https://at-ceu.studyguide.timeedit.net/modules/GENS5723?type=COREThis course is conceptually about howrace and gender shape the ways in which collectivities like nations or"civilizations" are imagined; and more concretely it's about the dynamics ofcoloniality working on multiple scales of geopolitical hierarchies. The focusis on the eastern parts of Europe, commonly marginalized as inferior to Europe"proper," i.e. its north and west, but within a global and historical frameworkthat keeps the dynamics of coloniality and imperial difference in tension withcontemporary developments. The approach is anthropological, meaning that weconcentrate on both conceptual/discursive frameworks and material effects inthe everyday lives of people belonging to various socially defined groups, butwe also look historically and politically, drawing from a variety of otherdisciplines. And while we focus on gender, race, and nation, we keep in tensionrelated aspects of ethnicity, class, economic inequalities, social andbiological reproduction, and sexuality. To build a coherent picture of howthese many elements interact, we will first read texts that focus separately onelements such as gendered nationalism, the coloniality of gender and race, raceand "Eastern Europe," and the very delineation of "Eastern Europe" and itssubsets such as the Balkans, Central Europe, or postsocialism. Later readings willfocus more closely on the intersections of these elements in contemporarycontexts where anti-gender movements, migration, and a resurgence of the farright have produced new constellations of gender, race, nation, and imaginingsof Europe. Class participation is a core part of this course; students willcritically assess assigned texts and use them to make sense of contemporaryphenomena of their choosing. Geographically and topically, this course considersall parts of Europe's "East," including former Soviet countries west of UralMountains, but, in line with the expertise and research interests of theinstructor, there is more emphasis on the former Yugoslavia and postsocialist"Central Europe." However, student group projects at the end of the term aremeant to allow us to broaden this scope, applying approaches from class textsto contexts where students have particular interest and knowledge. This course is open to MA and PhD students. Studentswith exposure to theories of gender, sexuality, nationalism, race, ethnicity,or studies of the region will be particularly equipped to follow this course,but such a background is not a prerequisite. In fact, students withexpertise and experience in other regions of the world are especiallyencouraged to enroll, as this course proceeds from the assertion thatattention to "Eastern Europe" as a global and European semi-periphery deepensand complicates our understanding of global coloniality and hierarchies thatalso affect other parts of the world. Students who took "Race and EasternEurope" in Fall 2024 can enroll but with caution, as some of the content willbe repeated, if not always with the same readings.