The course deals with main 20th century theoretical approaches of power, communication, ideology and discourse, wellknown authorities (Dijk, Laclau, Schmitt, Reis etc) and links between their thoughts and ideas. Comparing concepts like: ideology, politics, discourse, , power, communication etc. Main idea to explore how in contemporary media age power relation are established through communication, "soft power" In homeworks students are required to exert learned skills for the analyses of concrete sociopolitical phenomena.

Inter-group conflicts that are based on ethnically defined social boundaries remain a salient issue in today's world and prevent states from establishing lasting political and economic conditions for peace and growth. Not just the post-colonial world is frequently errupting in violence between groups that define themselves in ethnic, religious or linguistic terms; also other parts of the world, including the developed democracies are witnessing minority rights movements and ethnic separatism that challenge the status quo of the established nation-states. Finally, different migration waves and mass immigration into the rich "Western" democracies since the mid-20th century have put established understandings and practices of citizenship, democratic representation and justice into question calling for new ways of thinking both theoretically and practically about diversity management and social integration. But what exactly motivates individuals to identify with an ethnic group? What explains the resilience of ethnic identities and their seemingly easy political mobilization? And how can democratic states manage ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity without using violence or other forms of coercion? The course will address these and many other questions, focusing both on theoretical debates about ethnicity, ethnic group formation and conflict as well as on specific ethnopolitical regimes and modes of conflict regulation instituted in countries around the world.

Introduction to the topic; general linguistic and typological perspectives on the topic; Uralistic perspectives and problems; reading; text work; home work; summary.

Introduction to current research problems of phonology, morphology and syntax of Finno-Ugric languages, typological and areal relations; dealing with research questions on the base of different grammars and research traditions, linguistic research on the base of corpora. During the course students write a research paper and carry out a text analysis.

The course involves a study of human rights issues drawing mainly on material from European and international human rights law and domestic legal systems of Europe and North-America. It highlights the key controversies in modern human rights law, and the possible range of responses in different jurisdictions. The course begins with an introduction to comparative human rights. We will then consider the similarities and differences between the basic human rights texts of the jurisdictions and the basic theoretical and legal approaches to protection of human rights. We will then proceed with considering the meaning of particular human rights and their significance in theory and in practice, and the efficacy of the legal institutions designed to protect them. Several specific substantive issues (minority rights, freedom of speech, privacy and equality) will be studied in depth to illustrate the complex interplay between theory, legal concepts and procedure, and between legal and non-legal sources of protection. The course as a whole will aim to provide the opportunity for in-depth comparative study, during which the appropriateness, utility and limits of the comparative legal techniques will be considered.The focus is on comparing reasoning in actual court cases and analyzing them in the larger human rights framework.The topics of the course may change every year.

The course examines the central themes, theories, and concepts of the contemporary study of comparative politics. By gaining a knowledge of key concerns in the field, students will develop an understanding of how political institutions, actors, and processes operate around the world and what implications these arrangements have on democracy, society, and the economy. Importantly, the course will discuss and critically assess the ways in which political systems are changing in the era of technological transformation and how these developments influence the present and the future of liberal democracy