 

causes and consequences 




Jasna Dragović-Soso and Lenard Cohen (eds.), State Collapse in Southeast Europe 

Dejan Djokić and James Ker-Lindsay (eds.), New Perspectives on Yugoslavia: Key Issues and Controversies 

Paula Pickering, Peacebuilding in the Balkans: The View from the Ground Floor 

David Chandler, Bosnia: Faking Democracy After Dayton 

Florian Bieber, Postwar Bosnia



Module Title: Post-Soviet Politics 






The aim of this course is to look at how the trajectories of the fifteen post-Soviet states have diverged since the collapse of the USSR in 

1991, and what they still have in common. The course looks at why some, particularly the three Baltic States, have been apparent success 

stories, at why the failure to transform is the norm elsewhere, and why some states have achieved partial successes and temporary 

breakthroughs, like Ukraine and Georgia after their ‘coloured revolutions’ or Moldova today. The course also looks at why, with such an 

unfinished agenda for change, different brands of authoritarianism and pressure for change co-exist within the region. 


Course aims 

The course will provide a comparative study of politics in the former USSR since 1991. It seeks to explain why some post-Soviet states 

have made a success of political and/or economic reform but not others, but is skeptical of cultural and historical determinism, focusing 

instead on elite culture and decision-making. The course is centered around a critique of ‘transition’ theory, and the study of alternative 

models of hybrid regimes. The course is based on the assumption that post-Soviet legacies are still sufficiently present in all fifteen states, 

but will include a critique of the concept of ‘post-Soviet space’. 

Course objectives 

Even Russia should not be studied on its own. Any understanding of the post-Soviet states is richer if it includes a look in the mirror of 

others’ experiences. The course will use comparative political science methodology, but also look at how the building blocks of local 

politics are very different in post-Soviet space. The course will provide a solid grounding for research on post-Soviet topics and for field 

work (NGOs, government, business) in the region. 

Assessment Style: 1x2hr Unseen Exam+1x3000 essay 




Donnacha Ó Beacháin and Abel Polese (eds.), The Colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics , (Routledge , 2010) 

Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War , (Cambridge, Cambridge University 

Press, 2010)



Module Title: Quantitative Methods 



Compulsory for: IMESS (E&B Track), MRes (1 Year), Optional Core for MRes (2 Year), MA CBE, MA CE&P 



This graduate course assumes no prior knowledge of statistics or knowledge of mathematics beyond GCSE (or equivalent)-level. It 

provides a basic introduction to statistics essential for multi-disciplinary study. The emphasis is on elements of statistical thinking and 

insight is drawn from simple data and concepts rather than complex derivations and formulae. The course presents quantitative methods 

as an essential intellectual method appropriate for study alongside other approaches to social sciences. The course is oriented towards 

making practical use of simple statistical methods and is focused particularly on interpretation of the results. The second part of the 

course introduces students to regression analysis and so prepares them for more advanced courses in quantitative methods and 

econometrics. By the end of the course all students will be able to conduct and interpret empirical statistical analysis with the use of real 

world data. The course uses the Stata software package. 


Aims: 

1. To understand statistical thinking as a fundamental intellectual method; 

2. To introduce statistical ideas and statistical reasoning that is relevant to students of social sciences and humanities; 

3. To provide a foundation in basic statistical techniques and principles; 

4. To prepare students for the spring term course in Advanced Quantitative Methods; 

5. To introduce students to the Stata software package. 

Objectives: By the end of the course students will be: 

1. Be aware of different types of data and understand issues relating to methods and errors of sampling, and other biases in data. 

2. Have gained practical skills of presenting and interpreting quantitative data such as descriptive statistics, measures of central 

tendency, statistical inference, and measures of association. 

3. Have a basic understanding of the principles and limitations of linear regression. 

4. Be able to access a greater range of literature utilising quantitative approaches. 

5. Be prepared to use Stata for basic data analysis, and for creating tables and graphs. 





Core Reading 

Levin, J. and Fox, J. A. (2010). Elementary Statistics for Social Research: The essentials.3rd Edition, Boston, MA. Pearson 

Additional (optional) 

Wright, D. B. and London, K. (2009). First (and Second) Steps in Statistics. London:Sage 

Ross, S.M. (2010). Introductory statistics. 3rd Edition. New York, Academic Press/Elsevier 

Huck, Schuyler W. (2008). Statistical misconceptions. New York: Routledge. 

Moore, David S. (2001). Statistics: Concepts and Controversies. New York: W.H.Freeman 

Wooldridge, J.M. (2009). Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. 4th Edition.Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing 

It is required that students read the assigned chapters before attending the lecture, 

(session’s description available on the course Moodle page)



Module Title: Religion in South-Eastern Europe: From the Age of Empires to Post-Communism 






With an increasing awareness of the role of religion in the recent violent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in current global affairs, 

the course introduces theoretical and historical reflections on religion in South-Eastern Europe, mainly Christianity (Eastern, Latin and 

Protestant Churches) but also Islam and Judaism. The course will draw upon a wide range of disciplinary approaches from the fields of 

history, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Integrating church history and religious studies into general political and national 

history narratives, the course opens new perspectives for students interested in both theoretical/methodological issues and the history 

of the region. Approaches that define religion in terms of “lived religion” and “everyday practice” will be applied to both past and 

contemporary religious developments. In particular the course aims to address the connections between religion, nationalism and 

political ideologies in South-Eastern Europe in the period of the dissolution of empires and the formation of modern nation states. 


Aims: 

1. To give students an understanding of the role of religion in the history of South-Eastern Europe. 

2. To enable students to develop, present and justify their own methodological approaches while researching issues related to religion. 

3. To enhance understanding of the role of religion in the historical development and construction of the region, and the ways in which the role of religion 

was promoted, contested and investigated. 

4. To enhance the ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context of the complexity and 

diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual outlooks. 

5. To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as appreciating the limits and 

challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts includes an understanding of the questions which historians ask and why they do so. By the 

end of the course students will have read and mastered a diverse selection of sources and historical works. 

6. To enhance the ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner. Arguments should be structured, coherent, 






(iv) the ability to identify, gather, deploy and organize evidence, data and information; and familiarity with appropriate means of achieving this 








Clifford Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System”, in ibid, The Interpretation of Cultures. New York 1973. 

S.N. Eisenstadt, ‘The Reconstruction of Religious Arenas in the Framework of ‘Multiple Modernities’, in Islam: Critical Concepts in 

Sociology. Ed. Bryan S. Turner (vol. 4), Islam and Social Movements. London, NY 2003, pp. 1-22. 

Paul Mojzes, “Religious Topography of Eastern Europe”, in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, vol. 36, No. 1-2, (1999),pp. 7-43. 

William James, The Varieties of Religious Experiences. New York 2004. Chapter 20 (Conclusions) and Postscript. 

