Social Change in Central and Eastern Europe: The Impact of Russia’s War Against Ukraine 3700-ISSC-SCCEE-RB

This course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the social, political, and cultural transformations that have reshaped Central and Eastern Europe as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, following the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in the Donbas beginning in 2014, has become one of the most consequential events of the 21st century for the region. It has altered geopolitical alignments, deepened historical narratives, and generated new forms of solidarity, resistance, and political mobilization. The course approaches the war not only as a military conflict but as a catalyst that reveals deeper structures of empire, post-Soviet legacies, and the evolving identity of Europe’s eastern peripheries.
At the center of the course lies the question of how war produces social change. Students will examine how states, communities, and individuals respond to extreme political violence, and how these responses reverberate across borders. Ukraine’s resilience, expressed through civic mobilization, volunteer networks, institutional adaptation, and the emergence of new elites, will serve as a primary case study. Through this lens we will also explore how neighboring societies, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, have interpreted Ukraine’s struggle. Poland, the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova have all undergone significant transformations in security culture, public opinion, refugee policy, and historical self-understanding. These developments will help students grasp how war reshapes regional orders, reopens suppressed memories, and forces societies to redefine their political values.
The course draws on several disciplines. From history, we will examine imperial trajectories of Russia and the Soviet Union and consider how different forms of coloniality shaped relations within the region. Students will engage with the long history of Ukrainian aspirations for autonomy and statehood, and with key events that shaped modern political identities, including the revolutions of 2004 and 2013–14. From political science, we will analyze changing security doctrines, NATO and EU policies, and the wartime transformation of the Ukrainian political field. The role of leadership, especially the symbolic capital mobilized by President Volodymyr Zelensky, will be discussed as part of a broader inquiry into communication, legitimacy, and collective agency.
From sociology, the course will explore social mobilization, the experience of displacement, volunteer infrastructures, and the ways communities adapt under conditions of prolonged uncertainty. The refugee movements of 2022 and beyond, especially the arrival of millions of Ukrainians in Poland and other CEE countries, will serve as a key case for understanding how societies negotiate hospitality, integration, and fear. We will examine reports, surveys, and ethnographic materials that show how public attitudes toward security, democracy, and solidarity have shifted since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion.
Cultural studies and memory studies offer additional perspectives. War generates new narratives, symbols, and artistic expressions. Students will work with literature written during the war, film, documentary projects, photography, and contemporary art. These materials will illustrate how cultural production becomes a form of testimony, resistance, and meaning-making. We will also study memory regimes across the region and analyze how different societies remember World War II, the Soviet past, and earlier conflicts. The renewed debates on decommunization, derussification, and decolonization will be addressed in the context of public space, education, and cultural canons.
Another major theme is information warfare. Russia’s propaganda and disinformation campaigns have targeted both Ukraine and Western publics, aiming to distort political discourse and undermine democratic institutions. At the same time, Ukrainian digital activism and OSINT communities have developed innovative methods of documenting atrocities and countering propaganda. Students will examine specific information campaigns, the role of social media platforms, and the broader question of how digital technologies shape the battlefield of ideas.
The course will rely on a wide range of materials: scholarly texts, policy papers, reports from think tanks, journalistic accounts, political speeches, social media campaigns, and works of literature and art. This diversity will help students interpret the war not only through factual analysis but also through cultural, emotional, and symbolic frameworks.
Although Ukraine is the focal point, the course adopts a regional perspective. Students will compare transformations in various CEE countries, examining why some societies have developed strong pro-Ukrainian solidarity while others remain divided. We will consider domestic political cleavages, memory politics, economic vulnerabilities, and the role of international alliances. This comparative approach will show how the war has destabilized older narratives about Central and Eastern Europe as a coherent space and how new regional identities are emerging.
Ultimately, the course aims to equip students with a multidimensional understanding of how war reshapes societies, identities, and political imaginations. It invites them to reflect on broader questions: How do societies resist imperial aggression? What forms of solidarity develop in times of crisis? How are democratic values renegotiated under threat? How do communities rebuild after trauma? And how does the experience of the war in Ukraine redefine what it means to be part of Europe?
By combining rigorous academic analysis with cultural and historical sensitivity, the course encourages students to think critically, work across disciplines, and engage with contemporary challenges facing the region. It is designed not only to provide knowledge but also to inspire thoughtful, informed, and ethically grounded reflection on the future of Central and Eastern Europe.