The Balkans and Turkey are precisely situated on the “fault-lines” of three of the world’s great faiths: Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Islam. An important presence of Judaism has also shaped the larger region to a significant cultural and geopolitical extent. The focus of the course on the culture and religion of this region is of utmost geostrategic but also “geocultural” importance – tying the West, East and the Muslim World together. The course offers a unique opportunity to systematically compare and analyze this crucial test area for building multiethnic nation states, for the modernization of traditional and post-communist societies and the chances and limits of the EU’s supra-national integration paradigm.
Prerequisites:
Prior coursework in European history and/or modern comparative religion
Learning outcomes:
Substantial knowledge about cultures, religions and contemporary history of Turkey, Balkans and Southeast Europe both as a region and as individual nations/areas
Encounter with cultural expressions like film and literature in Turkey and Balkans
Awareness of links between nation-building, identity, religions and languages in the region and in general
Understanding of the difficulties and challenges of interethnic and interfaith relations at local, national and European level
Participation including presentations in class (30 %), midterm exam (20%), written Project Paper (20 %), final exam (30%)
Seminar discussions are based upon the compulsory readings and teaching introductions to the subject given at each session by the instructor. All students are expected to join the seminar discussions following the teaching introductions with (prepared) questions and points related to the readings and with new ideas related to the conclusions presented. After a first round of discussions, additional reading material / written pro-contra statements might be distributed in class in order to briefly prepare for a second round of discussions. The seminar reader contains all required academic readings. Beyond academic papers, readings and seminar discussions include cultural expressions like literary works and films.
Two Exams will be written, each with a duration of 90 minutes. The mid-term exam will cover the topics discussed in the first three weeks; the final exam will cover the seminar’s whole content. In both cases, students will get detailed information one week before the exam for concrete preparation.
Project Reports are research assignments and written assessments (about 3-5 pages).
content:
I. Introduction to Cultures and Religions in Turkey and the Balkans
1) Introduction: The Land
The first lecture will inform the students about the geographical features of the Balkans in general. The geography gives opportunities and creates obstacles to the inhabitants. Geography determines the history. This is especially true in the Balkans. Therefore at the very beginning of the course, borders, mountains, rivers, passes, agricultural lands, and territories will be discussed. Their relations with the inhabitants, their influence of the events in the peninsula will also be discussed.
2) The theoretical background: The “clash of civilizations” vs. “multi-cultural identity”
Readings: Huntington (1996), pp. 266-272; Mazower (2000), pp. 19-49 Ivo Andrić: The Bridge on the Drina
3) Geostrategy, Geopolitics, Geocultures of Southeast Europe
What is Balkan? / Multi-"national" and multi-religious empires vs. self-determination of peoples / The Region as a global power chessboard in the 1910s, the 1940s and the 1990s
Readings: Todorova (1997), pp.161-183; Ivo Andrić: The Bridge on the Drina
I. Introduction to Cultures and Religions in Turkey and the Balkans
4) Traces back to the “Great Schism”: The split inside Christianity; The Catholic and orthodox Church - their influence and importance today (part 1)
The early Christendom / Rome and Constantinople / Churches as "proto-nations" / Religious renaissance in the late 20th century
8) Ottoman heritage: Islam, Judaism and Bektashis in the Balkans
Islamisation in the Balkans, the formation of a 'Mulism' nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Jewish communities in the Balkans and in Turkey since the Ottomans; the Holocaust in the Balkans. A mostly unknown Islam: Bektashism and Alevism.
10) Nationalism / language: Connecting and dividing
Political and ethnic country profile / Bosnian Muslims / Bosnian Croats / Bosnian Serbs / relations between the groups / What language do Muslims, Croats, Serbs and Montenegrins speak?
Film: Whose is This Song?
Field Trip
11) Field Trip Reflections
12) Balkan cultural heritage – mentality, architecture, music, food
13) The Balkans since 1990s
This unit will conclude with the revolutions of 1989-91 and the establishment of democratic regimes, partition of Yugoslavia, civil wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo, the new trend, integration process into the European Union, and the discussion whether the European Union can bring the peace, stability and wealth to the Balkans.
15) Neo-nationalism, Islam and Islamism in present-day Turkey (part two)
III. Present conflicts and problems in Turkey
16) “A German in Turkey, and a Turk in Germany”: Turks in the European Union and their problems in finding an own identity, minorities and minority conflicts in Turkey
(The Kurdish minority and non-Muslim minorities in Turkey)
17) Kemalism, communism, and secularization
Kemalism: Separation of religion and government, or subordination of Sunni Islam to the state? Special Case: Tito’s Non-aligned socialism in former Yugoslavia
Readings: Andric
18) Post communist societies and their problems today: nationalism vs. examples of positive practice
Meštrović (1993): 131-149; Vasiljevic (2004): 114-131(-133); Mungiu et al. (eds.) (2004): (43) 70-75.
