Two more readings for the middle of next week.

Please read the two chapters entitled by the middle of next week:

• What was Socialism/Communism?
• Want to Control People?

I hope you enjoy the Drakulic book and I look forward to discussing it with you all on Friday!

Best,

Ian

Kosovo Erupting

Of course, this has to happen while we are on Spring Break:

UN troops are withdrawing from Serbian towns due to rioting and injuries to French soldiers. This reminds me of "No Man's Land" in a way. Could be interesting to keep an eye on if you are not in Playa del Carmen.

Story here.

Film Next Week: "No Man's Land"

Dear Class:

Because you were such good sports this past week with my swapping things around on you, we are going to watch a film this week before we discuss Peter Maass. The film is called "No Man's Land." It won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2002. It is about the Bosnian War but rather than emphasizing the brutality of the war itself, it analyzes the situation with a distinctly dark, absurdist Central European perspective. We will begin watching this film on Monday and finish it on Wednesday. I need a volunteer to lead discussion about the film and the Maass reading for Friday.

Also, you should attempt to finish the Ian Buruma book by next week (let's say have it done by the 10th, but we may not discuss it until the 12th or 14th of March.

Finally, your map test will be the week before Spring Break. I am loath to have you take it on a Friday. So which of the two days would you prefer -- Monday or Wednesday? We should discuss this in class tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a good weekend!

Prost,

Ian