Course aims:

- to define, describe, and explain the key concepts, theories, methods specific to the historical discourse and to develop in students some specific skills about the quantitative and qualitative historical research;
- to identify and use the specific bibliographic and archival resources;
- to develop skills of analysis and interpretation of historical data;
- to identify the most important events and personalities which have marked the historical evolution of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Romanian culture in the inter-war period, and to notice the dynamics of events;
- to apply the principle of right interpretation of the historical phenomenon by the just reporting to its influence on the present

Course Entry Requirements:

N/A

Course contents:

1. Introduction. Technical note; 2. The Vienna Dictate - political and religious consequences; 3-4. The phenomenon of the refuge (1940s, 1943-1944s); 5-6. The drama of the refugee Orthodox clergy; 7. The Legionary Movement in Transylvania (especially the ”Rebellion” from January 1941) - the attitude of the Transylvanian clergy; 8-9. The Transylvanian Orthodox clergy and political actions; 10. The Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan - political attitudes between 1940-1945; 11-12. The attitude of the Transylvanian clergy towards the war and towards its effects; 13. The ROC and the ”Jewish issue”; 14. Retrospection.

Teaching methods:

Lecture, exemplification, conversation, debate.

Learning outcomes:

- critical, selective and systematic attitude towards historical information; - ability of applying the principles for understanding a historical document in an appropriate manner, respectively, to take into account all elements involved (linguistic, socio-cultural, political, religious, etc.), and interpret both in a synchronous and diachronic mode; - critical reading skills on bibliographic sources and ability to initiate own research; - interpretation and critical evaluation of the history of the Romanian Church in the inter-war period.

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Written paper-interpretative essay – 20%. Frontal evaluation/ Oral exam: 80%

Recommended reading:

Alexandru Moraru, Aspecte din activitatea ierarhului Nicolae Colan din perioada 1940–1944, în vol. „Omagiu mitropolitului Nicolae Colan (1893–1993)”, Renasterea, Cluj-Napoca, 1995, p. 101-113.
Mihai Fătu, Biserica românească din nord-vestul ţării sub ocupaţia hothystă (1940–1944), EIBMBOR, Bucuresti, 1985, x.
Cosmin Cosmuța, Vicariatul Ortodox Alba Iulia 1940-1945, PUC, Cluj-Napoca, 2013, 422 p.
George Enache, Ortodoxie şi putere politică în România contemporană (Orthodoxy and Political Power in Contemporary Romania), Nemira, Bucureşti, 2005, 592 p.
Alin Albu, State and Church in World War II. A political and ecclesiastical perspective on the national vocation of the Orthodox clergy, în vol. „Religion and Politics. The Church-State relationship: from Constantine the Great to post-Maastricht Europe”, Reîntregirea, Alba Iulia, 2013, p. 489-504.