ZSEM Summer School

The course will acquaint students with the general details of Croatian history, culture, geography, as well as with issues pertaining to Croatia's modern development. First students will be given an overview of the physical as-pects of Croatia (basic details of the country's geography, natural ambient, vital statistics, etc.). This will be fol-lowed by lectures outlining key stages in Croatian history (Croatia before the Croats, the origins of the Croat people, language and state, mediaeval developments, the Ottoman expansion, the Habsburg period, the Yugoslav period, Independence). At least one lecture will focus on the ethnic structure of Croatia, on Croats beyond the borders of Croatia, and on modern migrations from Croatia.

These lectures will present both facts and typologies, and students will be encouraged to compare Croatian situations and their outcomes (or potentials) with similar or different situations in other countries. Discussions on Croatian culture will also include factual information and typologies. Aspects of Croatian culture will generally be treated in regard to their historical and “ideological” origins, as well as from the perspective of their present-day significant. A broad definition of culture (as a blueprint for social behaviour) will be applied, with emphasis on the relationship between history, culture and society, and on cultural contacts (which is particularly relevant in the modern globalised world).

The overall approach in the course will be (socio) historical, sociological and anthropological, or rather holistic, and (importantly) an attempt will be made to explain why such an approach may be particularly useful for students of economics. Issues such as identity and globalisation, the meaning of “small nations”, the transformation of comparative disadvantages into future advantages, etc. will be addressed. One particularly relevant social and economic example – i.e. the universal problem of corruption – will be presented in regard to the Croatian social history, and students will asked to discuss how this problem may develop in other historical and cultural contexts. The course will include field trips to historically and/or culturally significant locations in Zagreb, and possibly in the Zagreb region. The requirements for completion of the course will include, apart from lecture attendance, a short essay (2-3 pages) which may be written in English (or Croatian), Russian, Italian or French.