Dissent & Opposition in East Central Europe (HST 407D/507)

Wednesdays, 12:00-1:50 in ED 104 &

Fridays, 12:00-1:50 in HSS 110A

Dr. David Doellinger

Department of History (HSS 212)

503-838-8254; doellind@wou.edu

Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:00-11:50; or by appointment

http://www.wou.edu/~doellind/home.htm

DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES

This upper-level course examines the emergence and nature of political opposition and dissent in East-Central Europe from 1945 to the collapse of Communism in 1989.  Following a brief introduction to the political history of this region, students will examine how cultural producers such as playwrights, poets, novelists and filmmakers challenged the Party-State’s authority and formed social movements such as Solidarity and Charter 77 to promote civic freedom, minority rights, environmental protection, religious freedom, and literary and artistic freedom.  Students will analyze the theoretical contributions of dissidents Václav Havel (Czechoslovakia), Adam Michnik (Poland) and Gyorgy Konrad (Hungary).        

We will examine primary source documents, and we will analyze historians’ interpretations of this very recent history from their various perspectives.  In this course, students will: (1) develop critical reasoning skills through the reading of texts and the evaluation of different viewpoints and arguments; (2) learn to communicate ideas and arguments clearly and persuasively through written and spoken means; and (3) become part of a larger intellectual community.

TEXTS

Required:

Barbara Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2003).  [Falk’s book is also available online as an E-book through the Hamersly library website.  A copy is also on reserve at Hamersly.]

Additional readings will be available online through JSTOR or Moodle.

Recommended Texts (on reserve at Hamersly Library):

Joseph Rothschild and Nancy Wingfield, Return to Diversity

H. Gordon Skilling, Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981).

Paul Robert Magocsi, Historical Atlas of Central Europe (University of Washington Press, 1993, 2002)

Gale Stokes, ed. From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe Since 1945 (Oxford University Press, 1996)

Lyman H. Legters, ed. Eastern Europe: Transformation and Revolution, 1945-1991 (Heath, 1992)

E-Reserves:

Several required readings are available on E-RESERVE and may be accessed through the Hamersly Library home page or by going directly to:  http://library.wou.edu/screens/reserves1.html

Some assignments will require additional reading.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Grades will be calculated as follows:

            Attendance and Participation                                          15 %

            Map quiz                                                                       5 %

            Country focus papers (three)                                          45 %

            Research Paper                                                                        35 %

PROCEDURES & EXPECTATIONS

1. Your task for each class meeting will be to:

- Complete the assigned readings.

- Participate in class discussion.

- Take good notes.

2. All work must be turned in on time.  Late work will be accepted without penalty only with a medical excuse or in the case of a documented family emergency.  Late work will be penalized one full letter grade per day (including Saturdays, Sundays and days that the class does not meet).  After three days, late work will not be accepted and the student will receive an automatic F.

3. All submitted work must follow the conventions of English grammar.  Students submitting assignments with grammar/writing problems will receive an F for the assignment and be directed to the campus writing center.  The assignment may be resubmitted with a note certifying that the student has met with an advisor from the writing center.   The student will receive an average of the two grades.  

4. All formal essays must use include footnote or endnote citations that follow the Chicago/Turabian style.  Any submitted work that does not include footnote/endnote citations and/or does not follow the Chicago/Turabian citation style will be penalized at least one full letter grade.  For an online guide, see http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html.

5. Students are expected to participate fully in every aspect of the course.  Attendance will affect your performance and grade.  It is not possible to make-up missed lectures, class discussions, and other in-class activities; any unexcused absence will have negative consequences.   The attendance/participation grade is 15% of the final grade (or 15 points out of a total of 100 points).  Students with 0-1 unexcused absences will receive the full 15 points; students with 2 unexcused absences will receive13 points; students with 3 unexcused absences will receive 10.5 points.  Four or more unexcused absences will automatically result in a loss of the whole class participation grade (15%).  Excessive lateness and/or absences may have additional consequences in calculating the final grade.  WOU is taking every effort to limit the spread of the H1N1 virus this academic year.   If you have a cold (or feel like you are getting a cold), do not come to class.  Stay home and limit your contact with other individuals.  Simply email me a message that that is the case.  I will take your word and consider the missed class excused based on that email statement.  In other words, you don't need to bring a doctor's note. 

