EVS409 Europe after 1989

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Markéta Pitrová, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 P22
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course deals with political developments in Europe after 1989. The main goal is to analyze key processes that influence Europe in the last two decades and thanks to them political trajectories of development in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe have (re)approached again. Structure of the course prefers analysis of general processes instead of concentration on particular events. The matter of the course is dealt with in an interdisciplinary manner combining approaches of contemporary history and political science. At the end of the course, student will be able to apply basic methods of the critique of sources, to compose key trends of European political development after the fall of the “Iron Curtain” and to appraise their impact on contemporary European politics.
Syllabus
  • 1) Introduction to the subject 2) Area difference of Europe and its changes 3) Basic methods of research and sources in contemporary history 4) Transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe 5) Breakdown of post-communist states: Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia 6) Consolidation of Central European democracies 7) Changes of Western European political systems 8) Western European party systems and new populism 9) Europe in its political and societal dynamics 10) Dynamics of European integration 11) Towards the united Europe? 12) Test
Literature
    required literature
  • BEREND, T. Iván. From the Soviet bloc to the European Union : the economic and social transformation of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973. 1st pub. New York [N.Y.]: Cambridge University Press, 2009, xv, 299. ISBN 9780521729505. info
  • Comparative European politics. Edited by Josep M. Colomer. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2008, ix, 310. ISBN 9780415437561. info
  • BEREND, T. Iván. An economic history of twentieth-century Europe : economic regimes from laissez-faire to globalization. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, xv, 356. ISBN 0521672686. info
  • JUDT, Tony. Postwar : a history of Europe since 1945. 1st pub. London: Penguin Books, 2005, xv, 933. ISBN 0143037757. info
Teaching methods
The course combines lectures with seminars. In the framework of seminar sessions, students will read and interpret primary sources to contemporary history. Part of the learning process is also written position papers aimed at active mastering of assigned readings and their interpretation.
Assessment methods
The subject is completed with oral examination. The overall evaluation comprises oral exam (up to 50 points), position papers (up to 30 points), attendance of seminars (up to 8 points), and written test (up to 12 points). To qualify for oral exam needs to obtain at least 8 points in the written test. To pass the course means to collect at least 60 points.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zapisují studenti od im. roku 2010/2011.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2019/EVS409