Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Interdisciplinary introduction to main themes and concepts of Central and East European studies, including historical background, nation states and ethnic groups, and languages spoken in area. Focus on politics, society, and culture in communist and early post-communist periods: party control and dissidence; national economic planning and private entrepreneurship; atheist education and state religion; politically engaged literature, mass media, and freedom of expression; sports, visual and performing arts, and nationalism. P/NP or letter grading.