6. Our class will be characterized by academic honesty.  Students will take responsibility for learning and for providing work that is the product of their own analysis and study.  I will not tolerate academic dishonesty in any form. Academic dishonesty consists of representing the work of others as your own and/or using notes or other aids during an examination. A cheating student will receive no credit for the assignment or examination in question and will be subject to University discipline as outlined in the Code of Student Responsibility. If you have further questions, please consult the Social Science Division policy on academic dishonesty and the Code of Student Responsibility.

7. Any student who feels that she or he may need an accommodation for any type of disability should make an appointment to see me during office hours the first week of the course or contact the Office of Disability Services (838-8250v/tty) in AP 405.

8.  Honest effort, class participation, and courtesy are expected and will positively affect your grade.

Students are encouraged to come to office hours to discuss any aspect of this course.

Schedule of Classes

Wednesday, September 30

Introduction to Course

Friday, October 2

East Central Europe and the Cold War

Wednesday, October 7

Civil Society

Marcia Weigle and Jim Butterfield, “Civil Society in Reforming Communist Regimes: The Logic of Emergence,” Comparative Politics 1 25(1992): 1-23.  (Available through JSTOR)

Friday, October 9

Dissent, Opposition, Non-conformity

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 1

MAP QUIZ

Poland

Wednesday, October 14

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 2

Friday, October 16

[No class meeting]

Adam Michnik, “A New Evolutionism” (Moodle)

Wednesday, October 21

“KOR’s Appeal to Society” (Moodle)

“Pope John Paul II Speaks in Victory Square” (Moodle)

“The Gdansk Agreement” (Moodle)

“Solidarity’s Program” (Moodle)

Friday, October 23

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 5

Czechoslovakia

Wednesday, October 28

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 3

Focus Paper on Poland due at the beginning of class.

Friday, October 30

“Charter 77” (Moodle)

Wednesday, November 4

Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless” (Moodle)

Vaclav Benda, “The Parallel Polis” (Moodle)

Friday, November 6

Documentary film: Revolution of Artists

Vaclav Havel, “The Memorandum” (Moodle)

Vaclav Havel, “The Protest” (Moodle)

Wednesday, November 11

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 6

Friday, November 13

David Doellinger, “Prayers, Pilgrimages and Petitions: The Secret Church and the Growth of Civil Society in Slovakia,” Nationalities Papers 2, Vol. 30 (June 2002): 215-240. (Available online through EBSCOhost.)

Hungary

Wednesday, November 18

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 4

Focus paper on Czechoslovakia due at the beginning of class

Friday, November 20

Gyorgy Konrad, “Antipolitics” (Moodle)

Josef Gorlice, “Democratic Opposition in Hungary Today” (Moodle)

Wednesday, November 25

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 7

East Germany

Friday, November 27

Mary Fulbrook, “Popular Discontent and Political Activism in the GD,” Contemporary European History 2-3 (1993): 265-282. (Available through JSTOR)

Focus paper on Hungary due at the beginning of class.

Wednesday, December 2

Choose One:

David Doellinger, “Peace through Reconciliation: Aktion Suhnezeichen and the Lutheran Church in the GDR” in Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and Eastern Europe, Thomas Bremer, ed. (Palgrave, 2008), pp.166-181. (E-Reserve)

David Doellinger, “Bicycles, Trees and Peace: Environmental Activism and the Lutheran Church in Leipzig, East Germany, 1981-1989,” paper presented at the national conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, MA, December 4, 2004. (E-Reserve)

David Doellinger “Constructing Peace in the GDR: Conscientious Objection and Compromise Among East German Christians, 1962-1989” (E-Reserve)

Friday, December 4

Falk, Dilemmas of Dissidence, chapter 8

Jirina Siklova, “The ‘Gray Zone’ and the Future of Dissent in Czechoslovakia” (E-Reserve)

FINAL EXAM

Research Papers due by 12:00 noon Wednesday, December 9 in the Social Science Division Office.