NATIONALITIES PAPERS, March 2000 (Vol.28, No.1) SPECIAL ISSUE: Muslim Minorities in the Balkans 

Rogers W. Brubaker, “Aftermaths of Empire and the Unmixing of Peoples: Historical and Comparative Perspectives.” Ethnic and Racial 

Studies, Vol. 18 [2] (April 1995), pp.189-218. 

Radu Ioani, “The Sacralised Politics of the Romanian Iron Guard”, in Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2004), 

pp. 419-453. 

Mark Biondich, “Controversies surrounding the Catholic Church in wartime Croatia, 1941–45”, Totalitarian Movements and Political 

Religions, 7/4 (2006), pp.429–457. 

Vjekoslav Perica, “The Sanctification of Enmity. Churches and Construction of Founding Myths of Serbia and Croatia.” In Pål Kolstø, ed., 

Myths and Boundaries in Southeastern Europe. London.: C. Hurst & Co, 2005, pp. 130-157. 

Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu, Religion and Politics in Post-communist Romania, Oxford University Press, 2007.



Module Title: Russian Foreign Policy since 1917 






The aims of this course are to give the student an understanding of the motives of Russian foreign policy, the forces that shape it, the 

instruments it uses and its impact on the world. The course begins by outlining the foreign policy of the USSR up to 1991 and then moves 

on to examine the foreign policy of the new Russian state as it has developed under Presidents Boris El’tsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitrii 

Medvedev. We shall consider the interrelationship between increasing domestic authoritarianism and international politics. We shall 

investigate how Russia, faced with NATO and EU enlargement and American unilateralism, sought to use its new wealth to re-assert 

itself as a great power, first of all in the former Soviet Union as illustrated by the August 2008 conflict in Georgia; and whether the 

international economic crisis has encouraged a re-appraisal. Additionally, the course aims to develop the presentational 

skills of the student, through the assimilation and analysis of the available literature (which is now quite substantial) and the 

requirements to offer seminar presentations and write essays; and to prepare the student for careers where knowledge of Russian 

foreign policy will be an asset. The course will draw on a number of disciplines, in particular Political Science, History and Economics. 

There is no language requirement. 


By the end of the course, you should be able to analyse and offer explanations of 

• the main achievements of Soviet foreign policy 

• why Gorbachev adopted ‘new political thinking’ 

• how foreign policy is made in post-Soviet Russia, and the major ideas behind it 

• how successful Putin has been in restoring to Russia the status of a ‘great power’ 





Robert H. Donaldson & Joseph L. Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests. 4rd edn, M E Sharpe 2009. 

Andrei P. Tsygankov, Russia's Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity, 2nd edn, Rowman & Littlefield 2010 

Both are available in paperback



Module Title: Russian Monarchy: Court Ritual and Political Ideas, 1498-1917 






Monarchy dominated Russia’s political culture for centuries. This course will examine the development of Russian monarchy from a 

medieval political system to a monarchy coping with the challenges of institutional reform and modernisation. The main focus will be on 

the monarch and his/her dynasty, though this will not be a history of great rulers. The main aim of the course is to examine the symbolic 

representation of the dynasty through images and ritual as well as the perception of the monarchy in Russian political thought. The 

chronological framework of the course is defined by the first coronation in Russia in 1498 and the fall of autocracy in 1917. 


Aims 

• To introduce graduate students to the main ideas and concepts relating to the political and cultural system of Russian 

monarchy. 

• To enhance the ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context 

of the complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual outlooks. 

• To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as 

appreciating the limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of 

the questions which historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a wide 

selection of historical works. 

• To enhance the ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner. Arguments should be structured, coherent, relevant, and 

concise, and should take into account all aspects of a given problem. 

Enhanced generic skills: these may be defined as -- 




(iv) the ability to identify, gather, deploy and organize evidence, data and information; and familiarity with appropriate means of 

achieving this 





(ix) ability to organize time, work and personal resources to optimal effect 


Assessment Style: 1X3000w Essay Assessment Weighting: 100% % 

To Follow 

Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Russian Politics 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Tue 11-1, Thu 4-6 




1. To assist the student to develop an academic understanding of the Russian political system, political life and decision-making, in the 

period from perestroika to the situation today. 

2. To prepare the student for careers in government, research, the media, business, non-governmental organizations and others where 

knowledge of Russia will be useful. 

3. Generally to develop the skills of the student as an analyst, researcher, presenter, debater and writer, for both vocational and 

intellectual purposes. 

List of topics 

1. Mikhail Gorbachev and perestroika (2 weeks). 

2. The President, the Government and the Supreme Soviet: August 1991-October 1993. 

3. The December 1993 elections and the new Constitution. 

4. The President, the Government and the Parliament: December 1993 – December 1995. The December 1995 elections. 

5. The 1996 Presidential elections. 

6. Boris El’tsin’s second term: July 1996 - December 1999. 

7. The December 1999 elections, the rise of Vladimir Putin and the March 2000 elections. 

8. Putin’s first term. The elections of December 2003 and March 2004. 

9. The role of political parties. 

10. The KGB’s successors, human rights, civil society, crime and corruption (2 weeks). 

11. Russian nationalism. 

12. Federalism, nationality policy and regionalism (2 weeks). 

13. Religion and Politics. 

14. Politics in Ukraine. 

15. What type of political system does Russia have? An evaluation. 

At the end of the module you should have fulfilled the following objectives 

By the end of the course, you should be able to analyse and offer explanations of; 

1. the introduction of Gorbachev’s perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union 

2. relations between President, Government and Parliament under Presidents El’tsin and Putin 

3. Presidential and Parliamentary elections and the role of political parties 

4. nationalism in Russia, the Chechen wars and the transformation of federalism 

5. the human rights situation, the role of the security services and the retreat of democracy under Putin 



To follow 

Preliminary Reading



Module Title: Russian Thought 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Thurs 9-11 




This course studies the distinctive themes and approach of the Russian tradition of thought from the Enlightenment to the twentieth 

century, concentrating especially on the great flowering of Russian thought in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth 

centuries. Russian thought is distinguished by its focus on the person and human nature. Themes covered include the person, freedom 

and society, reason and faith, ethics and love, time and eschatology, as well as broader topics such as Russian national identity, nihilism, 

the philosophy of all-unity and utopianism. Within and against the broader background of the course's thematic approach, there will also 

be detailed study of individual thinkers and/or works, including Chaadaev, Herzen, Dostoevskii's Notes from the Underground, 

Chernyshevskii and nihilism, Solov’ev, Shestov, Bakhtin, Tolstoi, Rozanov, Fedorov, utopian works, Berdiaev's Russian Idea etc. The course 

will briefly introduce and discuss relevant movements and philosophers of the Western tradition (the Enlightenment, Idealism, Hegel, 

Schopenhauer, Nietzsche etc.) as appropriate. 

The 'open' and 'inclusive' nature of Russian thought lends itself to study in which different intellectual backgrounds can meet, literature 

and culture, history, philosophy and social sciences. The course can be combined with ones in literature, history and social sciences. The 

course is open to students both with and without a reading knowledge of Russian, sincea great range of material is available in English. 