Field Trip
19) Willing to unveil? The headscarf in Berlin, Sarajevo und Istanbul
Readings: Göle (1996)
20) Wrap-up: Europeanizing the cultural mosaic of Turkey, the Balkans and South East Europe
Deepening and widening of the European Union: a supranational rather than a post-national paradigm / Europeanization: more than EU accession / Nation-building and Europeanization of Turkey and the Balkans: an inclusive learning process rather than a one-size fits all straitjacket, neither melting pot nor salad bowl
21) Final Exam (cumulative)
Required readings:
Alexander, Stella (1979): Church and State in Yugoslavia since 1945, pp. 95-120
Atasoy, Yildiz (2005): Turkey, Islamists and democracy: transition and globalisation in a Muslim state, London, pp. 60-84
Banac, Ivo (1990): Main Trends in the Croatian Language Question.
Bremer, Thomas (2008): 'Catholic Church and its role in politics and society,' in: Ramet / Clewing / Lukić (eds.): Croatia since independence. War, politics, society, foreign relations, pp. 251-267
Benbassa, Esther / Rodrigue, Aron (2000): Sephardi Jewry: a history of the Judeo-Spanish community, 14th to 20th centuries, Berkeley : University of California Press, pp. 192-198
Bideleux, Robert and Ian Jeffries (2006): The Balkans: a post-communist history, Routledge, New York, NY
Crnković, Gordana (2008): 'Contemporary Croatian Literature: Under the Star of Orwell,' in: Ramet / Clewing / Lukić (eds.): Croatia since independence. War, politics, society, foreign relations, pp. 269-284
Fikret, Adanir (2002): 'The formation of a "Muslim" nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina: A historiographic discussion,' in: Adanir / Faroqhi (eds.): The Ottomans and the Balkans, pp. 267-304
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Zagreb Office (ed.) (2002): National minorities in South-East Europe – legal and social status at local level, July 2002, Zagreb, pp. 32-46
Magocsi, Paul Robert (2002): Historical Atlas of Central Europe, Revised and Expanded Edition, University of Washington Press, Seattle
Hupchick, Denis P. (2001): The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Balkans, Palgrave, Basingstoke, New York
Kostanick, Huey L. (1963) :“The Geopolitics of the Balkans”, in The Balkans in Transition: Essays on the Development of Balkan Life and Politics Since the Eighteenth Century. Charles Jelavich, Barbara Jelavich (eds.): University of California Press, Berkeley, pp.1-55.
Glenny, Misha (1966): The Fall of Yugoslavia, The Third Balkan War, Penguin, London, New York
Göle, Nilüfer (1996): The forbidden modern: civilization and veiling. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
Goltz, Gabriel (2006): 'The non-Muslim minorities and reform in Turkey,' in: Turkey beyond nationalism, pp. 175-182
Heppel / Norris: 'Balkan Christianity / Balkan Islam,' in: Hawkesworth, Celia et al. (eds.) (2001): Religious quest and national identity in the Balkans, Basingstoke, pp. 1-14
Huntington, Samuel P. (2002 [1997]), The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order, London, pp. 266-272
Kramer, Heinz (2006): Unrest in Turkey’s Kurdish region – challenges for Turkey and the EU, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik SWP Comments 12 May 2006, Berlin
Leutloff-Grandits, Carolin (2008): 'Croatia's Serbs ten years after the end of the war,' in: Ramet / Clewing / Lukić (eds.): Croatia since independence. War, politics, society, foreign relations, pp. 141-161
Mazower, Mark (2000): The Balkans, pp. 19-49
Meštrović, Stjepan: (1993): Habits of the Balkan heart, pp. 131-150
Mungiu, Alina et al. (eds.) (2004): Nationalism after communism: lessons learned, Budapest, selected parts
Norton, John (2001): 'The Bektashis in the Balkans,' in: Hawkesworth (ed.): Religious quest and national identity in the Balkans, pp. 168-185
Ortakovski, Vladimir (2000): Minorities in the Balkans, Ardsley NY, pp. 313-350
Ramet, Sabrina (2008): Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at peace and at war, pp. 77-93
Ramet, Sabrina / Marius Soberg (2008): 'Challenges facing Croatia since Independence,' In: Ramet / Clewing / Lukić (eds.): Croatia since independence. War, politics, society, foreign relations, pp. 11-25
Seufert, Günter (2006): 'Religion: nation-building instrument of the state or factor of civil society? The AKP between state- and society-centered religious politics', in: Kieser pp. 136-147
Tanil, Bora (1997): Turkish national identity, pp. 101-120
Todorova, Maria (1997): Imagining the Balkans, pp.161-183
Vasiljević, Snježana (2004): 'Ethnic relations and examples of positive practice in Eastern Europe,' in: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Zagreb Office (ed.) (2004): How to Improve Development on Local Level? Handbook with Best Practice Examples from South-East Europe, Zagreb, pp. 114-133
Zhelyazakova, Antonina (2002): 'Islamization in the Balkans as an historiographical problem: The Southeast-European perspective,' in: Adanir / Faroqhi (eds.): The Ottomans and the Balkans, pp. 223-266
Recommended readings:
Apostolov, Mario (2001): Religious minorities, nation states and security: five cases from the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, Aldershot, pp. 22-39.
