Course Description
The Soviet Union stands alone in modern history for the ambition of its utopia - Soviet communists imagined a world free of exploitation, in which material abundance would foster the self-realization of all individuals and a radical equality of class, gender, and ethnicity. But applying that vision to the old Russian Empire forced compromise or, more often, a dangerous disregard for reality. The result was a tragic, often violent, and ultimately failed experiment, though one not without significant accomplishments. Soviet history is dramatic, contentious, and still being written; students will leave this course conversant in all of its major questions.
Athena Title
History of the Soviet Union
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course introduces students to the course of modern Russian history, from the mid-19th century through the collapse of the Soviet Union. A principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
The Great Reforms. 19th-Century Change. Liberal and Revolutionary Oppositions. 1905 and After: Parliamentary Autocracy? The Great War and the End of Tsarism. 1917. The Civil War Ethos and Crafting a “Soviet Union.” NEP and the Question of Alternatives. Stalin’s Rise – and Revolution Reborn. Remaking City and Country: The Five-Year Plans. Remaking Men and Women: From Cultural Revolution to Terror. The Great Patriotic War and a Soviet Body Politic. Late Stalinism at Home and Abroad. Khrushchev in Power. “Stagnation” and Cultural Transformation. Reform, Collapse – Rebirth? Gorbachev and After. What is Russia? The National Question.
Syllabus