The course is also open both to students who have not studied Russian thought before, and to those who have. 


Aims 

1. To examine key themes from the tradition of Russian thought in cultural context. 

2. To develop a knowledge and understanding of the philosophical problematics and the discourse(s) of the Russian tradition of 

thought, with comparison also to Western European thought. 

Objectives 

1. Extensive knowledge and understanding of the tradition of Russian thought, covering a wide range of thinkers, key works 

and themes. 

2. Experience in the study of intellectual history and the discourse(s) of thought. 

3. In-depth knowledge and understanding of particular thinkers/works/themes studied for course assignments, including presentations, 

and the Assessed Essay. 

4. Enhanced skills of research, analysis, essay writing, presentation and the articulation of ideas in discussion. 




Works from and about the Russian tradition of thought to read in advance include: 

N. Berdiaev, Russkaia ideia (various editions), tr. The Russian Idea (London, 1947) 

Isaiah Berlin, Russian Thinkers (London, 1978) 

Edith W. Clowes, Fiction’s overcoat: Russian literary culture and the question of philosophy (Ithaca, 2004) 

Aileen Kelly, Towards Another Shore: Russian Thinkers between Necessity and Chance (New Haven and London, 1998) 

Frederick C. Copleston, Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev (Notre Dame, 1986) 

and Russian Religious Philosophy: Selected Aspects (Notre Dame, 1988) 

Andrzej Walicki, A History of Russian Thought from the Enlightenment to Marxism (Oxford, 1980) 

V.V. Zen’kovskii, A History of Russian Philosophy, 2 vols (London, 1953) 

Petr (Peter) Chaadaev, Philosophical Letters, especially the First Letter (various editions) 

Aleksandr (Alexander) Herzen, From the Other Shore (various editions) 

F.M. Dostoevskii (Dostoevsky), Notes from Underground (various editions) 

Anthologies of Russian thought in translation include: 

Russian Philosophy, ed. J.M. Edie, J.P. Scanlan and M.B. Zeldin, 3 vols (Chicago, 1965) 

A Documentary History of Russian Thought: From the Enlightenment to Marxism, ed. W.J. Leatherbarrow 

and D.C. Offord (Ann Arbor, 1987)



Module Title: Security, Identity, Polarity: The Contemporary Debates 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Tue 9-11 (Group 1) and 

Tue 12-2 (Group 2) 




SIP provides an advanced introduction to contemporary security theory. The course is structured by the discussion of three distinct logics 

of security (war, threat and risk), and three distinct analytical ‘levels’ (international/regional, national and individual) which shape the 

formulation of security theory and policy alike. SIP is a primarily a theoretical course. However, by the end of the course you will be 

equipped to understand and analyse various points of view – and especially your own point of view – regarding any issues in 

international or European security. In this sense, SIP is designed with a view to signalling the intrinsic relationship between the practice 

and theory of security. This is not only to increase awareness of the indispensable role of theory in the evaluation of security problems 

and policies, 

but also to emphasise that security practitioners routinely deploy concepts of security in official documents, policy statements, and the 

formulation of security procedures. We will highlight the conceptual, epistemological and methodological issues at stake in the analysis 

of security policies. The seminar format and the varied nature of the coursework seek to increase your theoretical understanding and 

analytical skills, enabling you to formulate conceptually precise and empirically informed analyses of contemporary security issues. 


Aims 

The course aims: 

a) To give students an in-depth understanding of contemporary theories of security; 

b) To develop an advanced understanding of the relationship between the contemporary theory and practice of security, built on 

understanding the changing nature of security concepts and their relationship with security policies as formulated in different historical 

and political contexts; 

c) To develop students’ understanding of the changing nature and role of state action in security affairs; 

d) To give students the conceptual tools and analytical skills for the empirical study of security issues and policies; 

e) To promote and improve students’ presentation and discursive skills. 

Objectives 

Students are expected to: 

a) Identify, describe and critically assess the key debates in contemporary security theory; 

b) Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between theories of security and contemporary security policies; 

c) Evaluate the security doctrines and policies of states and international organisations, using critically the theoretical literature covered 

in the course; 

d) Give a well-organised presentation and participate actively in informed debates on security issues. 

Assessment Style: 1X3500w Essay+1x2500w Policy 




Collins, A. (ed.) (2007) Contemporary Security Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 

Dannreuther, R. (2007) International Security: The Contemporary Agenda (Cambridge: Polity) 

Hough, P. (2008) Understanding Global Security, 2nd edition (London: Routledge) 

Terriff, T. et al. (1999) Security Studies Today (London: Polity) 

Williams, P. (ed.) (2008) Security Studies: An Introduction (London: Routledge)



Module Title: Soviet Cinema and Society from the Khrushchev 'Thaw' to the Collapse of the Soviet Union: End of the Radiant 

Future 






This course studies ten key films in the development of Soviet cinema from the Khrushchev ‘thaw’ to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

They are seminal texts in the sense that they reflect many of the ideological, cultural, and social trends which took place after the death 

of Stalin. They are approached primarily as cinematic statements, and thus are analysed in terms of form, content and style. They are also 

positioned in relation to broader developments within the cinemas of Europe and America. In general, they have been selected on the 

basis that they illustrate in concentrated form some of the artistic, social, philosophical, and political changes which characterized this 

period. The course focuses on the experimentation and optimism of the Khrushchev ‘thaw’; the increasing malaise and stagnation of the 

Brezhnev period; and the attempt to breathe new life into the Soviet project by means of glasnost′ and perestroika from the mid-to-late 

1980s under Gorbachev. The following themes are examined within these three distinct chronological categories: the emergence of 

auteur cinema as part of the ‘new wave’ of the 1960s, and the increasing experimentation in terms of form and visual style; cinema as a 

reflection of shifting social and linguistic norms; evolving concepts of the role of the creative artist in the Soviet Union; film as 

confessional statement; evolving concepts of individuality and the changing relationship between individual and society; the shifting role 

of censorship; the emergence of women directors and the concept of ‘women’s film’ (zhenskoe kino); the crisis of masculinity; cinematic 

treatments of historical subjects, in particular the Stalin period; the neo-nationalist trends which emerged from the 1960s onwards; and 

attitudes towards religion and the value of the spiritual world, as well as the pre-revolutionary cultural heritage. 


