HST6101: Mass violence in the Balkans, 1912-1995
15 credits (semester 2)
Module Leader: Dr. Uğur Üngör
| Module Summary |
Why was there so much violence in the Balkans in the twentieth century? This module will approach this sweeping question by examining mass violence in Yugoslavia from a long-term perspective. It will discuss four waves of mass violence: the first Balkan wars, the First World War, the Second World War, and the Yugoslav wars of succession. The module will attempt to retrieve these events from myth and metahistory and contextualize the conflicts using historical-sociological and theoretical approaches to mass violence. Special attention will be given to the role of nationalism, and the impact the violence had on Yugoslav society.
| Module Aims |
This module aims to provide students with a general overview as well as detailed insight into the history of mass violence in the Balkans. Students will undertake a structured and chronological programme of reading, presentation and discussion, focusing in particular on Yugoslavia. They will be expected to understand a range of perspectives and explanations to grasp the complexity and recurrence of war and genocide in the region, and come to a sophisticated understanding of the causes and consequences of the violence. The course will invite the students to think about these processes from a comparative, historical-sociological perspective.
| Teaching |
The module will be taught in five, two-hour classes. Each class will focus on a particular episode of mass violence, from the first Balkan wars to the Yugoslav wars of succession. Classes will enable students to research and present their ideas, share knowledge, debate controversial issues and listen and respond to the views of others in a structured environment. Students will, in addition, have individual tutorial contact with the module leader in order to discuss their written work for this module.
| Assessment |
Students will prepare a 3,000-word paper relating to at least one of the key themes of the module.
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
By the end of the unit, a candidate will be able to demonstrate:
- A broad understanding of the salient issues involved in the consideration of a major historical problem and its political ramifications.
- Their ability to present material in seminars in response to specific questions, sharing and discussing their views with the module tutor and their fellow-students.
- Their skills in essay-writing, researching specific historical questions in detail and presenting independent arguments in response to them on the basis of their reading.
- Their ability to recognise, compare and criticise different interpretations and historical episodes through conceptual thinking.