Croatia: New RELS Study Abroad
Announcing a new study abroad course in Croatia, offered by RELS Prof. Mehnaz Afridi and SOC Prof. Cory Blad (RELS 300 & SOC 315). If interested contact either professor or the Study Abroad Office.
Title: Croatia: Religions, Nations and Questions of Identity?
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
Dates: June 24th-July 9th 2017
Description:
From the end of WW2 until the early 1990’s the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed as one State. Since then, five new States have emerged on the territory of ex-Yugoslavia. This rapid transformation, set against a backdrop of ethnic and religious tensions and hostilities, has forced a redefinition of national identity across the former republics of ex-Yugoslavia in only a decade. The ‘old traditions’ of Yugoslavia have been dismantled and replaced with ‘new traditions’ of the emergent states – a process that has still not been fully completed for some states in the region. The problem, of course, is that “old” Yugoslav traditions were once “new” and the “new” in Croatia, Serbia, and other countries of the former Yugoslavia are arguably very “old.” This resurgent nationalism certainly reinforced Croatia, but how has it influenced its relationship with the other Balkan states? Europe? How has Croatian nationalism (and Balkan nationalisms, in general) integrated or excluded minority populations? How did the reclamation of a national past translate into the creation of a modern Eastern European country? How has nationalism influenced community relationships, economic growth, and political development since the recreation of Croatia in 1991?
This class will explore the major differences between religion and ethnicity in Croatia as well as how those differences have influenced the formation of the contemporary nation. Students will be asked to analyze religious communities in Zagreb and their relationship with the state and political rights. We focus on Jewish and Muslim communities in Croatia as well as the dominant Orthodox Christian tradition as well as other ethnic and religious minorities in the former Yugoslavia’s most ethnically homogenous country. Of significant importance will be a focus on Croatian attitudes on immigration and refugee settlement – particularly in the context of Croatia’s negative native birth rate.
The following groups will be our resources; Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Mosque of Zagreb, University of Zagreb and Jasenovac Concentration Camp. In Jasenovac, the majority of victims were ethnic Serbs, along with the Jews, Roma, and some anti-fascist or dissident Croats and Bosnian Muslims. Muslims live in Croatia as the second largest religious minority. Zagreb has one of the biggest mosques in Europe since 1987. During the existence of the Ottoman Empire it had none because Zagreb, as well as most parts of Croatia, wasn't occupied by the Ottomans during the Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War. Muslims identify with their religion but also their ethnic identity as Muslim Bosniks, Muslim Croats, and Muslim Roma etc. This is a complex and important aspect of the class and the complexity of Eastern European identity.
Students will be required to interview either Jews or Muslims currently residing in Zagreb. We will video tape the interview.
Visit the Jasenovac camp and write a 2 page reflection paper.
Write a paper on an interethnic/religious paper on the complexity of identity in Croatia, (more details will follow).
Write a “final paper” integrating the political, economic, and cultural histories of Croatia (and potentially related countries such as Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegoniva) (more details to follow)
Keep a daily journal based on prompts from lectures and observational experiences/activities.
Other potential exercises/experiences:
Daytrip to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Daytrip to Belgrade, Serbia
Guest lectures on Croatian political economy and history from faculty at the University of Zagreb and Marina Vujnovic (Monmouth University, if in-country)