Aims: 

1. To acquire an in-depth knowledge of the development of Russian cinema during the ‘thaw’, the Brezhnev ‘stagnation’, and the period 

of renewal under Gorbachev 

2. To analyse films as cinematic texts in terms of form, style, and narrative/dramatic convention 

3. To gain an understanding of the creative intelligentsia’s response by means of cinema to the ideological, social and cultural trends 

during the period concerned 


1. The tools with which to analyse films as cinematic texts, and some understanding of recent theoretical approaches to Soviet and non- 

Soviet cinema 

2. An increased understanding of the evolution of Soviet film through the works of key directors, and the ways in which their films reflect 

ideological, social and cultural trends 

3. An increased understanding of the cultural policies which shaped film production and the pressures of censorship which limited forms 

of creative expression during the different eras covered by the course 

4. An awareness of how Soviet cinema engaged in a dialogue with Western cinema, and the ways in which cinema polemicized with, and 

rejected, cinematic norms established during the Stalinist period 




Attwood L., Red Women on the Silver Screen: Soviet Women and Cinema from the Beginning to the End of the Communist Era, London, 1993 

Gillespie, D., Russian Cinema, inside film series, Harlow, 2003 

Faraday, G., Revolt of the Filmmakers: The Struggle for Artistic Autonomy and the Fall of the Soviet Film Industry, Pennsylvania, 2000. 

Golovskoy, V. S., with J. Rimberg., Behind the Soviet Screen: The Motion-Picture Industry in the USSR 1977-1982, Ann Arbor, 1986 

Horton, A. and Brashinsky, M., The Zero Hour: Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition, Princeton, New Jersey, 1992 

Lawton, A., Kinoglasnost: Soviet Cinema in our Time, Cambridge, 1992 

Lenfilm and the Liberation of Soviet Cinema, ed. M. Müller and H. van der Meulen, Rotterdam, 1990 

Liehm, M. and Liehm, The Most Important Art: Soviet and East European Film After 1945, Berkeley, Los 

Angeles and London, 1977, pp. 199-219, & 306-36 

The Red Screen: Politics, Society, Art in Soviet Cinema, ed. Anne Lawton, London, 1992 

Shlapentokh, D. and Shlapentokh, V., Soviet Cinematography 1918-1991: Ideological Conflict and Social 

Reality, New York, 1993 

Woll, J. Real Images: Soviet Cinema and the Thaw, London, 2000.



Module Title: The Crisis Zone: Central Europe 1900-1990 






The course examines the political and social history of Central Europe from 1900-1990. The polities to be studied include the Habsburg 

Monarchy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and Romania. Topics include the last years and break-up of the Habsburg Monarchy, 

the First World War, the peace settlement, democracy, fascism and authoritarianism in the successor-states, foreign policy predicaments 

and the rise of Nazi Germany, the Anschluss and Munich, the Second World War, the communist takeovers, high and low communism, 

resistance and compliance, 1989 and ‘the changes’. The title of the course derives from Ivan Berend’s ‘The Crisis Zone of Europe’ (1986). 


Aims: 

1. To introduce graduate students to the history of the lands of Central Europe during the 20th century. 

2. To enhance students’ ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context of 

the complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual outlooks. 

3. To enhance students’ ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as 

appreciating the limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the 

questions which historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students should have read and mastered a wide selection of 

historical works. 

4. To enhance students’ ability to frame and develop an argument in a sustained manner. Arguments should be structured, coherent, 


Assessment Style: 2hr Unseen Exam & 1x1500w Essay 




Ivan Berend, Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe before World War Two, Berkeley, 1998. 

R.J. Crampton, Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century, London, 1994 

Robin Okey, Eastern Europe 1740-1985: From feudalism to communism, London, 1986/91



Module Title: The Culture of Russian Revolutionary Terrorism 






With terrorism – and the wars against it – having become a prominent features of our own political world and everyday lives, this course 

seeks to historicize these phenomena by investigating one specific cultural-historical moment and placing it into its broader historical 

context. The history of terrorism in Russia begins in the late 1860s and 1870s with the emergence of an organized movement of 

revolutionary terrorism, which focused primarily on the targeted assassination of government leaders and which experienced its primary 

‘success’ – and ultimate downfall – with the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander II. A second ‘terrorist moment’ occurred in the early 

twentieth century, when revolutionary terror began to take more diverse forms, even becoming a mass movement of sorts during 1905- 

1907. According to one historian’s estimate, some 17,000 people would fall victim to one of the many hundreds of terrorist attacks that 

occurred in the twilight years of the Romanov dynasty. At this time, the state’s war against terrorism assumed unprecedented 

proportions with mass repressions and executions. 

While this module will consider the political history of terrorism – from party programs and theoretical statements to the state’s ‘war 

against terrorism’, its approach will be cultural, focusing on questions of rhetoric, representation, and subjectivity as well as the broader 

resonance of violence in mass media, graphic art, and fiction. Drawing upon a wide range of primary sources (in translation), including 

memoirs, novels, programmatic statements, and propaganda artifacts, we will explore a range of themes: the rhetoric and 

representation of violence, including its function as political ‘spectacle’; the self-fashioning of terrorists into heroic ‘avengers’, selfless 

‘martyrs’, and even public celebrities (as well as the ultimate disintegration of these images); the representations of ‘victims’ and 

‘villains’; and the gendering of violence. The course will conclude with a brief consideration of the after-life of Russian revolutionary 

terrorism, such as in the writings of Albert Camus, and the relevance of this episode to our understanding of terrorism and modernity. 


Aims 

1. To acquire a body of knowledge relating to the history of revolutionary politics and violence in late imperial Russia, including an 

understanding of key historiographical debates; 

2. To develop a nuanced understanding of broader concepts and methodologies relevant to the study of history more generally and of 

violence and terrorism more specifically; 

3. To develop a variety of analytic, research and generic skills, including the structuring of complex arguments in oral and written form, 

the assessment of secondary literature and historiographical debates, and primary source criticism. 

Objectives 

1. an enhanced ability to understand and to appreciate how people have reacted to, commented on and interpreted the past and 

present in the context of the complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and intellectual traditions. 

2. an enhanced ability to use and evaluate texts critically. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the 

questions which historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a selection of original 

texts and historical works drawn from the period. 

3. an enhanced ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner both orally and in writing. Arguments should be structured, coherent, 




To follow 

Preliminary Reading



Module Title: The Economics of Health and Population 






This multi-disciplinary course examines the nature of and explanations for diverging outcomes in health and population well-being across the globe, 

paying particular attention to the former Communist countries. After a brief survey of the historical perspectives on global health and population we seek 

to establish the stylised facts by taking a ‘tour’ of global health, considering issues such as mortality, fertility, the distribution of health and well-being. 

Empirical studies lie at the heart of the literature that we use and therefore, as well as drawing on some core conceptual tools from political economics, 

we spend a little time thinking about techniques for ‘evaluating evidence’ in health, social and development studies. With these skills to hand we then 

begin to shed light on some of the most distinctive global empirical regularities. 

- Why are some countries rich while others seem destined to remain poor? 

- Why do poor countries (typically) have poor health? 

- How are we to understand the catastrophic health crisis that afflicted parts of the former Soviet Union during the 1990s? What are the distinctive 

health and population problems facing that region today? 

- Why do some countries appear to have so many ‘missing women’ (unbalanced sex ratios)? 

- Why are the health outcomes in some countries (e.g. China) much better than expected (according to income based criteria), while in others (e.g. 

