Культура и национальное самосознание Европы. Практикум на английском языке

Reviewers:

Doctor of sciences in History, professor A. K. Kiselev, Ph. D in History, associate professor I. A. Korobkina

Pantyukhina T. V.

National and Cultural Awareness in Modern Europe: course handbook for Master program students. – Stavropol: NCFU Publishing House, 2014. – 99 p.

Пантюхина Т. В.

П 16 Культура и национальное самосознание Европы:

практикум на английском языке. – Ставрополь: Изд-во СКФУ, 2014. – 99 с.

The course handbook contains themes of practicals with outlines, learner’s guides, lists of recommended reading and Internet resources. Each theme is followed by assignments for control and development of competences.

The course handbook is designed for Master program students, area of study: 030600.68 – History, Master program: World History.

УДК 008(075.8)111 ББК63.3-7я73

© FSAEI HPE «North-Caucasus

Federal University», 2014

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others outside the European region, the legacy of conflict between member states and the challenges offered‟ by globalization to contemporary understandings of „Europe . Case studies will include the UK, Spain, Germany, France and Central Europe and will be tailored to individual student interests and topical issues of European affairs current in the media.

The course National and Cultural awareness in Modern Europe is an integral part of optional section of the professional cycle, area of study 030600 “History”(qualification (degree) “Master”).

This highly interdisciplinary course is logically linked with the content and teaching methods of courses from basic (general professional) section of the professional cycle: Modern History, and Contemporary History of America and Europe.

The course requires from the learner a clear and explicit input in terms of knowledge and skills developed during the study of the courses from basic (general professional) section of the professional cycle, namely Modern History and Contemporary History of America and Europe. The analytical perspective is going to be primarily historical, but a variety of standpoints and views from other disciplines as well as the public sphere in general are going to be covered. Therefore, courses from Humanities, Social Studies and Economics cycle: Culture Studies and Sociology – are prerequisites as well. Another prerequisite is good command of English. The learner is supposed to master English good enough to read and comprehend research literature on History, Theory and History of World Culture. High level language skills are also necessary to keep learners’ academic reading up to date as well as create awareness of current ethno-political developments in European countries through mass media.

The course is directly related to other courses of Master Program such as Ethnical Studies, Historical Demography, Political Science, Sociology and Basics of Cultural Studies.

Learning outcomes and competences General cultural competences (GC):

Ability to upgrade and perfect one’s mind and cultural awareness (GC-1);

Ability to use Russian and foreign language skills as means of professional communication (GC-4);

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Professional competences (PC)

Ability to gain new knowledge and master new skills, and apply them in practical activities including new spheres indirectly related to one’s professional area; ability to deepen and widen one’s scientific horizons (PC-3).

Ability to cross-disciplinary interactions; ability to cooperate with representatives of other field of science for solving research and applied tasks (PC-6);

Ability to analyze, synthesize and critically think over information on the basis of new scientific methods (PC-9);

Ability to prepare and conduct scientific seminars and conferences; to prepare and edit research papers (PC-15).

Upon completion of the course the learner is supposed to: know:

–key historical moments in the formation of modern European States and the European Union;

–major political, social, intellectual movements and cultural achievements which have shaped European nation states;

–different dimensions of the European integration process;

–Pluralistic approaches to European identity;

– contemporary methodological approaches and methods of

ahistorical research (PC-13).

–contemporary ethnic and cultural processes in European countries under the conditions of globalization.

be able to:

–apply concepts, theories, and methodologies from political science, history, social & and cultural studies to one’s research work;

–analyze and interpret social, cultural, ethnic and political factors of historical development, particularly in contemporary period of Western civilization; analyze and interpret the significance of a “human factor” in history of world civilizations (PC-17);

–cooperate with representatives of other fields of science for solving research and applied tasks (PC-6);

–apply modern approaches to historical research (PC-5).

–evaluate different forms of evidence and political, historical and sociological arguments.

