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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue
HIST3721 Europe's Communist Dictatorships: Totalitarianism and its Consequences, 1945-2000
20 creditsClass Size: 26
Module manager: Dr Lara Cook
Email: L.Cook@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2014/15
This module is approved as a discovery module
Module summary
Between 1945 and 1989, Eastern, Central and South-Eastern Europe were governed by Communist dictatorships. In the 1990s, these lands were stereotyped as Europe's Wild East. Totalitarianism, apparently, was followed by the consequences of totalitarian 'implosion'.But what does 'totalitarianism' mean, and how exactly was it dismantled? Through a close reading of key primary sources, a detailed exploration of particular events, and a careful analysis of central concepts and themes, this course invites students precisely to define Communist 'totalitarianism' and precisely to define what replaced it.All relevant Communist dictatorships and their successor states will be part of the course: the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania.Objectives
- development of skills of historical inquiry, interpretation, analysis and synthesis- development of skills of locating, selecting and evaluating primary and secondary sources.
Learning outcomes
- a knowledge and understanding of the history of the Central, Eastern and South-Eastern regions of Europe between 1945 and 2000 (the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Albania, Yugoslavia);
- a knowledge of how historians have studied modern dictatorship and how they have debated the problem of totalitarianism as it applies to the post-1945 Communist regimes;
- a close appreciation of a range of primary sources and foundational theoretical texts associated with the Communist dictatorships;
- a critical awareness of how 'totalitarianism' was dismantled in the 1990s and of the problems of studying this phenomenon historically.
Syllabus
This is not a survey course, though students will be provided with help in establishing a chronological framework for their study of the Communist dictatorships. Lectures and seminars will instead have two distinct foci. Some will explore particular events in individual countries, from the establishment of Communist power in Yugoslavia to the rule of Boris Yeltsin in 1990s Russia.
Others will be thematic, and will explore such problems as the development of totalitarian theory in the United States and Western Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, and the relationship between Communist dictatorship and human rights.
The scope of the course includes all European countries that were subject to Communist regimes, and their successor states: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, the USSR, Albania, Yugoslavia.
Teaching methods
Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
Seminar | 11 | 2.00 | 22.00 |
Private study hours | 178.00 | ||
Total Contact hours | 22.00 | ||
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200.00 |
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
Through seminars, assessment of coursework essay and seminar papers, and feedback sessions.Methods of assessment
Coursework
Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
Written Work | 4 short seminar papers | 6.00 |
Essay | 1 x 2,000 word assessed essay to be submitted by 12 noon Monday of week 9 | 30.00 |
Oral Presentation | Short source review | 4.00 |
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 40.00 |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Exams
Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 2 hr 00 mins | 60.00 |
Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 60.00 |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 27/03/2015
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