Russia, sub-Saharan Africa) they are much worse? 

- Are the richest societies also the most content (happy) societies? 

- What is the role of inequality (of health, of income)? 

- How can we explain and confront the current global health challenges (alcohol, tobacco, obesity, HIV/AIDS)? 

While informed by the contemporary political economy, this course draws on a diverse range of literature from global health and population studies and 

thus provides for a multi- and/or inter-disciplinary approach to understanding the nature of global developments in health and population. 


Aims: 

1. To understand empirical and conceptual approaches to the political economics of health and population 

2. To develop expertise in evaluating evidence. 

3. To be able to answer important, controversial and counter-intuitive questions about patterns in global health and development. 

4. To recognise important conceptual and empirical dimensions of economic well-being ranging from health and demographics to poverty, migration, 

human capital and inequality. 

5. To develop the knowledge and skills to contribute to multi- and inter-disciplinary debates relating to global health and development. 

6. A clearer understanding of global ‘health and population’ – the stylised facts and the challenges ahead. 

Objectives: 

1. Knowledge of economic and social development in a comparative perspective. 

2. Knowledge of policies and their appropriateness for combating characteristics of underdevelopment in the post-Communist world and elsewhere. 

3. Skills of working critically with academic literature and particularly with empirical information. 

4. Improved critical thinking and analytical skills. 

5. Presentation skills through use of proposal writing, oral presentation, online presentation and workshops. 

6. Skills and experience in online communication, acting as a ‘discussant’ and ‘chair’. 

7. Competence in independent research on selected topics. 


Assessment Style: 3xCoursework equiv. 1x3000w Assessment Weighting: 10% 75% 15% 


This course consults a range of contemporary (as well as some classic) sources, among which are those listed below. 

UNDP (2010) The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development. The Human Development Report, 20 th Anniversary Ed. 

(http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/) 

Wilkinson, R. and Pickett, K. (2010) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. 

Deaton, Angus (2006) Global Patterns of Income and Health: Facts, Interpretations and Policies. NBER Working Paper 12735. 

Cutler, D. & Brainerd, E. (2005) Autopsy on an Empire: Understanding Mortality in Russia and the Former Soviet Union. Journal of Economic 

Perspectives. Vol. 19, No. 1: 107-130. 

Das Gupta, Monica (2005) Explaining Asia’s “Missing Women”? A Look at the Data. Population and Development Review, 31(3). 

Sachs, Jeffrey (2005) The end of poverty: How we can make it happen in our lifetime. Penguin 

Milanovic, Branko. (2005) Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality. Princeton 

Stern, Nicholas., Dethier, Jean-Jaques. and Rogers, Halsey (2005) Growth and Empowerment: Making 

Development Happen (The Munich Lectures) 

Moffitt, Robert (2003) Causal Analysis in Population Research: An Economist’s Perspective. Population and Development Review, 

29(3):448-458. 

Sen, Amartya. (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford



Module Title: The Jews in Polish Culture: Beyond Stereotypes 






This course explores the presentation of Jewish life in Poland since medieval times in Polish literature, films and web-based projects such 

as ‘I miss you, Jew’. As such it complements courses on Holocaust or on history of Polish Jews by analysing various attitudes of writers 

towards Jews since Medieval times to the present. It pays special attention to the revival of Jewish life and the interest in Polish and 

European Jewry in post-1989 Poland, and the meaning of such a revival as it attempts to answer the question of the coexistence over 

centuries by analysing anti-and philo Semitic attitudes of the writers. 

The reading includes various texts written in Polish, from canonical ones such as Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz or Krasiński’s Un-Divine 

Comedy to much less known such as works by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz or Marian Piechal. The course also addresses the issue how 

Polish-Jewish memory is contested in literature written after 1989 and the response of the youngest generation of readers. 


Aims: 

1. To look at Polish Jewry from the perspective of Polish writers and Polish intelligentsia over centuries and analyze literary works and 

films that focus on Polish-Jewish questions. 

2. To explore reasons for the explosion of interest in Polish Jewry in post-1989 Poland 

Objectives: 

1. Application of concepts used in the study of literature 

2. Demonstration of knowledge and understanding of different literary approaches and their influence on the presentation of Polish 

Jewry 

3. Understanding of various political, social and historical situation that affected the presentation of Jews in Polish literature 





Andrzejewski, Jerzy. Holy Week. [In:] Stranger in Our Midst. Images of the Jew in Polish Literature. Ed. H. Segel. Ithaca 1996. 

Borowski, Tadeusz. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen and Other Stories, Trans. B. Vedder. London 1967. 

Dantyszek Jan, ‘Poem about Jews.’ [In:] Stranger in Our Midst. Images of the Jew in Polish Literature. Ed. H. Segel. Ithaca 1996. 

Hertz, Aleksander. The Jews in Polish Culture. Evanston 1988. 

Michlic, Joanna Beata. Poland’s Threatening Other. The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present. Lincoln 2006. 

Mickiewicz, Adam. Pan Tadeusz or The last foray in Lithuania: a tale of the gentry in the years 1811 and 1812. Trans. Kenneth Mackenzie. 

London 1986. 

Miłosz, Czesław. Selected poems 

Mushkat, Marian. Philo-Semitic and Anti-Jewish Attitudes in Post-Holocaust Poland. Leviston 1992. 

Polonsky, Antony. ‘My brother’s keeper?’ Recent Polish Debates on the Holocaust. London 1990



Module Title: The making of modern Ukraine 


Credit Value: 30 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 & 2 Provisionally Taught at: Tues 4-6 




The aim of this course is to provide a synthetic study of the history, politics and political economy of modern Ukraine. The course looks 

at the Orange Revolution in 2004 and covers events right up the present day, including the election of President Yanukovych in 2010. 

Particular attention will be paid to the themes of nationalism, ethnicity and language in Ukraine, and to the complex historical 

interrelationship between Ukraine and Russia. The course will draw on a number of disciplines, particularly in Political Science, History 

and Economics. There is no language requirement, but an expanded bibliography will be available to students with knowledge of 

Ukrainian and/or Russian. 


History 

1. The Origins of Ukraine: Kievan Rus′ 

2. The Ukrainian Cossacks and the Orthodox Revival 

3. Ukrainians under Imperial rule: The Russian Empire 

4. Ukrainians under Imperial rule: The Habsburg Empire 

5. The attempt to create a Ukrainian state, 1917-20 

6. Soviet Ukraine: Ukrainianisation or Sovietisation? 

7. Western Ukraine between the wars: 

World War Two and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army 

8. The road to independence, 1988-91 

Politics 

9. The Kravchuk era, 1991-94 

10. The Kuchma era, 1994-2004 

11. The Orange Revolution 

12. Orange governments, 2005-10 

13. The 2010 election, Yanukovych as President 

14. The constitution and the system of power 

15. Nationalism, ethnicity and language: regional politics 

16. Religion: Attempts to establish a national Church 

17. The Ukrainian economy 

18. Foreign policy: Ukraine, ′Europe′ and ′Eurasia′ 



Reading 

The two set texts are (Waterstones has many copies): 

Andrew Wilson, The Ukrainians. Unexpected Nation , (London: Yale University Press, third edition, 2009) 

Serhy Yekelchyk, Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation , (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) 

--------------- 

The two standard big histories of Ukraine are: 

Paul Robert Magocsi, A History of Ukraine: The Land and its Peoples , (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, second revised edition 

2010).Orest Subtelny, Ukraine: A History , (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, second edition, 1994). 

