Course Syllabus
Course Number/Name: HIS 315 Russian/Soviet Society of the Twentieth Century Section #: HIS-315-
03609
Course Room #: Stark Hall, Room 16
Term: 05 September 2007--21 December 2007, Monday/Wednesday 09:30AM - 10:45AM
Faculty Name: Lyra Riabov
Email address: i.riabov@snhu.edu
Blackboard Workspace Address: http://blackboard.snhu.edu/
Office: Belknap 122
Office Hours: Mon/Wed 11:00-12:30; Tue/Thu 3:00-4:00
Phone Ext: 3384
Website: http://acadweb.snhu.edu/riabov_lyra/his315.htm
Required TEXTBOOKS:
Russia: A History Edited by Gregory L. Freeze Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, NY, 2002, ISBN:
0-19-860511-0 2 nd edition
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-679-774-38-6
The 900 Days The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison Salisbury Perseus Book Group www.dacapopress.com
ISBN0-306-81298-3 Second Da Capo Press Edition 2003
Recommended additional books:
The Russians Hedrick Smith (Revised edition, Twenty Fifth Printing).
Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1993,
ISBN: 0-345-31746-7.
The New Russians, Hedrick Smith, Avon Books, New York, NY, 1991,
ISBN: 0-380-71651-8.
List of Books in the SNHU Library on Reserve
The use of the instructor ’s website: http://acadweb.snhu.edu/riabov_lyra/Lyra_Web/his315.htm
and course Blackboard : http://blackboard.snhu.edu/ is required.
COURSE PREREQUISITES :
Junior standing and completion of a core course in government, sociology or history
COURSE DESCRIPTION :
This course studies Russian/Soviet Society of the Twentieth Century. The course will begin with a survey of the roots of the Russian national character: the Era of Kievan Rus, conversion to Christianity,
Mongol invasion, the time of Ivan the Terrible, state building; reforms of Peter I and Catherine the
Great: Westernizing Russia; brief survey of Imperial Russia 1613-1917. During the Soviet period emphasis is on the changing relationship between state and society, culture and ideology, economy and politics; World War II, Khrushchev reforms, then Gorbachev's attempts at reform and limited democratization; the upsurge of minority nationalism; and the collapse of Communist rule and State
Disintegration. The course will also cover the period of the late 1990s to present: the rebuilding of
Russia, economy recovery, reforms, and risks.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The course will develop through lectures, reflections of reading, video presentations, and discussions. The focus is on the students' critical ability to discriminate between conflicting interpretations and perspectives found in the lectures, classmate’s presentations, reading and visual resources. Students will develop the insights through examination of major historical, political, cultural, social and religious causes that affected the development of the Twentieth century Russian society.
Students will also discuss the role of Russian literature, art, and the Russian intelligentsia by reading a
Russian novel and poetry, and viewing Russian Art online
Students will enhance ability to communicate ideas clearly and convincingly, verbally and in writing
Format of Course:
Students are expected to participate in class and e-discussions of the reading materials, prepare a project on an assigned topic, and deliver it as an oral presentation using MS PowerPoint, also lead a discussion on this topic. Handouts and PowerPoint Slides must be available to the classmates through Blackboard.
Lecture note taking is essential as the lectures will not repeat, but compliment the reading materials.
Students will take one short answer quiz, write an 8-10 pages research paper and take an essay exam at the end of the course. The topic for the research paper should be discussed with the instructor. A 1-page statement of intent for the paper to be written during the term must include proper bibliographical citations of at least 5 sources you plan to use.
This statement is due no later than October 22.
Please submit both a hard copy of your paper along with an e- copy in the Blackboard
A 2-hour essay exam will be based on the concepts covered in the lectures, the textbooks, student presentations, and discussions.
WEEKLY READINGS/ASSIGNMENTS/EXAM SCHEDULE :
Use of Weekly Assignments Page on the course Website is required http://acadweb.snhu.edu/riabov_lyra/his315.htm
Course Blackboard: http://blackboard.snhu.edu/ will support Weekly Assignments Page on the course Website in details as the course progresses as well as contain certain course materials, discussion forums, and submission box.
