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The course aims to familiarize students to often neglected issues of Central Eurasian societies and their cultures. The collapse of the Soviet communist ideology and its secular and modernising imperatives, and the processes of opening up to new opportunities or returning to repressed identities, customs and values, have changed the cultural and societal landscape of this region. Making sense of some of the key aspects these cultural and societal legacies and changes is key for understanding local politics and cultural behaviours.
The course is open only for students of master's degree programmes. Poslední úprava: Hrubá Kateřina, Mgr. (28.01.2026)
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1) To introduce students with the overlapping and contrasting traditional and contemporary cultural and societal customs in the wider region of Central Eurasia 2) To explain the driving ideological and societal forces that impede or foster such customs and attitudes 3) To generate new analysis and comparisons on existing or/or reoccurring themes Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
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Student evaluation is scaled from A (Excellent) to F (Fail) in accordance with Dean’s Decree No. 17/2018 (https://www.fsv.cuni.cz/opatreni-dekanky-c-172018). Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
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Required Literature ASLAN, E., An Endless War: The Russian-Chechen Conflict in Perspective. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. BIARD, Aurélie, The religious factor in the reification of “neo-ethnic” identities in Kyrgyzstan, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 38, No. 3 (2010), pp. 323-335. BÖRZEl, Tanja A - PAMUK, Yasemin, Pathologies of Europeanisation: Fighting Corruption in the Southern Caucasus, West European Politics, Vol. 35, No. 1, (2012), pp. 79-97. BRAM, Chen - GAMMER, Moshe, Radical Islamism, Traditional Islam and Ethno-Nationalism in the Northern Caucasus, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 49, No. 2 (2013), pp. 296-337 COENE, F., The Caucasus: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2009. COLETTE, H., Seductive Consumption. The influence of pornography on marital sexual demands in Tajikistan. In OMOKARO, Françoise Grange – FENNEKE Reysoo, Chic, chèque, choc. Transactions autour des corps et stratégies amoureuses contemporaires. Berne - Geneve: DDC-Commission suisse pour l’UNESCO - IHEID, 2007. COOLEY, Alexander - SHARMAN, J.C., Blurring the line between licit and illicit: transnational corruption networks in Central Asia and beyond, Central Asian Survey, Vol. 34, No. 1 (2015), pp. 11-28. ESENOVA, S., Soviet Nationality, Identity, and Ethnicity in Central Asia: Historic Narratives and Kazakh Ethnic Identity, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 22, Issue 1, 2002, pp. 11-38 FILETTI, Andrea, Religiosity in the South Caucasus: searching for an underlying logic of religion’s impact on political attitudes, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2014), pp. 219-238. HALBACH, Uwe, Islam in the North Caucasus, Archives de sciences sociales des religions, No. 115 (julliet - septembre 2001). HOLLAND, Edward C., Economic Development and Subsidies in the North Caucasus, Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 63, No. 1 (2016), pp. 50-61. KAMP, Marianne, Gender Ideals and Income Realities: Discourses about Labour and Gender in Uzbekistan, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 33, Issue 3 (September 2005), pp. 403-422. MATSUZATO, Kimitaka - DANIELYAN, Stepan, Faith or Tradition: the Armenian Apostolic Church and Community-Building in Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh, Religion, State and Society, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2013), pp. 18-34. OMELICHEVA, Mariya Y., Islam and power legitimation: instrumentalisation of religion in Central Asian States, Contemporary Politics Vol. 22, No. 2 (2016), pp. 144-163. ROCHE, S., A sound family for a healthy nation: motherhood in Tajik national politics and society, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 44, No. 2, (2016) pp. 207-224. ROY, O., The New Central Asia. The Creation of Nations. New York: New York University Press, 2005, p. 1-25 (Introduction) SABEDASHVILI, T., Gender and Politics in the South Caucasus, Caucasus Analytical Digest, No. 21, 30 November 2010. SCHATZ, E., Reconceptualizing clans: Kinship networks and statehood in Kazakhstan, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2005), pp. 231-254. SOKIRIANSKAIA, E., Families and clans in Ingushetia and Chechnya. A fieldwork report, Central Asian Survey, Vol. 24, No. 4, 2005, pp. 453-467. The Transformation of Central Asia. States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence. In LUONG, P. J., Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004, pp. 1-26. VIRGINIA, M., Law and Custom in the Steppe. The Kazakhs of the Middle Horde and Russian Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century. London: Routledge, 2001, pp. 87-155.
Suggested Literature: De WAAL, Thomas, The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2010. HIRO, Dilip, Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Iran. Overlook Duckworth, 2009. Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
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1) Prior and independent readings by students also based on the use of study support 2) Discussions and interpretations of key themes weekly (at an individual level); two position papers [one-page long] to be uploaded on Moodle in weeks 3 and 9 3) Testing the acquired knowledge through ten open-ended questions in a mid-term exam (week 7) 4) Testing new analytical knowledge acquired through a 2500-word research paper (to be submitted by January 15) The first week, which starts on 5 October at 17:00 Prague time, until 19:50, will be held online via Zoom Meeting
Use of generative AI tools: The use and citation of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT or MS Copilot) in seminar papers and other coursework must comply with the decrees of the IMS Director No. 7/2023 and 9/2023. Generative AI tools may be used unless explicitly prohibited by the instructor. However, they may not be used to generate substantial sections of the text or replace the student’s own intellectual contribution. The student remains fully responsible for any content generated with assistance of AI tools. Presenting AI-generated content, whether verbatim, rephrased, or only slightly modified, as one's own work constitutes plagiarism. Every submitted paper must include a transparent statement specifying which generative AI tools were used, in which stage of the work they were employed, and how they were used, or confirming that no generative AI tools were used. If this statement is missing or incomplete, the instructor is not permitted to accept the paper for evaluation. Unless the instructor explicitly prohibits the use of generative AI tools, the decision to use or not to use them rests fully with the student. The student has the right to request that the instructor does not use AI assistance for evaluating their work.
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: Lochmanová Sára, Mgr. (07.10.2025)
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1) Caucasus identities 2) Gender and society in the Caucasus 3) Family and kinship in the North Caucasus 4) Religion and society in the Caucasus 5) Blood-feuds and the culture of retaliation in the Caucasus 6) Central Asian identities 7) Family and kinship in Central Asian societies 8) Gender, marriages and inter-gender relation in Central Asian societies 9) Religion and society in Central Asia 10) Migration and its impact on Central Asian societies 11) Corruption within Central Eurasian societies Poslední úprava: Brisku Adrian, doc., Ph.D. (02.09.2025)
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