|
|
|
||
|
Since their emergence, respectively, in the 1960s and 1970s, comparative history and conceptual history have become important research perspectives in social sciences and historical studies scholarship. These perspectives are different in many ways; for instance, conceptual history is more sensitive to concepts’ semantic contexts. They are similar in that while comparisons are largely informed by theoretical models, such models are conceptual systems that have gone through a process of clarification, definition, and detachment from their original context. This course provides a solid and contextualized overview of the nature, methodologies, and usages of comparative (qualitative) and conceptual history in these two fields. It will do so by detailing and discussing their strengths and shortcomings, and in the process, help students design comparative and conceptual research projects.
The course is open only for students of master's degree programmes. Poslední úprava: Hrubá Kateřina, Mgr. (28.01.2026)
|
|
||
|
This course aims at providing students with a solid and contextualized overview of the nature, methodologies and usages of comparative (qualitative) and conceptual history in historical studies and social sciences. It will do so by detailing and discussing their strengths and shortcomings and in the process help students design comparative and conceptual research projects. Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
A. COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1) Attendance is mandatory as the course is designed as a seminar where substantial student participation is needed. 2) Mid-term exam in week seven with five open-ended questions based on readings from weeks 2 to 6. 3) In week 12, using a ‘workshop’ format, students present & get feedback from the lecturer and course mates on their first draft of their final paper. 4) A final paper of around 2500 words will be uploaded to Moodle within the indicated deadline (AI-generated 5) Active class participation –20%, mid-term exam –30%, final paper draft (for the workshop) – 20%, final paper –30%.
B. COURSE EVALUATION A - "výborně - A" - "excellent - A"
See Dean´s provision https://www.fsv.cuni.cz/opatreni-dekanky-c-172018aj
Updated 2 September 2025. Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
A. READING ASSIGNMENTS 1. Introduction · Syllabus.
2. Comparison as Uncovering Universal Laws & Causality: The Annales School Input · Marc Bloch, ‘A Contribution towards a Comparative History of European Societies,’ in Balazs Trencsenyi et al (eds), The Rise of Comparative History, vol 1 (Budapest: CEU, 2021, ‘Introduction’, pp, 89-123. · William H. Sewell, “Marc Bloch and the Logic of Comparative History”, History and Theory, 1967, Vol 6, No. 2, pp. 208-218.
3. Comparison as Change, Causality & Variation: The Modernisation Thesis & Social Sciences Input · Theda Skopcol and Margaret Somers, ‘The Uses of Comparative History in Macrosocial Inquiry’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1980, pp. 174-197. · Kathleen Thelen and James Mahoney (eds), Advances in Comparative Historical Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015): ‘Introduction’, pp. 3-38, ‘Epilogue’, 264-288.
4. Asymmetric Comparison: The Social History Input · Jürgen Kocka, “Asymmetric Historical Comparison: The Case of the German Sonderweg”, History and Theory, 1999, Vol 38, No. 1, pp. 40-50. · Jürgen Kocka, “Comparative Historical Research: German Examples”, International Review of Social History 38 (1993), pp. 369–379.
5. Comparative Conceptual History: The Linguistic Turn Input · Peter Wagner, “As Intellectual History Meets Historical Sociology…”, in Handbook of Historical Sociology, Sage, 2003, pp. 168-179. · Reinhart Koselleck, “Three Bürgerlische Worlds”, in Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, New York, 2004, pp. 209-17.
6. Comparative, Entangled & Transnational History: The Cultural History Input · Jürgen Kocka, Heinz-Gerhart Haupt, “Comparison and Beyond: Traditions, Scope and Perspectives of Comparative History”, in Comparative and Transnational History, edited by Jurgen Kocka, Heinz-Gerhart Haupt, Berghahn Books, 2009, pp. 1-32. · Thomas Welskopp, “Crossing the Boundaries? Dynamics of Contention Viewed from the Angle of a Comparative Historian,” International Review of Social History 49 (2004), pp. 122–131.