Date
Week 1
September 5
Topic
The Roots of Russian
National Character:
Resources
Introduction to the
Course
Assignments
Read Textbook Chapters 1,
2, 3
Geography , Population , Old
Russian Culture and Religion:
The Origin of the Culture
Prince Vladimir adopted
Orthodox Christianity in 988
Two hundred year Mongol
Lecture
Video
The Roots of Russian
National Character
PowerPoint Slides
Use and
Reading Resources
Culture and Art
Resources invasion (1237-1480)
Democracy roots in Great
Novgorod and Rise of Moskovy
(XIIth – XVth) Fascinating art and architecture of Kievan Rus,
Novgorod, and Moscow (XIth –
Bucknell University
Chronology 859-1240
Distribution of the Project
Topics for Oral
Presentations
Distribution of Readings
XVIth centuries)
Minnesota state University
E-Museum Russian
History Interactive
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Week 2
September 10,
12
Imperial Russia
Reforms of Peter I and
Catherine the Great:
Westernizing Russia
War of 1812
The Golden Age of Russian
Culture
Chronology
Lecture
Imperial Russia
PowerPoint Slides
Video
Discussion on Russian Culture for
Oral Reflection
Read Textbook Chapters:
4 ,5
Bucknell University
Chronology 1689-1917
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Week 3
September 17,
19
Revolutionary Movement in
Russia
The Decembrists 1825,
Abolition of Serfdom
Narodniks and People Will,
Marxism in Russia, Lenin and the Bolsheviks, Intellectual and
Cultural life
Lecture
Video
Discussion
Read Textbook Chapters: 6,
7
Use and
Reading Resources
Culture and Art
Resources
Week 4
September 24,
26
Revolutionary Russia1905-
1917
The 1905 revolution
The February 1917 Revolution
The October Revolution, 1917
Russia in War and Revolution
1914-1921 Lenin's New
Economic Policy (NEP)
Lecture
Soviet Russia PowerPoint
Slides
Video
Discussion moderated by the student presenter
Look up terms in
Read Textbook Chapters: 8,
9, 10
Read "Doctor Zhivago"by
Boris Pasternak and see the film "Doctor Zhivago"
Students' oral presentation: Lenin (9/26)
Presenters:
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
A Soviet Lexicon:
Important Concepts,
Terms, and Phrases.
Laird, Roy D. Lexington,
Mass.: Lexington Books:
Toronto, c1988.
(On reserve in the library)
Week 5
October 1, 3
Building Stalinism 1929-1941
Building Socialism in One
Country Stalin's Reforms:
Industrialization, Collectivization
Stalin's Terror (Purges)
Lecture
Video
Discussion moderated by the student presenter
Bucknell University
Chronology 1917 – 1991
Read Textbook Chapter: 11
Students' Oral
Presentation: Stalin (10/3)
Presenters:
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Week 6
October 8
Columbus Day
Quiz: Textbook Chapters 1-12
(online/Digital Drop box in the
Lecture,
Video: Stalingrad Battle and Siege of Leningrad
Read Textbook Chapter: 12
Use and
Reading Resources
Culture and Art
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No classes
October 10
Week 7
October 15,17
Week 8
October 22,24
Blackboard ) Discussion
Also, Student’s oral presentation and discussion: Anna
Akhmatova (10/10)
World War II and Its
Aftermath.
Meeting of American and
Russian troops on the Elba river in Germany in1945
WW II Monument in
Washington, DC
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Also, Student’s oral presentation and discussion:
Shostakovich (10/17)
Resources
Student’s oral presentation and discussion: Boris
Pasternack and his novel
“Dr. Zhivago” (10/10)
Presenters:
Read selected chapters from “The 900 Days The
Siege of Leningrad ” by
Harrison Salisbury
Student’s oral presentation and discussion: World War II the Siege of Leningrad
(10/17)
Presenters:
Read selected chapters from “The 900 Days The
Siege of Leningrad ” by
Harrison Salisbury
Read Textbook Chapter 13
Read The Russians by
H. Smith Part One
( recommended )
From Stalinism to Stagnation
1953-85Soviet Society
The Rise and Fall of
Khrushchev
Living Standards
The Soviet Family
Women in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Concept of Man
Lecture
Russia: Dissent,
Reforms1953-1995
PowerPoint Slides
Video
Discussion moderated by the student presenter
A 1-page statement of intent for the paper is due no later than
October 22. (See
Syllabus: Format of
Course)
Student's oral presentation:
Khrushchev(10/24)
Presenters:
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Week 9
October 29, 31
The Soviet Union in the1970-
1985
Years of Stagnation (Brezhnev)
Religion, Nationality, Dissent,
The system of Soviet
Education,
Communist Party and Soviet
Art.
Lecture, Video The New
Russians by H. Smith
Read: The Russians by
Hedrick Smith Part 2,3
(recommended)
Discussion
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Week 10
November 5, 7
From Perestroika Towards a
New Order 1985-95
Gorbachev and His Reforms.