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master skills:

–Development of research skills and independent initiative in preparing written and oral assignments for class;

–Presentation of new knowledge and understanding orally and in written form;

–Interpretation and analysis of a wide range of primary sources, including written texts, museum and gallery displays;

–Active class discussion and critical commentary on current

affairs;

–Development of research skills for the exploration of the Internet resources and data bases through search engines with the purpose of collecting information about cultural events and processes in European countries (PC-14).

The course is studied in the 3-d semester. The total number of hours is 144 in the form of lectures and seminars.

The form of final assessment is a credit.

The given course manual consists of a preface, outlines of seminars containing topics and questions for the discussion, instructions and recommendations for preparations, recommended reading lists, lists of recommended Internet resources and assignments for academic progress assessment.

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different from others” or “the way you see or define yourself”. Identity can therefore be seen as the positioning of the “self” as opposed to the “others”. The self is composed of multiple identities and roles – familial, territorial, class, religious, ethnic and gender.

The focus of the discussion at the given seminar is the theory by

A.Smith, a professor of Sociology at the University of London in the London School of Economics. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of nationalism studies who, alongside Hans Kohn, Elie Kedourie, Ernest Gellner, Karl Deutsch, Walker Connor, and Benedict Anderson – laid the foundation for the nationalism studies in the postwar period.

The seminar builds on the themes developed in A. Smith’s milestone research work “National Identity” (London: Penguin 1991), examining some issues in more depth. This seminar will also provide opportunities to focus on topics related to but distinct from those covered in lecture #5. Question #2 deals with collective identities, classified by Smith. There are different kinds of collective identity: class, religious, ethnic and some other identities. National identity is only one of several forms of collective identity. Collective identity is positioning the “self” of a community as opposed to the “others”. Concerning national identity, the “national self” is opposed to “not national” or “foreign” (Smith 1991, p. 8).

In question #3 students will have opportunities to explore in depth

A.Smith’s concept of nation in the historical retrospective. The starting point for the analyses is Smith’s definition of nation. According to A.D. Smith a nation can be defined as “a named human population sharing a historic territory, common myths and historical memories, public culture, a common economy and common legal rights and duties for all members”. Therefore, the fundamental features of national identity are the following: a historic territory, or homeland, common myths and historical memories, a common mass public culture, common legal rights and duties for all members and a common economy with territorial mobility for members.

Preparing for question #4, students should pay special attention to origin of the nations and ethnic basis of the nations. Therefore, they are

to examine chapter 2 (p.p.19–42) and chapter 3 (p.p.43–70) of A. Smith’s book. As well as that, the students are supposed to use their knowledge of the history of Western European countries from the early Middle Ages to the present.

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While comparing two models of the nation: Western and nonWestern − students are recommended to base their analyses on the table which summarizes the key distinctive features of the models.

Last but not least topic of the seminar is A. Smith’s perception of European unity and European identity. In the framework of the course this is a central issue. Basic reading for question #5 is chapter 7 from “National Identity” (p.p.143-178) and A. Smith’s article “National Identity and the Idea of European Unity” from International Affairs journal.

Assignments for control and development of competences

1.Summarize the main points of A.Smith’s conception of nation and national identity.

2.Enumerate the components of national identity.

3.Compare two models of national identity: Western (civic) and non-Western (ethnic) ones. Define their common features and differences.

4.Explain A.Smith’s definition of “the European family of cultures”.

5.Formulate reasons for the revival of nationalism in the globalization era which A.Smith points out in his article.

6.Complete the table with correct components:

Theoretical models of nation

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–historic territory

–law is a key component

–people are the community of birth and common descent

–people are a political community

–common civic culture and ideology

–vernacular culture, usually languages and customs

7. Match the theories of national identity with the scholars:

8. Match the definition of national identity with the theory:

essentially artificial construct. It is an imagined political community.

9. Test tasks:

Task 1. Classify theories of national identity.

Task 2. What is Smith’s classification of types of collective identities?

Task 3. What is nation according to Anthony Smith?

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