The course will look at the social and cultural complexities of the Eastern Europe in the context of its socialist past and the post-socialist present. It will introduce the Easter Europe from the anthropological perspective, privileging the perspective of ordinary people and everyday lives. It will show how anthropology may help to account for the fall of the socialist system and post-socialist transformations as well as the impact of the recent global economic crisis on Eastern Europe. The course will shed light on the construction of the Eastern-Western Europe boundary in the academic and popular discourse and similarities and differences across the Eastern European countries. It will address the mechanisms of centrally planned economy and the everyday life under real socialism. It will address issues of “transition” to capitalism and democracy; changes in the intimate family and gender relations; the emergence of new social identity movements; new patterns of social stratification and exclusion; ethnic and religious differences and the meaning of nationalism in the post-socialist period. The course will also introduce themes of transnationalism and migration from and within the region.

Nov, 12th - guest lecture by Jaanika Kingumets: "Russian-speakers' mobility and home-making practices in Soviet and post-socialist Estonia."

Nov, 15th - guest lecture by Dr. Tatiana Tiaynen: "Grandmothers and Family-making in the Midst of Postsocialist and Transnational Changes (Russian Karelia and Finland)." 

The course will consist of lectures, student presentations and a final essay.

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The course will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays (at 14-16 o´clock) during the time period: Oct 22nd - Nov 29th.