Perestroika (restructuring),
Glasnost (openness),
Lecture, Video:
H. Smith, Inside
Gorbachev's Russia
Discussion moderated by
Read Textbook chapter:
14
Discussion
Students' oral presentation:
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US-CIS Relations the student presenter
Bucknell University chronology 1991 – present
Gorbachev(11/7)
Presenters:
Use and
Reading Resources
Culture and Art
Resources
Week 11
November
12,14
Week 12
November 19
21 -23
Thanksgiving
Break
Week 13
November 26,
28
Rebuilding Russia 1996-
Present
State Disintegration,
"Catastroika" (Financial Crisis),
Society: Polarization, degradation, and Deviance
Rebuilding the State
The Economy: Recovery,
Reform, and the Risk
Inside Putin's Russia
Rebuilding the State
The Economy: Recovery,
Reform, and the Risk
Inside Putin's Russia
Lecture, Video
Discussion
Lecture, Video
Discussion
Lecture, Video
Discussion moderated by the student presenter
Week 14
December 3, 5
Week 15
December 10,
12
Students' brief reflections
Russian Culture
Review of the course:
Students' brief reflections
Russian Culture on on
Students’ Presentations
Discussion
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Video
Students’ Presentations
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Week 16
December 17-
21
Final Exams December:
Final Exam: Essay
(Online/ Digital Drop
Box in the Blackboard)
Recommended Readings: (available in SNHU library)
Read Textbook chapter:
15
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Student's oral presentation: The Boris
Yeltsin Era (11/26)
Presenters:
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Student’s oral presentation and discussion: Yevtushenko
12/5
Presenters:
Use Reading Resources and Culture and Art
Resources
Student’s oral presentation and discussion: Tchaikovsky
(12/12)
Presenters:
Research Paper is due
December 10
Self Assessment is due
December 12
See Syllabus for the grading Policy
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The New Russians by Hedrick Smith. Paperback Reprint edition. Avon Books: ISBN: 0380716518
McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union.
Journey into the Whirlwind by Eugene Ginzburg
Current American, Russian and International Press
Mikhael S. Gorbachev: An Intimate Biography by the Editors of Time Magazine
The Gorbachev Era by Alexander Dallin and Condoleesa Rice
Khrushchev Remembers.
Russia...Broken Idols by David Shipler
Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Resnick.Vintage Books;ISBN:0679751254
Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed
Robert Service, Lenin (a biography).
Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000, ISBN: 0-674-00330-9
Robert Service, A History of Twentieth Century Russia
5 th edition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999, ISBN: 0-674-40348-7 (pbk)
Alexander N. Yakovlev, A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia, (translated by Anthony Austin).
Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2000.
ISBN: 0-300-10322-0 (pbk)
Robert K. Massie, Peter the Great: His Life and World.
Sixth Printing.
Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1986 ISBN 0-345-33619-4
Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Dell Publishing Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1969
Geoffrey Hosking, The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1985, ISBN: 0-674-30440-3 (pbk)
Richard Appignanesi, Lenin for Beginners.
Pantheon Books, New York, NY, 1978 ISBN: 0-394-73715-6
Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World.
Harper & Row Publishers, New York, NY, 1987 ISBN: 0-06-039085-9
Peter Ustinov, My Russia.
An Atlantic Monthly Press Book. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, 1983. ISBN: 0-316-89052-9
Suzanne Massie, Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia.
A Touchstone Book, New York, NY, 1982 ISBN: 0-671-46059-5 (pbk.)
Orlando Figes, Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia.
Metropolitan Books, New York, NY, 2002. ISBN: 0-8050-5783-8
W. Bruce Lincoln, Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia.
Basic Books, 2000 ISBN: 0-465-08323-4.
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W. Bruce Lincoln, Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of a Thousand Years of Artistic Life in Russia.
Viking, 1998 ISBN: 0-670-87568-6.
Other Readings: (available in libraries and Amazon. com)
Nove A, An Economic History of the USSR (1992)
A Vision Unfulfilled: Russia & the Soviet Union in the Twentieth Century by John M. Thomson. Paperback
D. C. Heath Co; ISBN:066928291X
Russia-Women-Culture by Helena Goscilo Beth Holgrem. Indiana University Press; ISBN:0253210445
Gorbachev, by Mikhail Gorbachev George Shriver. Columbia University Press; ISBN:0231115148
The Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes. Vintage Books; ISBN:0679736603
Peter the Great: His Life and World, by Robert K. Massie. Ballantine Books; ISBN:0345336194
Resurrection: The struggle for a New Russia by David Remnick. Vintage Books; ISBN:0375750231
Roy Medvedev and Zhores Medvedev, The Unknown Stalin: His Life, Death, and Legacy.
