Negura

This interdisciplinary seminar brings together historical, geopolitical, political, and societal perspectives to examine Moldova, a small country located at the crossroads of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Despite its size, Moldova’s history encapsulates broader global dynamics shaped by imperial legacies, nation-building projects, and great-power geopolitics.

Over the past centuries, the region that constitutes present-day Moldova has existed largely on the margins of larger empires and nation-states, including the Ottoman, Russian, and Austrian Empires, as well as Romania and the Soviet Union. These layers of imperial and national rule have left enduring traces. Former peripheral positions, shifting sovereignties, and “phantom” borders continue to shape Moldova’s contemporary politics, geopolitical orientations, and everyday practices, choices, and sentiments.

The seminar explores Moldova’s history, politics, and society through a diverse range of sources, including press materials, archival documents, oral-history interviews, films, literary texts, and contemporary ethnographic studies. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between high-level political developments and everyday experiences, perceptions, and narratives.

The course serves as a foundational introduction for a planned field trip to Moldova in September 2026, but it is also designed as a standalone seminar. More broadly, it offers students an opportunity to explore regional and international politics from the perspective of a small Southeast European country and to reflect on how global processes are experienced, interpreted, and negotiated at the local level.

Wissenschaftliche Arbeitstechniken und Methoden der Geschichtswissenschaft, Linguistik und Anthropologie

Dozent: Dr. Petru Negură
Vorlesungsverzeichnis-Nr.: 33 123

In diesem Seminar werden wir zentrale Methoden und Techniken der Datenerhebung und -analyse in Geschichte, Linguistik und Anthropologie kennenlernen, die für die Untersuchung osteuropäischer und südosteuropäischer Gesellschaften besonders relevant sind. Da der Fokus des Seminars auf gesellschaftlichen Prozessen liegt, arbeiten wir in allen drei Disziplinen mit einem überwiegend sozialen Zugang – also Sozialgeschichte, SozialanthropologieundSoziolinguistik.

Die Studierenden erwerben praktische Kompetenzen in klassischen qualitativen Methoden wie Forschungsinterviews (oral history, ethnografisches und soziolinguistisches Interview), Dokumentenanalyse (Archive, Presse, schriftliche Zeugnisse) sowie direkter und indirekter Beobachtung. Darüber hinaus üben wir grundlegende Techniken der Kodierung, Dekodierung und qualitativen Auswertung von Quellen, um relevante Informationen zu identifizieren, zu strukturieren und im Kontext der jeweiligen sozialen und kulturellen Rahmenbedingungen zu interpretieren.

Ein weiteres Ziel des Seminars ist die Fähigkeit, ein eigenes Forschungsprojekt zu entwickeln – von der Formulierung von Forschungsfragen und Hypothesen über die Literaturrecherche bis zur Ausarbeitung eines geeigneten methodischen Rahmens. Schließlich besprechen wir ausgewählte Fallstudien, in denen die behandelten Methoden angewendet wurden, und analysieren exemplarisch die erhobenen Daten und deren Interpretation.

This seminar explores contemporary theories of nationalism
through a bottom-up lens, focusing on nation-building processes in Eastern and
Southeastern Europe during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Emphasis is placed
on popular responses to state-driven and elite-led nation-building initiatives,
particularly in key domains such as mass education, religion, and military
service. These responses encompass grassroots support for national projects,
the promotion of alternative visions, and various forms of resistance, ranging
from active dissent to passive non-compliance.

The seminar also delves into social and demographic
behaviors and interethnic relations, addressing topics like mixed marriages and
civilian involvement in ethnic violence within ethnically diverse regions.
Students will critically engage with foundational theoretical texts and analyze
illustrative case studies. Discussions will include works on civilian responses
to nation-building policies and discourses, as well as archival materials and
oral history accounts that provide insights from a bottom-up perspective.

This course offers a nuanced understanding of
nation-building as a dynamic interplay between state initiatives and popular
agency, providing students with tools to critically assess the entanglements of
state and elite-driven policies, social behaviors, and ethnic and national
identities in historical contexts.

Participants
will:

• Examine
  key theoretical frameworks discussing bottom-up perspective on
  nation-building;
• Analyze
  case studies from the late 19^th and 20^th century Eastern
  and Southeastern Europe;
• Discuss
  archival documents and oral histories reflecting grassroots experiences;
• Develop
  and present a seminar paper on a relevant topic, which will be discussed
  in class during the semester.