The Deal

I'm spending six weeks in Croatia with a study abroad program through Northwestern University. There are fourteen other kids: 10 Americans, and four students from the Balkans (Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria). The approach is inter-disciplinary. So much so that we have 9 different professors, each with different areas of expertise, who all teach us for a few days, giving different approaches to understanding the culture and identity of the Balkans: history, literature, film, linguistics, folklore, etc. I'm getting credit for 2 courses (half of a semester):

Comp Lit 375-z: Literature and the Arts: Dalmatia and the Mediterranean
This course focuses on the study of the concentric circles, cultural influences and borrowing centred on Dalmatia's role as an intermediary between the Balkan hinterland and the Adriatic basin. Topics include the common roots in antiquity and early medieval Christianity, Byzantine commonwealth and the rise of the Latin West, the Renaissance and the Baroque in the shadow of Ottoman conquests, Enlightenment and the rise of national cultures, the culture of Napoleonic revolution and Byronic romanticism, and modernity and its discontents.

History 391-z: The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
This course is a survey of Southeast European history and society from the early medieval period to the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Topics include implications of Ottoman and Habsburg rule, nationalism and wars of independence, crises leading to the Sarajevo assassination, the interwar national question, occupation systems and Communist revolution, and contemporary politics with an emphasis on security and human rights. Specific focus is paid to the aspects leading up to the dissolution of former Yugoslavia.

I am currently in Dubrovnik, at the very bottom of Croatia's Adriatic "tail" but my time here is divided up between different cities in various parts of the country. After two weeks here, we head to the capital, Zagreb, about 10 hours away by bus. Despite the fact that they share a ethno-linguistic heritage, he histories of these cities are completely different. Dubrovnik has a very Mediterranean feel, with a great deal of Italian influence in the architecture, accent and cuisine. This city has always identified with the West, whereas Zagreb is very much part of Central Europe. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the food and customs there are apparently much different from the coast.

From Zagreb, we head back to the coast, spending two days in Zadar, visiting a national park on an archipelago, and then a week in Split, a city built around, and within, the remains of the massive villa constructed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 4th century.