Syllabus
Two parts:
1.The Roma and Romani studies: general issues and debates
1) Naming of the Roma, Romani groups in the contemporary world (Pavel Kubaník)
2) Origin of the Roma and its interdisciplinary discourse (Michael Beníšek)
3) European history of the Roma, its research and possibilities of its conceptualization (Helena Sadílková)
4) Migration and movement of the Roma: main directions, localization, and concepts (Markéta Hajská, Jan Ort)
5) Romani dialectology and structure, sociolinguistic situation of Romani language speakers, Roma as multilingual speakers in monolingual states (Kimmo Granquist)
6) Romani feminism and intersectionality (Angela Kocse)
7) Racial justice for Roma (Marton Rovid)
2. The Roma and Romani Studies in the Czech/Czechoslovak context
8) Roma groups in the territory of former Czechoslovakia and their history until the end of the 20th century (overview) (Markéta Hajská)
9) Sociolinguistic situation of Romani in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and Romani in school (Pavel Kubaník)
10) The Holocaust of the Czechoslovak Roma and Sinti, its aftermath and current resonances: debates on the former Gypsy concentration camp in Lety u Písku (Helena Sadílková)
11) Romani literature and art (Jan Červenka)
12) Roma as a subject of anthropological research (Markéta Hajská, Jan Ort)
Annotation
The Roma form an integral part of the European society, history and culture. In spite of the extraordinary diversity of their communities across Europe and inside each of the states on this territory, popular homogenizing image “of the Roma” continues to prevail. Grounded in a mixture of sources ranging from social stereotyping to romanticism and influenced by selective media coverage of the issues connected with the Roma, such image continues to obstruct a more nuanced and inspiring vision of the Roma as European citizens sharing in its history and culture in the large as well as narrow sense of the word. In this course, we will learn about and discuss topics that are key to the understanding of the situation and position of the Roma as one of the largest European historical “minorities”, and the repercussions that stem from this position, including the production of knowledge and research that underpins it. On the example of a selection of topics from different fields of current Romani studies, we will explore not only the present day knowledge on the Roma, but also what this knowledge tells us about the European societies they have historically interacted with. In parallel with this focus, we will also introduce current debates on approaches and methodology in the field of Romani studies, and the possibilities and challenges faced.
The course is composed of twelve thematic lessons which cover the main subdisciplines of Romani studies, such as history, linguistics, anthropology, political science and arts. The first part (seven lessons) of the course is focused on key general issues and debates about the Roma and Romani studies, second part (five lessons) contextualizes and enlarges the introductory general debate in topics relevant for the current Czech republic/former Czechoslovakia. The course is taught by researchers from institutes at four European universities that belong to the current top research and education institutions in the field of Romani studies