Undergraduate - UnitATS2124 - Bread lines behind the Iron Curtain: Everyday life in communist Eastern Europe

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation
Offered	Clayton First semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr. Karen Auerbach

Synopsis

This unit will examine how Communism transformed everyday life for East European populations by reshaping social structures and communal ties. Through literature, films, photography, and other primary sources, students will study and analyse the impact of politics on popular culture, religion, rituals of work, family life, the environment, education, humour, architecture, and living spaces. Readings, lectures, and tutorial discussions will explore the degree to which individuals carved out private spaces at home, at work, and in social circles to limit the impact of politics on private life. The unit will look at individual countries as case studies for broader themes that are relevant to the entire region. The unit will begin with a background on East European politics and culture before the establishment of Communist governments and will end with an examination of the post-Communist period. Discussions of primary sources in tutorials will provide students with the skills to analyze similar primary sources in their written work.

Outcomes

This unit contributes to the making of responsible and effective global citizens who engage in an internationalised world and exhibit cross-cultural competence. Understanding the history of other cultures and countries as well as the political systems that have shaped those cultures is central to engaging in an internationalised world.
Engage in international issues through the study of the political and social history of Eastern Europe as well as the relevance of this history for broader political debates over national identity from the mid-nineteenth century to the contemporary period.
Be familiar with theoretical works about the history of everyday life, the varied methodologies that historians have used to research this history, and the intersections between political and social history.
Be familiar with memory studies by focusing on the politics of memory of the Second World War and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe during and after the Communist period.
Develop research skills and analyse primary sources.
Develop skills of critical reading and understand differences in historians' interpretations of the past.
Strengthen effective communication skills through group discussions during tutorials.