The best book on modern politics is Paul D’Anieri, Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics and Institutional Design , (New York: 

M.E. Sharpe, November 2006).



Module Title: The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel 






Based on the study of the texts of the Russian novels of the 19th century, the course places emphasis on the evolution of a distinctive 

Russian novelistic tradition. It highlights common themes, varying approaches to fiction, as well as key features. The texts are placed in 

the context of Russian social and cultural development, with attention also to the range of critical views. Texts studied vary according to 

prior student experience, preferences and knowledge of Russian, but the syllabus normally includes: Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, The 

Captain’s Daughter; Lermontov, Hero of Our Time; Gogol’, Dead Souls; Goncharov, Oblomov; Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, Home of the 

Gentry; Chernyshevskii, What is to Be Done?; Dostoevskii, Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov; Tolstoi, War and Peace; Leskov, 

Enchanted 

Wanderer; Saltykov, The Golovlevs. Knowledge of Russian is NOT a prerequisite for this course. 


Aims: 

1. Acquire an in-depth knowledge of a series of important texts; 

2. View these texts as part of a distinctive tradition within the history of the European novel through identifying its characteristic forms 

and themes; 

3. Gain an understanding of the role, presentation and importance of ideas in the novel of the period. 

Objectives: 

1. An increased understanding of the novel as a genre; 

2. An awareness of the role of the novel in Russia in the period studied, and an understanding of its features and its evolution; 

3. Enhanced skills (oral and written) in the critical assessment both of literary texts and of critical writing, with some preparation for 

potential research. 

future 





In view of the length of many of the great Russian novels of the period, students are strongly advised to read the following in advance: 

Dostoevskii, Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov 

Tolstoi, War and Peace 

It is also advisable to read: 

Goncharov, Oblomov 

Gogol', Dead Souls. 

Those who have not previously studied Russian literature are advised to acquire a background knowledge of 

Russian history and literary history of the period.



Module Title: The Politics of Change in the Baltic States 






This MA course aims to analyse the development of national identity and statehood in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in various stages of 

their histories: as part of the Romanov Empire, during the first period of independence, as part of the USSR and during the second period 

of independence after 1991. Throughout the course we will seek to discover the sources of political power in the Baltic States and 

understand the relationship between power, legitimacy and identity. 

Particular attention will be paid to the changes set in train by resumption of independence 

in 1991 and this part of the course will analyse issues relating to nation-building; citizenship and integration; political institutions and 

party politics ;the politics of foreign policy; the politics of socio-economic change; EU and NATO enlargement and the problems of post- 

Enlargement. No prior knowledge is expected and there are no pre-requisites for the course. 


Aims 

• to analyse and evaluate a range of explanatory theories and perspectives on Baltic 

history and politics 

• develop appropriate research strategies based on the specialist literature 

• enable students to frame their dissertations within theories elaborated in this course 

Objectives 

• to communicate effectively in writing; 

• to use word-processing programmes, digital, library and web resources; 

• to present (non-assessed) seminar papers; 

• to discuss and debate ideas, interpretations and evidence introduced in seminars; 

• to conduct research and data collection in respect of documents of Baltic governments and international organisations. 



To Follow 

Preliminary Reading



Module Title: The Self and the World: Theoretical Approaches to Travel Writing 






Travel writing has emerged in recent years as a focus for study and research across a whole range of disciplines. What was once 

dismissed as a ‘subliterary’ genre or at best a historical archive of unsystematic travel impressions is now being studied in terms of its 

history, formal characteristics, and problems of representation, and for what it can be made to say about a whole range of themes. 

Travel writing, as centrally concerned with the structured representation of identity and difference, has 

had a powerful influence on Western understandings of and interactions with the rest of the world and much recent analysis has focused 

on issues such as individual subjectivity; national and other identities; representations, knowledge and power; genre and authority; 

imaginative geographies. However, while the genre may have been shaped by the experiences and interests of a Western elite, travel 

and the representation of difference have never been the sole prerogative of this group, and many others have travelled and described 

their experiences of the world. As a result, travel writing has also been a rich resource for those studying issues of gender and power; as 

well as colonialism and post-colonialism. Travel and travel writing in an age in which identities cut across traditional conceptual 

categories, everything seems connected and places have been over-represented to the point of cliché have also made travel writing a 

useful source for the study of diasporic communities, globalization and postmodernity. This course will introduce students to a range of 

recent theoretical work on these and other aspects of travel writing, in the disciplines of history, gender studies, literature, anthropology 

and geography, and will explore theoretical and methodological issues in using travel writing as the basis for research. Class discussion 

will focus on specific issues through a selection of a) set theoretical texts and b) exemplary travel accounts, provided both by course tutor 

and by students. Students will be encouraged to make their own choice of travel texts, enabling them to pursue their own specific area / 

period / subject interests. There is no language requirement. 


To follow 



To follow 

Preliminary Reading



Module Title: The Soviet Cultural Experiment I, 1917-1945 

Module Code: SEESGH13 





This course analyzes the Soviet Union’s experiment in creating a new culture formation—Soviet socialist culture—and explores the 

relationship of this experiment to fundamental issues in Soviet social and political history. It covers the period 1917-1945. Topics include: 

the nature of power in the Soviet system, the role of the avant-garde and other cultural elites in the Soviet political system, the problem 

of national and supra-national, or Soviet, identity formations, and the impact of technological and sociological modernization. 


Aims: 

1. To build a body of knowledge in the history of Soviet culture and society. 

2. To explore analytical frameworks for the study of mass media and of cultural systems. 

3. To enhance the ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in the past in the context of the 


4. To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically,as well as appreciating 

the limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the questions which 

historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a wide selection of historical works. 

5. To enhance the ability to frame an argument in a sustained manner. Arguments should be structured, coherent, relevant, and concise, 

and should take into account all aspects of a given problem 

Objectives: 

1. A sound overall knowledge of the history of the Soviet cultural experiment and its relation to Soviet politics and society. 

