Courses

This course takes students on an intellectual tour of fourteen vibrant cities in Central and Eastern Europe on the cusp of World War I, acquainting them with pioneering works of historical scholarship on the nations, empires, peoples, cultures, ideas, and economies that have spanned the borderlands between the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas. Through oral presentations, book reviews, and a culminating historiographic essay project, students will gain a confident grasp of important genres and media of scholarly communication while closely familiarizing themselves with some of the most influential currents of research and writing on the borderlands of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires in their final decades. Readings are organized geographically by city but pursue broad, recurring themes such as space, labor, revolution, modernity, industrialization, nationalism, empire, sexuality, deviance, social control, and migration. The course provides a supportive learning environment for advanced undergraduates considering the continuation of their historical pursuits at the graduate level as well as for graduate students preparing for general examinations and strengthening their mastery of academic writing.