Space, Place, and War in Postsocialist E

This course examines space, place, and war in Ukraine and other postsocialist countries in Eastern Europe through anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will examine how spatial practices speak to personal identity, imperial histories, nationalism, and the brutal needs and consequences of war. Students will tackle how space is made and remade in the postsocialist context. They will also examine how war shapes space in everyday life by engaging with key texts in the ethnography of war. At the end of the semester, the course will focus on wartime reconstruction in Ukraine, inviting practitioners from Ukraine to share their experiences. This course will be conducted in partnership with “Housing, Local Knowledge, and Urban Practice in Ukraine,” a practicum course in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. The final project will be a collaborative exhibit between students in the two courses and will be presented to a jury of Ukrainian stakeholders.