MODERN RUSSIA

							              Brock University History 2P98 – Winter 2010




             MODERN RUSSIA
                     David Schimmelpenninck
                                 Office: GL 233
                            Tel: 688-5550, ext. 3507
                         Email: dschimme@brocku.ca
             Office hours: Monday 14:30-16:00, or by appointment

Lectures are on Monday 17:00-18:50 in TH 244

Seminar 1 meets on Thursday 14:00-14:50 in MC D403
Seminar 3 meets on Friday 1300-1400 in PL 311
Seminar 4 meets on Friday 1200-1300 in TH 133

Films will be screened on Wednesday, Jan. 27, Mar 10 & Mar 31 at 19:00
   in TH 244.


Course Overview
This course surveys the history of Russia from 1801 to the present. It
covers the late Imperial era (from the accession of Tsar Alexander I in 1801
to the reign of Nicholas II), the Revolution of 1917, the Soviet era, and the
transition to post-Communism.
Hist 2P98 – Modern Russia                                                                    2

Requirements & Grading
•   Prospectus – 5% of grade
    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. Due at
    the start of lecture on Monday, February 8.
•   Paper – 25% of grade
    A 10-page paper on a topic relevant to the course. Due at the start of lecture on
    Monday, March 29.
•   Seminar Preparation – 20% of grade
    Prepare and lead 1 seminar during the semester. This includes studying the
    assigned text or film a week in advance and leading the discussion.
•   Seminar Participation – 20% of grade
    Attendance at seminars is mandatory. You are also expected to do the
    readings before all seminar meetings and to participate in the discussions.
•   Final Exam – 30% of grade
    A 3-hour exam, which will be based on the lectures, the texts and the films.

Housekeeping
•   I will consider extensions for medical or personal emergencies, but will grant them
    entirely at my own discretion. In the case of the former, they must be substantiated
    by a doctor’s note, according to Brock’s policy. Emergencies do not include ill-
    tempered computers, nor the exigencies of other courses, jobs, or your love life.
•   Work handed in late without my permission will be penalised by 20% of that
    assignment’s grade for every 24 hours after it is due.
•   Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in severe penalties. Papers will be
    screened by plagiarism-detection software. Please be prepared to submit an
    electronic version of your paper to Turnitin.com, in addition to the printed original.
•   To pass the course you must get a passing average grade AND complete all
    assigned work, including the final exam.
•   Two or more unexcused absences from seminars will jeopardise your grade.

•   You are required to read all assigned texts and to see all films.
•   The authority for style in History Department papers is Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket
    Guide to Writing History.
•   Students will maintain proper decorum during lectures and seminars. This means
    refraining from conversations, texting, or any other behaviour that may distract
    others.

•   As in all classes at Brock, cellphones must always be turned off.
Hist 2P98 – Modern Russia                                                            3




                     Readings


(For a detailed list of required readings please see page 5 of the syllabus)

Jan 11       - 1. Alexander I
             - 2. 1812
No Seminar
Read Evtuhov Chapter 16

Jan 18     - 3. Town & Country
           - 4. Nicholas I
Seminar    - Introduction
Read Evtuhov Chapters 17-19

Jan 25     - 5. The Intelligentsia
           - 6. The Great Reforms
Seminar    - The Superfluous Man
Read Evtuhov 21; see Oblomov on Wednesday, January 27 at 19:00 in TH 244

Feb 1      - 7 & 8. Revolutionary Terrorism
Seminar    - The Intelligentsia
Read Evtuhov 20, “Intelligentsia Seminar Packet”

Feb 8      - 9. The Last Reform
           - 10. Counter-Reform
Seminar    - Emancipation
Read Evtuhov 22-23, “Emancipation Seminar Packet”
☞ Paper prospectus due at start of lecture on Monday, February 8.

Feb 15       - Family Day – no classes

Mar 1      - 11. The Constitutional Autocracy
           - 12. The Radical Opposition
Seminar    - Daily Life in Imperial Russia
Read Evtuhov 24-28, Troyat, Daily Life in Russia under the Last Tsar (selections).

Mar 8      - 13. The End of the Dynasty
           - 14. Lenin
Seminar    - Decadence
Read Evtuhov 29-30; see Agony on Wednesday, March 10 at 19:00 in TH 244
Hist 2P98 – Modern Russia                                                        4

Lectures, Readings and Films, cont’d

Mar 15     - 15. Bolshevik Consolidation
           - 16. Early Challenges
Seminar    - Leninism
Read Evtuhov 31-32, “Leninism Seminar Packet”

Mar 22     - 17. Stalin’s Rise
           - 18. Planning Utopia
Seminar    - Leninism
Read Evtuhov, 33-34, “Stalinism Seminar Packet”

Mar 29     - 19. Father and Teacher
           - 20. The Big Chill
Seminar    - The GULAG
Read Evtuhov 35-37, Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
☞ Paper due at start of lecture on Monday, Mar 29

Apr 5      - 21. The Thaw
           - 22. Stagnation
Seminar    - Daily Life in Soviet Russia
Read Evtuhov 38-40
See Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears on Wednesday, March 31 at 19:00 in TH 244


Apr 12     - 23. Perestroika & Rebirth
           - 24. Review
Read Evtuhov 41-43
Hist 2P98 – Modern Russia                                                            5



                      Required
                      Texts
                      and
                      Films
1. Books to buy at Brock University Bookstore
Catherine Evtuhov, et al, A History of Russia (Boston, 2004)
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (New York, 1990)
Recommended: Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing History
   (Boston, 2001)

2. Texts on reserve at Gibson Library
Henri Troyat, Daily Life in Russia under the Last Tsar (Stanford, 1961).
“Intelligentsia Seminar Packet”
    • Martin Malia, “What Is the Intelligentsia?” Daedalus 89 (1960), 441-458.
    • Vissarion Belinskii, “Letter to Gogol.”
    • Alexander Herzen, “The Russian People and Socialism.”
“Emancipation Seminar Packet”
    • “Golden Charter” from Kharkov Province.
    • Gregory Freeze (ed.), From Supplication to Revolution (Oxford, 1988), 170-179.
    • Terence Emmons, “The Peasant and the Emancipation,” Wayne S. Vucinich
     (ed.), The Peasant in Nineteenth-Century Russia (Stanford, 1968), 41-71.
“Leninism Seminar Packet”
    • Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
    • Robert C. Tucker (ed.), The Lenin Anthology (New York, 1975), 23-31, 76-79, 148-
    152, 640-644.
    • Rosa Luxemburg, “Leninism or Marxism?”
“Collectivisation Seminar Packet”
    • Joseph Stalin, “Concerning Questions of Agrarian Policy in the U.S.S.R.”
      http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1929/12/27.htm
    • James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State (New Haven, 1998), 193-222.
    • Fedor Belov, The History of a Soviet Collective Farm (New York, 1955), 1-26.

3. Films
Oblomov (Nikita Mikhailkov, 1979).
Agony (Elem Klimov, 1977).
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Vladimir Menshov, 1981).