History
The Department of History offers Interdisciplinary Historical Studies that focuses on the history of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe from the sixteenth century to the present and draws extensively on scholarship that relates to themes beyond these geographical and temporal boundaries, in order to obtain the necessary comparative perspective. The curriculum of the department of History has a multidisciplinary character and includes courses cross-listed with sociology, social anthropology, philosophy, art history, and religion, Jewish studies, and nationalism. In the department there is a special emphasis on themes of social development, cultural history and everyday life from the Reformation through the Enlightenment to modernity; problems of modernization, modern intellectual history, backwardness and unequal development; modern ideologies; comparative history of empires and imperial structures, nationhood and the nation state; varieties of authoritarianism such as fascism and communism and their historical reflection. For more information visit the Department of History at CEU or print Department brochure
Selected Areas of Research
Research areas for the Department of History include:- Historical Studies: Theory, Methods, Skills, Historiography
- Social and Political History in a Comparative Perspective
- Ethnicity, Nations, Nationalism and Empires in History
- Culture, Religion and Intellectual History in a Comparative Perspective
Special Projects/Programs
CEU Higher Education Support Plan in Comparative History Project
(HESP)
This three-year project helps to develop Comparative History as
a specialization of courses within a set of target departments in the
region - Central Europe and Eastern Europe, Southeastern and Eastern
Europe - with CEU acting as the core and the coordinator of the group.
Jewish Studies Project
The Jewish Studies Project at Central European University has helped revitalize the study of Jewish
history, culture and society in a region where these topics were long
considered taboo. In addition to conducting a series of l9ectures,
sponsoring conferences and publishing a yearbook, the Jewish Studies
Project offers a specialization in Jewish Studies for Students in the
Department of History.
Religious Studies
Students in this specialization will engage in the study of religious
phenomena from the historical point of view and from a variety of
interdisciplinary perspectives. This specialization focuses on the study
of religious thought and traditions of the three monotheistic
religions, with special emphasis on Western and Eastern Christianity,
and the comparative study of their social, societal institutional,
cultural, intellectual, and political contexts and implications.