The Overlook Press, 2004, ISBN: 1-58567-502-4
William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2003, ISBN: 0-393-32484-2
Paul Klebnikov, Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism
(Boris Berezovsky and Looting of Russia).
Harcourt, Inc., New York, NY, 2000, ISBN: 0-15-100621-0
Richard Pipes, The Russian Revolution.
Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., New York, NY, 1990,ISBN: 0-679-73660-3
Richard Pipes, Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime.
Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., New York, NY, 1995,ISBN: 0-394-50242-6
From Russia to USSR and Beyond: A Narrative and Documentary History by Janet G. Vaillant/John II
Richards. Paperback 2nd edition. Longman Group United Kingdom; ISBN:0801307791
Recommended Films:
Doctor Zhivago 1965 version
Oblomov (Nikita Mikhailkov, 1979).
East-West (France-Russia-Spain-Bulgaria, 1999)
Régis Wargnier, director
Rasputin (Elem Klimov, 1977).
Burnt by the Sun (Nikita Mikhailkov, 1994)
The Cranes Are Flying , directed by Mikhail Kalatozov in 1957
The Ballad of a Soldier directed by Grigory Chukhrai in 1959
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Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1979) Director: Vladimir Menshov
Andrei Rublev by director Andrei Tarkovsky
Alexander Nevsky directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein 1938
Nicolas and Alexandra
The Inner Circle (1991) Director Andrei Konchalovsky
Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 1 and 2 (1959) Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Internet Resources
(Available online See titles and links on the instructor’s course website: http://acadweb.snhu.edu/riabov_lyra/his315.htm )
COURSE EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Your grade will be determined by how many points you earn during the semester. Points are base on the following assignments:
Research Paper
Quiz
Oral presentations and moderating a discussion
Participation in discussions and attendance
Final Exam (essay)
Total:
GRADING POLICY:
25 points (25%)
15 points (15%)
25 points (25%)
10 points (10%)
25 points (25%)
100 points (100%)
Extensions of due dates or make-ups will be considered only for medical emergencies
You are required to read all assigned texts and to see all the films.
Due dates must be met
ATTENDANCE POLICY :
Attendance is crucial for the successful accomplishment of the course.
Copyright Policy: Southern New Hampshire University abides by the provisions of United States Copyright
Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). Any person who infringes the copyright law is liable. The Copyright
Policy can be secured from the Library Director and is accessible (under Guides/Tutorials) on the Shapiro
Library web pages.
Academic Honesty Policy : Southern New Hampshire University requires all students to adhere to high standards of integrity in their academic work. Activities such as plagiarism and cheating are not condoned by the university. Students involved in such activities are subject to serious disciplinary action. Plagiarism is defined as the use, whether by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another without full and clear acknowledgment. Cheating includes the giving or receiving of unauthorized assistance on quizzes, examinations or written assignments from any source not approved by the instructor.
*For a full definition of academic dishonesty please refer to the undergraduate catalog, graduate catalog or CE bulletin.
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ADA/504 Compliance Statement: Southern New Hampshire University is committed to and concerned with meeting the needs of students challenged by physical, sensory, psychiatric and/or learning disabilities. At the beginning of each term, or as soon as you become aware of a disability, we encourage you to request those accommodations which you need to meet your academic goals.
To ensure that all of your needs are met, the University recommends that you meet with one of the following individuals who will assist you in making contact with appropriate faculty members and support services staff regarding accommodations:
For questions concerning compliance matters, grievance or legal issues:
Ms. Jet Goldberg
Director of Wellness Center
603-645-9679
For questions concerning support services, documentation guidelines, or general disability issues:
Office of Disability Services
Exeter Hall, CLASS Office, Suite 101
Phone: 603.668.2211
Hyla Jaffe, Director, ext.2386,
Lisa Levy, Disability Specialist, ext.2035,
Library Resources Statement: In addition to the intellectual resources available on site and online
( http://www.snhu.edu/library.htm
), Shapiro Library makes available group and one-on-one instruction in information literacy, enabling students to define and articulate what knowledge-based resources are relevant to their research interests. Library staff are available to assist students in effectively and efficiently accessing information from credible sources, to compare new knowledge with prior beliefs, and to consider the related ethical, legal, and socio-economic issues that are inherent in scholarly investigation.
X YES NO The use of Blackboard™ is required in this course.
Blackboard ™ is the free software that the university uses to enhance learning. It is available through any web browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer). Instruction in how we will use Blackboard ™ will be covered in class.
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