Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2018 - HIST 359 D100

Constructing the Nation State in Greece, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean (4)

Class Number: 5190

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2018: Wed, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 11, 2018
    Tue, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Investigates the construction of nation states in Greece, the Balkans and the Mediterranean with a focus on the ideas of the Nation and the Nation State. Examines specific cases such as Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and the development of Israel. Students with credit for HS 359 may not take HIST 359 for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

The aim of this course is to offer a comprehensive introduction on state development in the Balkans (Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia/Yugoslavia) and Italy. During the course we will examine, in a comparative framework, the trajectory of the national question in the Balkans and Italy in the long 19th Century and the discourses on nationalism as articulated in the region.

The first part will be devoted to the examination of national revolutions that occurred in the Mediterranean: such as the Serbian of 1804, the Greek of 1821, the Italian Risorgimento and the Bulgarian uprising of 1876. Among others things, we will examine similarities among these distinct national projects and differences in order to follow their trajectory and the various approaches to the idea of nation that developed in the area. We will follow this process of state development and national formation until the outbreak of WWI.

The second part will focus on the interwar years and the Second World War by providing an understanding of the following issues: the rise of totalitarianism, the outbreak of political violence and the ruptures caused by the Second World War. We will see here how these phenomena interacted with the nation and nationalism in the areas under study

Finally, in the last part we will discuss the post war period and particularly the impact of the Cold War upon the national units of the Balkans and the Mediterranean. We will do this by comparing the countries that were incorporated into the communist block (Bulgaria and Yugoslavia) with the ones that were not (Greece, Italy) and considering their distinct trajectories. We will conclude with the Yugoslav Wars of succession and the relations of these states with the ever expanding European Union in the 1990s.

Grading

  • Class Participation 25%
  • Book review 20%
  • Midterm 20%
  • Final Exam 35%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

This course does not have any required texts.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS