From West to East and Back The course aims at providing a concise overview of the history of Hungary from its entering the community of European Christian states to the fall of the Soviet bloc. The lectures focus on political history, but attention is given to economic, cultural, intellectual, and religious history. The course deals with the ethnic subcultures and rural society of the region from a historical and anthropological perspective. It also gives an interpretation of the social and cultural content of rural existence in East Central Europe from the Middle Ages until recently. The course presents a model of an East Central European peasant village as a space and a functioning community of people with special structures and institutions.
Primary focus is on Hungary, but the wider East Central European context is used for comparison.
This course offers a comparative study of the problems of economic transition in the former Soviet bloc states of Central and Eastern Europe. It examines the origins and nature of the economic and structural upheaval, reform strategies, and problems associated with introducing market economies. The final list of ISC courses open to Council participants is available at the time of acceptance. Certain ISC courses require prior knowledge of the subject matter.