First decolonization and then the end of the Cold
War have led to new waves of transnational movement.
Mass immigration and floods of refugees have
given rise to economic, social and cultural clashes, feeding
into fresh problems of ethno-religious otherization that
have come to haunt even the normally most
stable and tolerant democracies of Europe. Simultaneously,
Turkey's EU process is bringing into question a
number of minority issues that are the legacy of the
transition from the multi-ethnic Ottoman empire into
Balkan, Caucasian and Middle Eastern nation-states.
What are these questions ? Which groups are
involved ? How can cultural, linguistic and religious
rights be applied to the relationship between majority and
minority groups at the national and international levels ?
How can consciousness of ethnic, religious or cultural
diversity be fostered and promoted as a common value ?
It is to such historical and contemporary problems
that HIST 585 is addressed. For the possibility of taking
this course at an undergraduate level, subject
to appropriate adjustments, see SPS 485.
|