210131 SE M11: FOP Research Practice (2022W)

Arguably, few regions in the world have been exposed to crises as much as Eastern Europe. The region has not been spared any of the major epochal changes associated with the decline of empire, wars, nation and state building, the rise of the market economy, democratization, revolutions and globalization. The crises associated with these changes have often run deeper, been more numerous and severe in Eastern Europe than elsewhere on the continent, and its consequences are still reverberating today, as witnessed for instance by the Russian war in Ukraine. More recently, the region has also been affected by the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 to 2010, has been a major actor in the so called “refugee crisis “ of 2015, has exhibited signs of a deep political crisis and the rise of “illiberal democracies”, and has undergone the health, economic and social crises associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The course will introduce the more recent crises in Eastern Europe, and support students in developing and conducting a research project related to these crises. In the first part of the course we will discuss why Eastern Europe often appears more crisis-prone compared to other regions in the world and will delve into a range of crises (political, economic, European integration, migration, health and geopolitical). The second part will focus on the development of students’ research projects. At the end of the course we will have a workshop where students are expected to present their preliminary findings and discuss their peers’ work.

The course will take place on site (offline) only.