CE5134: 1989: a Pivotal Year for Europe

School Continuing and Professional Education
Department Code LEARN
Module Code CE5134
External Subject Code 101323
Number of Credits 20
Level L4
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Ms Janet Stephens
Semester Double Semester
Academic Year 2018/9

Outline Description of Module

  • To give a broad introduction to political, social and economic developments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the late 1980s and early 1990s
  • To identify and explain different interpretations of the processes leading to the collapse of communism in CEE
  • To explore the legacy of the collapse of communism in CEE for contemporary Europe

 

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • Identify and evaluate the political, economic and social developments that led to the collapse of communism in CEE
  • Identify and evaluate the principal consequences of events in 1989-1991 for contemporary Europe
  • Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations of the collapse of communism in CEE
  • Critically evaluate the differing roles played by civil societies and political elites in achieving the transition processes in CEE countries
  • Critically assess the legacy of the different transition experiences with regard to current European affairs 

How the module will be delivered

 

Weekly 2.5 hour lectures/seminars, 2 Saturday Schools

 

Skills that will be practised and developed

  • Comparative analysis of evidence and arguments
  • Logical development of arguments
  • Oral communication, presentation and defence of arguments

How the module will be assessed

Type of assessment   % Contribution Title Duration (if applicable) Approx. date of Assessment

Essay                             50%

Class test                      50%

 

 

 

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 1989: A Pivotal Year For Europe N/A

Syllabus content

  • Introduction: The Iron Curtain Falls
  • Eastern and Western Europe in Comparison, 1950s-1980s
  • Hungary and the GDR
  • Poland
  • The Velvet Revolution and the Velvet Divorce
  • Bulgaria and Romania
  • The collapse of the Soviet Union
  • The fragmentation of Yugoslavia
  • A return to Europe?

Background Reading and Resource List

Joseph Rothschild & Nancy Wingfield: Return to Diversity. 4th Edition, (OUP, 2007)

Gale Stokes: The Walls came tumbling down. 2nd Edition (OUP, 2011)

Stephen White, Paul Lewis & Judy Batt: Developments in Central and East European Politics (Duke University Press   Books, 2013)

 

Goodbye Lenin! dvd


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