7. Mid-term Exam · Five open-ended questions based on the readings of weeks 2 to 6
8. Comparing (within) Regions of East-Central and South-East Europe · Marceli Handlesman, ‘The Development of Nationalities in Central-Eastern Europe,’ in Balazs Trencsenyi et al (eds), The Rise of Comparative History, vol 1 (Budapest: CEU, 2021), pp. 281-98 · Fritz Valjavec, ‘Southeast Europe and the Balkans’ in Balazs Trencsenyi et al (eds), The Rise of Comparative History, vol 1 (Budapest: CEU, 2021), 393-402
9. Comparing Post-Soviet Societies (Third Position Paper) · Kuzio, T., "History, Memory and the Nation-Building in the Post-Soviet Colonial Space," Nationalities Papers, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2002, p. 241-264. · Erica Marat, “State-Propagated Narratives about a National Defender in Central Asian States", The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies, 6/7, 2007 [Online].
10. Comparative Conceptual History: Europe, Reform · Adrian Brisku, Political Reform in the Ottoman and the Russian Empires: A Comparative Approach, 2017, ‘Introduction’, pp. 1-14 · Adrian Brisku, Bittersweet Europe, 2013, pp. 1-27.
11. Comparative Conceptual History of Small Nations · M. Hroch, Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. Colombia University Press; part 1, ‘Introduction’, 2000, pp. 1-30 · Brisku, A. 2022. ‘Dealing with Smallness in Habsburg Bohemia, Ottoman Albania, Tsarist Georgia in the late 19th to the early 20th Centuries’, in Politics of Smallness, S. Kruizinga (ed), London, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 35-54.
12. Workshop
Updated 2 September 2025 Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
The course is seminar-based and takes place in person, which means that the lecturer will open up the discussion on the reading material of the week by laying out the main concepts and questions which will be followed by students' interventions and analytical discussions.
Use of Generative AI Tools in This Course • A mandatory part of the paper is a detailed statement of whether and how you used generative artificial intelligence tools (chatbots) in its preparation. If it is missing or incomplete, the paper may be considered plagiarism. Whenever you use text generated by ChatGPT or another generative artificial intelligence tool, you must indicate this in your paper and cite the tool.
• AI may only be used as a tool for obtaining and processing information, not as a means of generating entire papers or substantial parts thereof: o You are free to use AI tools for language corrections. o You are free to use generative AI for preparatory tasks (brainstorming and generation of ideas, search for relevant literature) o You may not use, however, any generative AI tool for the generation of the text you are submitting as its author. That is, no part of your submitted text itself may be AI-generated. • The student is responsible for any errors in the text, not the AI tool used. It is the student's responsibility to verify the accuracy of all generated information and sources.
• Further recommendations regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence at Charles University are available at https://ai.cuni.cz/AIEN-13.html
(• Part of the paper´s classification will consist of the evaluation of the use of AI.)
Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (25.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
Comparative & Conceptual History Associate Professor Adrian Brisku, PhD. Department of Russian & East European Studies, Charles University https://cuni.academia.edu/adrianBrisku adrian.brisku@fsv.cuni.cz COURSE DESCRIPTION Since their emergence, respectively, in the 1960s and 1970s, comparative history and conceptual history have become important research perspectives in social sciences and historical studies scholarship. These perspectives are different in many ways; for instance, conceptual history is more sensitive to concepts’ semantic contexts. They are similar in that while comparisons are largely informed by theoretical models, such models are conceptual systems that have gone through a process of clarification, definition, and detachment from their original context. This course provides a solid and contextualized overview of the nature, methodologies, and usages of comparative (qualitative) and conceptual history in these two fields. It will do so by detailing and discussing their strengths and shortcomings, and in the process, help students design comparative and conceptual research projects.
A. COURSE DESIGN 1. Introduction 2. Comparison as Uncovering Universal Laws, Historical Information & as Explanation: The Annales School Input 3. Comparison as Causality, Change & Variation: The Modernisation Thesis & Social Sciences Input 4. Asymmetric Comparison: The Social History Input 5. Comparative Conceptual History: The Linguistic Turn Input 6. Comparative, Entangled & Transnational History: The Cultural History Input 7. Mid-term Exam 8. Comparing (within) Regions: Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe 9. Comparing Post-Soviet Societies
10. Comparative Conceptual History: Europe, Reform
11. Comparative Conceptual History of Small Nations
12. Workshop Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
|