Underground Education

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Universities in Eastern Europe under Communism had to conform to official ideologies, and the level of relative independence they gained were subject to a wide array of factors. This could range from their geographic location and their political stance, to the status and lobbying potential of the rectors, deans and department heads at a given moment. There were certain themes, approaches and, at times, entire disciplines that were totally outcast from official education. Intellectuals, then, turned to other means to continue discussion and spread knowledge on taboo themes. Underground education has a long history in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. Such practices were revived and contributed to the emergence of a "second public sphere." This module lets students to get an insight into this less explored territory of the history of dissidence and education.

Handbook

Video

Readings

Compulsory

Recommended

Free Learning in Poland International Support Committee. (1980). The Polish Review, 25(1), 121–123. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25777738
Vogel, A., Rorty, R., Parsons, H., Outlaw, L., McBride, W., Kahn, C. H., Hiz, H., Gruenbaum, A., Gould, M., Flower, E., Evan, W., Edel, A., Davis, H., Davies, R., Davidson, D., Dallmayr, F., Cornell, D., Chomsky, N., Cohen, R. S., … Bernstein, R. J. (1984, December 6). Crackdown in Yugoslavia. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1984/12/06/crackdown-in-yugoslavia/
Ćosić, D., Bogdanovic, D., Bećković, M., Janković, I., Jovanov, N., Marković, M., Mladenović, T., Nikoliś, G., Palavestra, P., Popović, M., Samardžić, R., Srejović, D., Srbinović, M., Gams, A., Milošević, N., Mihajlović, B., Mihailović, D., Tadić, L., & Čavoski, K. (1985). Belgrade manifesto. Index on Censorship, 14(3), 26–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/03064228508533893
Bernstein, R. (1984, December 15). Political Trial in Yugoslavia: Putting Openness to the Test. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/15/world/political-trial-in-yugoslavia-putting-openness-to-the-test.html
Getler, M. (1978, July 5). History Is Uncensored in Poland’s “Flying Universities.” Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/07/05/history-is-uncensored-in-polands-flying-universities/cfc9c67d-2801-475f-b1f0-5bd88540198b/
Ayer, A. J., Zaki, A., Zinoviev, A., Wiles, P., Venturi, F., Vernant, J.-P., Thompson, E., Thom, R., Taylor, C., Starobinski, J., Skinner, Q., Robinson, J., Quine, W., Putnam, H., Pomian, K., Nozick, R., Myrdal, G., Murdoch, I., McCarthy, M., … Boell, H. (1980, January 24). The Flying University. New York Review of Books. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1980/01/24/the-flying-university/
Falk, B. J. (2003). The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe: Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings. Central European University Press.

Related Collections from COURAGE Registry (selection)

Encyclopedia

From COURAGE Registry (selection)

External Links

Further Sources

Assignments

In-class or short-term assignments

1) Based on the COURAGE Registry and any other source identify a few environments where alternative forms of education took place. Were these groups and circles isolated, or were there contacts between them? If there were no, why was that, and if there were, what kind of contacts were these?

2) What do you think what were the main risks of organizing a flying university under Communism?

Offsite, longer-term assignments

1) Identify as many lecturers at the fora of alternative education in Eastern Europe as you can by using all available sources. Sketch their short biographies. What this tells about their age, social composition, later career? Work in groups!

Discussion

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