Central & Eastern Europe: Winds of Change

Tentative Itinerary

We will spend an average of 4 days per country with a very active and hands-on learning experience. Our objective is to gain an understanding of the socio-economic forces at play in the last decades of communism, how change unfolded in each country, and what the short and long-term effects have been. We will meet with those who experienced this period firsthand to learn about discontent, hopes, and dreams - and how they were expressed through art and music.

Days 1-4: Berlin, Germany

• Walking tour (Brandenburger Gate, Reichstag, Under den Linden, Museum Island)
• "Everyday Life in GDR" museum at Kulturbrauerei
• Bus tour of East Berlin: Soviet/Communist sites such as the Soviet Memorial in Treptower Park, former "Stalin Road" (now Karl-Marx-Allee), location of the signing of the final unconditional surrender of Germany, ending WWII.
• Visit either a former Stasi Prison with a former prisoner or the former Stasi Headquarters for a guided tour.
• Visit Potsdam, the Cecilienhof (where in 1945 the "Big Three" Conference decided the fate of Germany, see the Glienicke Bridge (the Bridge of Spies), and then either the Allied Museum or the museum at Checkpoint Charlie.

Day 5: Train to Warsaw

Days 6-8: Warsaw and Gdansk, Poland

• Walk around the Old Town (Warsaw)
• Lecture: The Cold War, Radio Free Europe
• Bus tour: History of Communism in Warsaw
• Day trip to Gdansk, visit to Solidarity Museum
• Lecture: The Student Generation, Student Movements
• Warsaw Rising Museum

Day 9: Flight to Prague

Days 10-12: Prague, Czech Republic

• Vaclav Havel and the Velvet Revolution Tour, visit to Cold War Museum
• Alternative Prague Tour
• Discussion/lecture: Influence of art/music; Plastic People of Universe
• Graffiti Workshop

Day 13: Flight to Kyiv

Days 14-17: Kyiv, Ukraine

• Lecture: Later history of the USSR - Afghan War, perestroika, Gorbachev era, nationalist movements
• WWII Museum
• Day trip to Chernobyl
• Lecture/Discussions: Soviet Propoganda; Social, political, and economic forces at play
• Lecture/Discussion: Political history of Ukraine - 1991 to the present
• Tour of Maidan with one of the participants

Day 18: Flight to Tbilisi

Days 19-21: Tbilisi, Georgia

• National History Museum, Soviet Occupation Museum
• Tbilisi walking tour, events of 1989
• Lunch discussion: The Role of Ethnic Diversity in the Caucasus
• Influence of Western pop culture in the USSR (informal gathering of artists/musicians)
• Day trip to Kazbegi (mountains)
• Lecture: Political History of Indepdendent Georgia

Day 21: Travel by train to Batumi

Day 22-23: Batumi, Georgia

• Visit to Gonio Fortress (built by Romans in 1st century AD)
• Visit to Turkish border, open air lecture on religious diversity in the region
• Cooking class (Adjarian khatchapuri)
• Farewell dinner with Georgian music

Day 24: Departure (from Kutaisi)

We will live in dormitories in each city, in rooms of 4-6, with shared facilities.

Nick Gossett, PhD.
Assistant Professor, Russian and Applied Linguistics
University of South Alabama

Dr. Gossett an Assistant Professor of Russian at the University of South Alabama where he is the Russian language program director, the Director of the Language Resource Center, and the coordinator for the minor in Applied Linguistics. He teaches courses on the Russian language, Russian literature, Russian and Eastern European culture, international studies, history, political science, and applied linguistics. Dr. Gossett received his BA in History and Russian from the University of South Alabama. He finished both his MA in Russian, Eastern European, & Eurasian studies and his PhD in Applied (Slavic) Linguistics and Pedagogy from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Gossett currently serves as the President of the Alabama World Languages Education Foundation, Advocacy Chair for the Alabama World Languages Association where he acts as the official state representative to the Joint National Committee for Languages, and he is the official representative from the International Association for Language Learning Technology to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. He has developed and led two intensive Russian language study abroad programs, one as part of a Fulbright grant at The University of Texas at Austin and a program he currently runs every other year for the University of South Alabama through SRAS and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Dr. Gossett also leads programs to Ukraine during the spring semester and Eastern Europe during the summers when he is not with his program in Moscow.

A transcript for this course (if opting for credit-bearing track), issued by University of South Alabama, will reflect 6 credits of IS (International Studies) 372 - Studies in E. Europe & Caucasus: Winds of Change

* Estimate based on r.t. US East Coast departure.