Dr. Gharibeh is the author of "Anthropology in Jordan” and "Epidemiology of High Blood Pressure among Faculty and Administrative Workers of Yarmouk University". He worked for the National and International Bio-Archaeological excavations Program in the southern and northern parts of Jordan—with the British Institute for Archaeology and History; Research Unit of the German Archaeological Institute; and Arkansas University’s Dept. of Anthropology –with emphasis being placed on understanding the biological and cultural evolution that took place in the Middle East throughout history. Moreover, he earned his PhD degree in Historical Anthropology (2nd major English Philology) from the University of Freiburg in 2006. Since then he lectures at the History Seminar, Center for Anthropology and Gender Studies as well as the Oriental Institute of Freiburg Germany till present.
Orient Meets Occident: Cultures, Religions, & Identities of Turkey and the Balkans
The Balkans and Turkey are precisely situated on the “fault-lines” of three of the world’s great faiths: Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Islam. An important presence of Judaism has also shaped the larger region to a significant cultural and geopolitical extent. The focus of the course on the culture and religion of this region is of utmost geostrategic but also “geocultural” importance – tying the West, East and the Muslim World together. The course offers a unique opportunity to systematically compare and analyze this crucial test area for building multiethnic nation states, for the modernization of traditional and post-communist societies and the chances and limits of the EU’s supra-national integration paradigm.
Prior coursework in European history and/or modern comparative religion
Lectures, Seminar Discussions, Experiential Learning
Participation including presentations in class (30 %), midterm exam (20%), written Project Paper (20 %), final exam (30%)
Seminar discussions are based upon the compulsory readings and teaching introductions to the subject given at each session by the instructor. All students are expected to join the seminar discussions following the teaching introductions with (prepared) questions and points related to the readings and with new ideas related to the conclusions presented. After a first round of discussions, additional reading material / written pro-contra statements might be distributed in class in order to briefly prepare for a second round of discussions. The seminar reader contains all required academic readings. Beyond academic papers, readings and seminar discussions include cultural expressions like literary works and films.
Two Exams will be written, each with a duration of 90 minutes. The mid-term exam will cover the topics discussed in the first three weeks; the final exam will cover the seminar’s whole content. In both cases, students will get detailed information one week before the exam for concrete preparation.
Project Reports are research assignments and written assessments (about 3-5 pages).
I. Introduction to Cultures and Religions in Turkey and the Balkans
1) Introduction: The Land
The first lecture will inform the students about the geographical features of the Balkans in general. The geography gives opportunities and creates obstacles to the inhabitants. Geography determines the history. This is especially true in the Balkans. Therefore at the very beginning of the course, borders, mountains, rivers, passes, agricultural lands, and territories will be discussed. Their relations with the inhabitants, their influence of the events in the peninsula will also be discussed.
