Unit 0: Six Degrees of Russian Separation
21 Aug (Mon): Introduction
Required:
- “Reading Historically”
- “Reading (and Understanding) Literature”
- “Viewing (and Understanding) Painting”
23 Aug (Wed): Contexts
Required:
- Russia in World History, “Preface”
- Excerpts from the Primary Chronicle
- Tale of Igor’s Campaign
Unit 2: The Great State of Kiev
28 Aug (Mon): Baptism of the Rus’ [Intro to Orthodoxy…]
AJ story on Church: https://youtu.be/c_e42p0IMqg
Required:
- Russia in World History, Chapter 1 (pp. 1–14)
- Figes, 292–309; 318–325
- Hilarion, “Sermon on Law and Grace”
- Cyril of Turov, “Sermon on the First Sunday after Easter”
- “The Martyrdom of Boris and Gleb”
30 Aug (Wed): The Great State of Kiev [Great State of Kiev stuff – social.military organization]
Required:
- Russia in World History, Chapter 2 (pp. 15–28)
- Figes, 358–375
- “Tales from the Novgorodian Chronicle”
4 Sep (Mon): No Class – Labor Day Holiday
6 Sep (Wed): Tatar Yoke [Research Project Discussion]
Required:
Required Viewing (after class):
- Alexander Nevsky (1938) [1h 47m]
Unit 3: Moscow, Third Rome?
8 Sep (Mon) Gathering of the Russian Lands [Ivan III]
Viewing Quiz #1 – Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 29–34
- Zadonshchina, in Zenkovsky, 211-223
- “Tale of the White Cowl,” in Zenkovsky, 323–332
- “Letter of Philotheus to Vasilii III”
10 Sep (Wed): Russian Iconography
Unit 4: Between East & West
11 Sep (Mon): Imperial Expansion – Ivan IV
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 34–38
- Figes, 376–384
13 Sep (Wed): Time of Troubles (include Schism)
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 38–44
- Figes, 182–190
- “A French View of Seventeenth-Century Muscovy”
- “Avakkum,” in Zenkovsky, 399–448 ??
18 Sep (Mon): Discussion / Review
20 Sep (Wed): In-Class Exam #1
Unit 5: The Petrine Revolution
25 Sep (Mon): State and Industry
Required:
- Russia in World History, Chapter 4 (pp. 45-59)
- Figes, 4–26
27 Sep (Wed): Culture and the Arts [include peasants to start] contrast with elite opulence
Required:
- Figes, 26–38 [peasant Argunov family]
- “The Peasant Commune”
Unit 6: Russia’s Troubled Enlightenment
2 Oct (Mon): Age of the Nobility
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 60–67
- Figes, 38–68
- Catherine the Great’s “Instructions” (excerpts)
- Radishchev, Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow (excerpts)
4 Oct (Wed): War and Peace
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 68–72
- Figes, 72–101
- “The Decembrists: Extracts from Documents”
- Chaikovskii, 1812 Overture
9 Oct (Mon): No Class – Fall Break
Unit 7: The Russian Idea
11 Oct (Wed): Legacy of Peter the Great
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 68–74
- Figes, 101–118; 150–171
- Aleksandr Pushkin, The Bronze Horseman (1836). Translated with Commentary and Notes by John Dewey
Required Viewing (after class):
- The Overcoat (1959) [1h 15m]
16 Oct (Mon): Slavophils and Westernizers
Viewing Quiz #2 – The Overcoat
Required:
- Figes, 130–146
- Chaadaev, “Apology of a Madman” in Riha, vol. 2, 303–314
- Kireevskii, “On the Nature of European Culture and Its Relation to the Culture of Russia,” in ?????
Unit 8: Remarkable Decades
18 Oct (Wed): Discontents
Required:
- Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Children
23 Oct (Mon): Revolutions in Politics and Culture
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 75–80
- Figes, 171–182; 220–236
- Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Unit 9: Revolutions
25 Oct (Wed): Avant-Garde Art & Music
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 80–91
- Figes, 265–287
- “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” [.pdf]
30 Oct (Mon): October
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 92–102
- Figes, 434–451
- Zamyatin, We
1 Nov (Wed): Discussion / Review
6 Nov (Mon): In-Class Exam #2
Unit 10: The Cult and Culture of Stalin(ism)
8 Nov (Wed): Literature & Art
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 102–109
- Figes, 469–488
- Listen: Prokof’ev, Peter and the Wolf
Required Viewing (after class):
- Chapaev (1934) [1h 30m]
13 Nov (Mon): Architecture & Film
Viewing Quiz #3 – Chapaev (1934)
Required:
- Figes, 451–469
- Palace of Soviets / Reconstruction of Moscow
15 Nov (Wed): GPW through High Stalinism
Required:
- Figes, 488–512
- Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad)
Required Viewing (after class):
- Ivan’s Childhood (1962) [1h 34m]
Unit 11: The Thaw and Perestroika
20 Nov (Mon): The Thaw
Viewing Quiz #4 – Ivan’s Childhood
research projects due
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 110–118
- Figes, 512–519
22 Nov (Wed) – No Class – Thanksgiving Break
27 Nov (Mon): Perestroika to Collapse
Required:
- Russia in World History, pp. 119–126
- Yerofeyev, Moscow to the End of the Line
29 Nov (Wed): Russian Ark – in-class screening (need extra 10 min…)
4 Dec (Mon): Discussion / Review
12 Dec (Tue): Final Exam, 3:00-6:00pm
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