Hybridveranstaltung

How can we understand Belarus historically, politically, and culturally, positioned between Europe and Russia, and shaped by authoritarian rule, memory politics, and ongoing social change? This seminar approaches Belarus through the lens of Public History and Decolonial Theory to critically examine how narratives about the country have been constructed, contested, and instrumentalized.

The seminar reframes Belarus not as a passive “in-between” space but as a site of epistemic struggle. Students will analyze how imperial legacies and post-imperial situations continue to shape historical narratives, cultural identities, and political imaginaries.

Special attention is given to memory politics, including competing interpretations of the Soviet past, World War II, and recent protest movements. Through case studies students will investigate how public history practices can both reproduce and challenge dominant narratives.

By engaging with grassroots initiatives, exile communities, and alternative archives, the seminar highlights decolonial strategies that seek to pluralize voices, recover marginalized histories, and rethink Belarusian agency beyond binary geopolitical frameworks.