Readings: Magocsi (2002), Hupchick (2001), Kostanick & Jelavich (1-55)
2) The theoretical background: The “clash of civilizations” vs. “multi-cultural identity”
Readings: Huntington (1996), pp. 266-272; Mazower (2000), pp. 19-49 Ivo Andrić: The Bridge on the Drina
3) Geostrategy, Geopolitics, Geocultures of Southeast Europe
What is Balkan? / Multi-"national" and multi-religious empires vs. self-determination of peoples / The Region as a global power chessboard in the 1910s, the 1940s and the 1990s
Readings: Todorova (1997), pp.161-183; Ivo Andrić: The Bridge on the Drina
I. Introduction to Cultures and Religions in Turkey and the Balkans
4) Traces back to the “Great Schism”: The split inside Christianity; The Catholic and orthodox Church - their influence and importance today (part 1)
The early Christendom / Rome and Constantinople / Churches as "proto-nations" / Religious renaissance in the late 20th century
Readings: Happel / Norris (2001): 1-14; Bremer (2008): 251-267; Alexander (1979): 95-120; Andrić
5) Traces back to the “Great Schism”: The split inside Christianity; The Catholic and orthodox Church - their influence and importance today (part 2)
6) Croatia today – Problems, perspectives, relation to Serbia und Serb minority within the country
Ramet / Soberg (2008 ): 11-25; Ortakovski (2000): 319-339; Leutloff-Grandits (2008): 141-161; Crnković (2008): 269-285
7) War in Yugoslavia represented in films
Danis Tanović's No Man´s Land
8) Ottoman heritage: Islam, Judaism and Bektashis in the Balkans
Islamisation in the Balkans, the formation of a 'Mulism' nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Jewish communities in the Balkans and in Turkey since the Ottomans; the Holocaust in the Balkans. A mostly unknown Islam: Bektashism and Alevism.
Readings: Adanir (2002): 267-304; Zhelyazakova (2002): 223-266; Benbassa/Rodrigue (2000): 192-198; Norton (2001): 168-185; Andrić
9) Mid-term Exam, covering sessions 1-8
10) Nationalism / language: Connecting and dividing
Political and ethnic country profile / Bosnian Muslims / Bosnian Croats / Bosnian Serbs / relations between the groups / What language do Muslims, Croats, Serbs and Montenegrins speak?
Film: Whose is This Song?
Field Trip
11) Field Trip Reflections
12) Balkan cultural heritage – mentality, architecture, music, food
13) The Balkans since 1990s
This unit will conclude with the revolutions of 1989-91 and the establishment of democratic regimes, partition of Yugoslavia, civil wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo, the new trend, integration process into the European Union, and the discussion whether the European Union can bring the peace, stability and wealth to the Balkans.
Suggested readings: Bideleux & Jeffries (2006), Glenny (1996).
14) Islamization (part one)
Readings: Seufert (2006): 136-147; Atasoy (2005): 45-48; Andric
15) Neo-nationalism, Islam and Islamism in present-day Turkey (part two)
III. Present conflicts and problems in Turkey
16) “A German in Turkey, and a Turk in Germany”: Turks in the European Union and their problems in finding an own identity, minorities and minority conflicts in Turkey
(The Kurdish minority and non-Muslim minorities in Turkey)
Readings: Bora (1997): 101-120; Goltz (2006): 175-182; Kramer (2006): 1-8; Andrić
17) Kemalism, communism, and secularization
Kemalism: Separation of religion and government, or subordination of Sunni Islam to the state? Special Case: Tito’s Non-aligned socialism in former Yugoslavia
Readings: Andric
18) Post communist societies and their problems today: nationalism vs. examples of positive practice
Meštrović (1993): 131-149; Vasiljevic (2004): 114-131(-133); Mungiu et al. (eds.) (2004): (43) 70-75.
Field Trip
19) Willing to unveil? The headscarf in Berlin, Sarajevo und Istanbul
Readings: Göle (1996)
20) Wrap-up: Europeanizing the cultural mosaic of Turkey, the Balkans and South East Europe
Deepening and widening of the European Union: a supranational rather than a post-national paradigm / Europeanization: more than EU accession / Nation-building and Europeanization of Turkey and the Balkans: an inclusive learning process rather than a one-size fits all straitjacket, neither melting pot nor salad bowl
21) Final Exam (cumulative)
http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/programs/european-union-summer
Dr. Gharibeh is the author of "Anthropology in Jordan” and "Epidemiology of High Blood Pressure among Faculty and Administrative Workers of Yarmouk University". He worked for the National and International Bio-Archaeological excavations Program in the southern and northern parts of Jordan—with the British Institute for Archaeology and History; Research Unit of the German Archaeological Institute; and Arkansas University’s Dept. of Anthropology –with emphasis being placed on understanding the biological and cultural evolution that took place in the Middle East throughout history. Moreover, he earned his PhD degree in Historical Anthropology (2nd major English Philology) from the University of Freiburg in 2006. Since then he lectures at the History Seminar, Center for Anthropology and Gender Studies as well as the Oriental Institute of Freiburg Germany till present.
Find his University of Freiburg biography here: www.orient.uni-freiburg.de/islam/mitarbeiter/gharibeh