Course co-directors: Aleksandar Pavlović and Olesia Marković
The southeastern peninsula of the European continent, more recognizable under its loaded term the Balkans, is a region of stunning ethnic and religious diversity and rich history. Neglected and exoticized at the same time, the Balkans remain a subject of stereotypes and generalizations, disseminated by both “insiders” and “outsiders” alike. The general aim of this course is to challenge simplistic readings of the history, culture, and society of the Balkans, especially from the 1990s onwards. Wartime violence, ethnic engineering, and post-Cold War global recomposition are analyzed by stressing local political agency within changing global circumstances. Thereby, this course scrutinizes this proverbial “powder keg” of Europe as complex interwoven communities and tracks its current cultural, economic, and social tendencies as well as the changing identities of its inhabitants throughout the age of extremes toward their contemporary bid for European integration. The in-depth study of processes of integration and disintegration in the Balkans has relevance far beyond this region and provides valuable lessons about the politics of identity, war, and ethnic conflict as well as postwar reconstruction, contemporary political life, and international relations.