Introduction to Slavic and East European Studies
SEES 101 – Online
Instructor: Ms. K. Naglee
Summer 2008 – Second session
Course Description:
SEES 101 offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the geography, history, culture, societies, religions, and politics of Slavic and Eastern Europe. The broad region encompasses the lands, states and peoples between contemporary Germany and Russia and stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Adriatic and Black Seas in the south. This course is a survey of the ?borderlands? of Europe; a region that has been the object of desire for competing empires, confederations and kingdoms: Polish-Lithuanian, Livonian, Swedish, Bohemian, Hungarian, Austrian, Prussian, Russian, Ottoman, Nazi and Soviet for centuries. Today, this region is comprised of both large and small states, each claiming legitimacy from often-mythic medieval sources and imagined cartography. It is our task to strip away the legends to find a multi-cultural heritage prior to modern nationalism, ascertain the conditions that produced conflict, and develop an appreciation for the peoples, cultures and geography of this region through its literature and history.
This online course will utilize interactive media to promote discussion and learning. Students will read and review 5 texts, watch online lectures, participate in discussion forums and will culminate the class with an online exam essay.