Expatriate Estonian visiting professor teaches a course on nations and empires

In the spring semester, the first expatriate Estonian visiting professor of the University of Tartu David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher teaches a course on nations and empires in a globalising world. Registration to the course is open in the Study Information System until 7 February. 

The English-taught course focuses on the geopolitical situation of the globalising world over a longer period, based on the political theory approaches dealing with nations and empires. The course takes a closer look into the political developments in the late modern period, including the decolonisation of empires into nation-states and the attempts of the most ideologically ambitious imperial nations of the 20th century – Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the USA – to balance the imperialistic and national principles. 

With the expatriate Estonian visiting professorship, acknowledged researchers of Estonian descent are invited to work at the University of Tartu for at least one semester. In the 2020/2021 academic year, the visiting professorship is held by David Beecher. The scholarship allows him to do research and teach at the University of Tartu Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies. The historian and social scientist Beecher is of Estonian descent and works at the University of California (USA) as a lecturer of history and global studies. His main research focus is the cultural and intellectual history of Europe and Russia. 

The English-taught course “Nations and empires in a globalizing world” (course code SVJS.00.026) is designed for all students interested in history. Registration to the course is open in the Study Information System until 7 February. 

For more information on the expatriate Estonian visiting professorship, see University of Tartu web page.