2. Solid grounding in the main historiographical concepts and debates in the field. 

3. Improved ability to analyze primary/secondary sources and theoretical literature. 

4. Improved facility in structuring coherent arguments, both oral and written. 





K. Clark & E. Dobrenko, with A. Artizov & Oleg Naumov, Soviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917-1953 (2007) 

James von Geldern & Richard Stites, eds. Mass Culture in Soviet Russia, 1917-1953: Tales, Poems, Songs, Movies,Plays, Folklore 

Catriona Kelly & David Shepherd, Russian Cultural Studies: An Introduction 

Peter Kenez, The Birth of the Propaganda State: Soviet Methods of Mass Mobilization, 1917-1929 (1986) 

Denise Youngblood, Soviet Cinema in the Silent Era, 1918-1935 (1991) 

Hans Gunther, ed. The Culture of the Stalin Period (1990) 

T. Lahusen & E. Dobrenko, eds. Socialist Realism Without Shores (1997) 

R.Taylor & D. Spring, eds. Stalinism and Soviet Cinema (1993) 

David Brandenberger, National Bolshevism: Stalinist Mass Culture and the Formation of Modern Russian National Identity, 1931-1956 

(2002) 

Vera Dunham, In Stalin’s Time: Middleclass Values in Soviet Fiction (1976, 1990)



Module Title: The Soviet Cultural Experiment II, 1945-1991 






This course analyzes the Soviet Union’s experiment in creating a new culture formation—Soviet socialist culture—and explores the 

relationship of this experiment to fundamental issues in Soviet social and political history. It covers the period 1945-1991. Topics include: 

Stalinism and de-Stalinization in Soviet culture; the evolving position of cultural elites in the Soviet political system; youth and other 

subcultures; Soviet internationalism and globalization; the problem of national and supra-national, or Soviet, identity formations; 

the impact of technological and sociological modernization; glasnost’ and mass media in the Soviet collapse. 


Aims: 

1. To build a body of knowledge in the history of Soviet culture and society. 

2. To explore analytical frameworks for the study of mass media and of cultural systems. 

3. To enhance the ability to understand and to appreciate how people have existed, acted and thought in thepast in the context of the 


4. To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically, as well as appreciating 

the limits and challenges of the extant record. The critical evaluation of texts should include an understanding of the questions which 

historians ask and why they do so. By the end of the course students will have read and mastered a wide selection of historical works. 


and should take into account all aspects of a given problem 

Objectives: 

1. A sound overall knowledge of the history of the Soviet cultural experiment and its relation to Soviet politics and society. 

2. Solid grounding in the main historiographical concepts and debates in the field. 

3. Improved ability to analyze primary/secondary sources and theoretical literature. 

4. Improved facility in structuring coherent arguments, both oral and written. 





David Caute, The Dancer Defects: The Struggle for Cultural Supremacy during the Cold War (2003) 

Juliane Furst, ed. Late Stalinist Russia: Society between Reconstruction and Reinvention (2006) 

Walter Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (1997) 

Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind (1951, 1981) 

Priscilla Johnson, Khrushchev and the Arts: The Politics of Soviet Culture, 1962-1964 (1965) 

Polly Jones, ed. The Dilemmas of De-Stalinization: Negotiating Cultural and Social Change in theKhrushchev Era (2006) 

Susan E. Reid & David Crowley, eds. Style and Socialism: Modernity and Material Culture in Postwar Eastern Europe (1999) 

Susan E. Reid & David Crowley, eds. Socialist Spaces: Sites of Everyday Life in the Eastern Bloc (2002) 

Josephine Woll, Real Images: Soviet Cinema and the Thaw (2000) 

Artem Troitsky, Back in the USSR: The True Story of Rock in Russia (1988) 

Michael Nelson, War of the Black Heavens: The Battles of Western Broadcasting in the Cold War (1997) 

George Faraday, Revolt of the Filmmakers: The Struggle for Artistic Autonomy and the Fall of the Soviet Film Industry (2000)



Module Title: Theories of Social and Political Research 



Compulsory for: IMESS (P&S Track), IMESS (Optional core for NH&S Track), MRes (1 Year), Optional Core for MRes (2 Year Social 

Sciences & AH Track), Optional Core for MA CSEES, Compulsory for MA ICP and MA PSI, Optional Core for MA Russ. Studies 



This modules seeks to provide students with key theoretical perspectives informing research into politics and society, combined with a 

critical overview of ontological and epistemological debates within social and political science research. The course is divided into two 

sections: the first discusses key concepts, issues and themes in political science: the second section discusses core epistemological 

perspectives in social and political research, and they relationship, with, and applicability to, particular research projects. 


Aims: The course aims to 

1. provide an advanced introduction of core issues in social & political research 

2. familiarize students with different epistemological perspectives in social & political research 

3. facilitate students' understanding of the relationship between academic research and political & policy agendas 

Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have acquired: 

1. an advanced knowledge of issues central to the theoretical bases of political and social research 

2.an advanced knowledge of the epistemological bases of political and social research 

3. an ability to understand and evaluate the applicability of different epistemological and theoretical approaches for particular research 

projects. 

Assessment Style: 3hr Unseen Exam 




Della Porta, D and Keating , M (2008) Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective. 

Hay, Colin (2008) Political Analysis: A Critical Introduction. 

King, G. Keohane R.O and Verba S. Designing Social Inquiry. 

Marsh, D and Stoker G. (eds) Theory and Methods in Political Science 3 rd Edition 

Moses, Ricatd, and Knutsen (2007) Torborn Ways of Knowing: Competing Methodologies in Social and Political Research 

Benton, T and Craib, I (2001) Philosophy of Social Science: The Philosophical Foundations of Social Thought. Basingstoke: Palgrave 

Crotty, M (1998) The Foundations of Social Research. London SAGE 

Hollis, M (1994) The Philosophy of Social Science, An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP



Module Title: Trade & FDI Policy with Ref. to Eastern Europe 






The course will analyse the integration of Central and South-Eastern Europe and the CIS into the global economy. The course will adopt 

an approach based on political economy which will combine international trade theory with empirical evidence. It will analyse the 

changing nature of international economic relations during and after the transition period. It will also explore the issues related to the 

full integration of the former communist economies into the world economy. The first part of the course will cover international trade; 

the second part will consist of topics related to international production fragmentation and foreign direct investment. 


Aims: 

• To understand the key characteristics of the process of opening up transition economies 

• To analyse the changing nature of international economic relations during the transition period 

• To analyse the main developments of trade integration and FDI after opening up 

Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have developed : 

• A clearer understanding of the impact international trade and FDI policies 

• A knowledge of the impact and key determinants of economic integration 

• Skills of presenting and discussing critically the academic literature 

• Skills to present in a well organized and engaging way through use of essay, and oral presentations. 





Suggested Reading: 

There is no single core text for this course. For each section of the course there will be extensive reading lists provided. 

Richard Baldwin, Charles Wyplosz (2009) Economics of European Integration, Second Edition 

Barba Navaretti, G. and A. Venables, (2006), Multinational firms in the world economy, Princeton University Press 

Castellani, D. and A. Zanfei, (2006). Multinational Firms, Innovation and Productivity. Edward Elgar 

Robert C. Feenstra, (2004), Advanced International Trade (Princeton University Press) 

Daniel Gros and Alfred Steinherr, (2004), Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 

Kornai (1992), The socialist system, The political economy of communism, Clarendon Press,Oxford 

Paul R. Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld, (2009), International Economics. Theory and Policy,8th Edition, Boston 

Snowdon, Brian (2007) Globalisation, Development and Transition: Conversations with Eminent Economists. Edward Elgar.



