Throughout the course, students will critically examine sources and literature for some of the crucial issues that marked the gender history of Eastern Europe in the 20th century. We will observe gender history from a transnational perspective, bringing together different regions and exploring the topics such as the interwar feminist movements, the Second World War and its impacts, the communist revolutions and gender policies, queer cultures, the collapse of socialism and post-socialist gender policies. The focus will be on the movement of ideas and people, asking questions about how gender informed broader policies and social interventions, but also how understandings about gender and sexuality were changing during the 20th century. By investigating these far-reaching questions, we will aim to uncover the lives of ordinary people discussing their agency and the shared gendered experiences across the region.
- Teacher: Ivan Simic