Geschichte Osteuropas und Südosteuropas
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Lehrveranstaltungen im Wintersemester 2011/12

Übung: Englisch für Osteuropa-Historiker/Innen. Ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe

2std., Mo 12-14 Uhr, Historicum 022

Mansi, Mari, Mokscha - ever heard of any of them? They are ethnic minorities living in the former Soviet Union. Ethnic minorities seem to come a-plenty there - the last Soviet census of 1989 lists 128 (plus a handful in the category „others"). And further west, on the territory behind the line we used to call the iron curtain, there are more (have you ever come across the Hutsuls?). They seem to have settled on our mental map only after the collapse of the Soviet system although the Soviets always liked to recognize them in their own neo-colonial way.

Subjected to forced acculturation, repressed, ejected, a multitude of ethnic minorities have often been the most vulnerable societal elements. Their well-being provides an indicator of how far in the process of healing and democratization a state has risen, and it is with that in mind that the Copenhagen Criteria for EU-membership deliberately put respect for and protection of minorities high on their agenda. In this class we will follow the narratives of different minorities from their beginnings to their present-day situation. We will also discuss aspects of minority rights, cultural identity, ethnic conflict and integration. And how being part of a minority is now seen to be rather "cool" compared to the past.

Prüfungsform im BA und im modularisierten Lehramt: KL.