Module Title: Transnational Cultural Exchange: Methods and Approaches 






This course will explore some of the problems and possibilities of transnational history -- the study of historical processes across and 

beyond the institutional structures of the nation-state – through a focus on ‘cultural exchange’ across the borders of communities and 

cultures. How do people, goods, ideas and practices travel? What happens to them in new environments, what influences do they exert, 

what changes of meaning do they promote or undergo? What are the consequences for the cultures, communities and individuals in 

question? What sort of conceptual and methodological tools are needed to study these interactions and outcomes? The course will map 

out recent approaches to these questions by looking at: 

• a variety of manifestos and overviews of cultural exchange/mobility from different disciplines; 

• problems of ‘comparative’ and ‘entangled’ cultural history; 

• studies of the real or virtual spaces or ‘contact zones’ within which such exchanges take place, e.g. the ‘Republic of Letters’, empires, 

tourism, the city; 

• following ‘cultural flows’ or ‘commodity chains’ as a means of mapping patterns and effects of cultural exchange; 

• problems of translation, cultural as well as linguistic; 

• examples of cultural encounters in specific contexts (e.g. exploration, tourism, museums/exhibitions) and the resulting 

perceptions/representations of self and other; 

• case studies of cultural transfer. 

The emphasis will be on concepts and methods, with case studies illustrating the ways in which scholars have approached issues of 

cultural exchange. These have been chosen primarily from the fields of history, literature and anthropology. The focus is on the early 

modern and modern periods; the territorial coverage is not limited to Europe or European encounters. 





The first half of the term will be devoted to assigned readings; the second will look at case studies, agreed in the first two weeks of term, 

on the basis of specific student expertise and interests.



Module Title: Understanding and Analysing Data 


Credit Value: 15 Runs in (2012/13): Term 1 Provisionally Taught at: Wed 11-12, Thursday Groups 

Compulsory for: Optional Core for MRes (2 Year AH Track) 



The course introduces quantitative data analysis to Masters students with some experience in academic research but little experience 

with quantitative methods. The course emphasizes the methods that are most relevant for social sciences and humanities students for 

whom traditional courses in quantitative methods are too technical or inappropriately targeted. 

An original approach to essential quantitative methods is developed, where the methods/concepts closest to qualitative approaches are 

first introduced to make the learning curve less steep and to highlight the usefulness of quantitative data analysis in their field of 

research. Special emphasis is put on data analysis in mixed methods research. Special emphasis is put on interactions between qualitative 

and quantiative analysis and analysing data in mixed methods research. 

Software 

Stata statistical software package will be used in tutorials, complemented by Excel where appropriate. However, rather than introducing 

data analysis using a particular package, the course will emphasize the need to be flexible in terms of software packages used (realising 

different software requirements in future studies / at the workplace), the course materials will include brief parallel instructions for using 

the methods covered in other main software packages (Excel, SPSS). 


To introduce quantitative data analysis to Masters students with some experience in academic research but little or no experience with 

quantitative methods. The course emphasizes the methods that are most relevant for social sciences and humanities students for whom 

traditional courses in quantitative methods would be too technical or inappropriately targeted. 

By the end of the course students will be able to: 

1) Understand the potential and limitations of quantitative data analysis in their field of research. 

2) Critically read academic studies employing quantitative methods. 

3) Choose techniques of basic data analysis for their own research in a way that best complements the use of qualitative methods. 

4) Choose and efficiently use basic data visualisation techniques (charts and tables). 





Bryman, Alan (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford: OUP. 

Gilbert, Neil (2008). Researching Social Life. London: Sage. 

Johnson, Janet B. & H.T. Reynolds (2007). Political Science Research Methods. Washington: CQ Press. 

Pollock, Philip H. III (2008). The Essentials of Political Analysis. Washington: CQ Press.



Module Title: Walter Benjamin: Philosophy, Aesthetics, History, Politics 






This 20 credit course is intended to provide a full introduction to the work of the German philosopher, aesthetician, journalist, man of 

letters, and literary and cultural critic, Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). Benjamin’s ideas have exerted a profound influence on a wide variety 

of thinkers (Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School, Giorgio Agamben, Jacques Derrida, Jürgen Habermas, and Slavoj Zizek, for example) 

and in a wide variety of disciplines (historiography, literary criticism, new media theory, political theory, film studies, anthropology, cultural 

studies, art theory, and theology, to name but a few). Apparently vacillating between Jewish mysticism and revolutionary Marxism, 

encyclopaedic in his interests, whether these be the drama of the German baroque, children’s toys, Soviet film, Proust, or the fashions of 

19th century Paris, Benjamin’s thought is always challenging and productive. This course will present a largely chronological overview of 

Benjamin’s work, focusing on central themes such as Benjamin’s ambivalent portrayal of modernity, his conception of the role of art, his 

theory of experience, and his understanding of the place of commitment for the historian and critic. 

Each session this course will take a key text from Benjamin’s work for detailed analysis. The text will be set in context and then discussed 

on the basis of student presentations. This course is suitable for students of literature, culture, cultural and intellectual history, from those 

on SSEES MA programmes, as well as for students on the UCL MA programmes in ‘European Studies (in which framework this course 

already exists and has been taught) and ‘Comparative Literature’. 


Aims: 

1. To introduce students to the thought of Walter Benjamin in relation to the disciplines of philosophy, literary studies, political and social 

theory. To provide an analytical framework for the discussion of key themes in Benjamin’s thought. 

2. To enhance the ability to use and evaluate texts and other source materials both critically and empathetically. By the end of the course 

students will have learned to apply a wide selection of methodologies to the study of literature and culture. 


and should take into account all aspects of a given problem. 


1. Thorough familiarity with the work of Walter Benjamin and with Benjamin’s key ideas. Analytical understanding of key ideas in 

Benjamin’s thought and their relation to cultural and philosophical context. 





Walter Benjamin, Gesammelte Schriften, ed. by Rolf Tiedmann and Hermann Schweppenhäuser, 7 vols, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1998. 

--------, Briefe, ed. by Gershom Scholem and Theodor W. Adorno, 2 vols, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1993. 

--------, Selected Writings, edited by Michael W. Jennings and others, trans. by Howard Eiland, Rodney Livingstone and others, 4 vols, 

Cambridge MA: Belknap/Harvard, 1996-2003. 

--------, The Arcades Project, trans. by Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin, Cambridge/MA: Belknap/Harvard 1998. 

--------, The Origin of German Tragic Drama, trans. by John Osborne, London: Verso, 1985.

SSEES MA Course Outline Guide 2012-13 - the UCL School of ...

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