B0780 - HISTORY OF THE USSR AND RUSSIA

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims to provide an overview of the social and political evolution of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991 and its legacy for post-Soviet Russia. At the end of the course students will be able to: - describe the main stages of social changes and political governance from the 1917 Revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union – describe the social and political legacies of the Soviet experience for Russia after 1991 – critically present the major scholarly debates on State/society relationships - contextualize Soviet social and political history in a broader framework, analyzing key junctures when Soviet international concerns or ambitions interacted with its domestic agenda.

Contenuti

The history of Russia, the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet states in the 20th century may seem to be molded in violence and radical changes, resulting in a material crisis and a new kind of imperialism. Yet this history is also one of great political and social projects, a form of modernization, a worldwide influence, and audacious and innovative – if unsuccessful to reach the ascribed purpose – nationality policies. The course will explore some of the main dimensions of Soviet and Russian history in the 20th century.

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed below. The aim is to enhance the interaction between the Professor and students.

Lectures (16 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in 2 groups. Students attend a total of 28 hours of classes.

Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the class. Active participation through the discussion of existing scholarship and case studies is highly recommended.

Flexibility and changes on the structure of the course might take place due to emergency contingencies as well as suggestions from students.

A first section (A), common to all students, will explore the tension between the temptation to great power on the one hand (a statist tendency), and the projection outwards of an internationalist ideology on the other hand. It will familiarize students with the general chronology of Soviet (and post-Soviet Russian) foreign policy while also introducing them to the specificity of the Soviet universalist project (Marxist-Leninism, Komintern, Kominform, socialist camp). This section will look at the utopian beliefs and projects from the first decades (the interwar period) to the more pragmatic policy of late-Stalinist USSR and afterwards, up to the stalemate and quagmire of the Afghan war (1979-1989).

A second section will function as a seminar sequence with the active participation of students, discussing selected historiographical essays regarding some of the most recent research in Soviet and Russian history. Students will have to choose and attend only one of the two alternative seminars, SEM1 and SEM2:

• SEMINAR 1 focusing on crime, justice and repression in the Soviet Union: how the successive ordeals of wars, revolutions and accelerated modernization associated with brutal social engineering (that a historian called, already many years ago, a “revolution from above”) disorganized social practices and orders, generating new forms of criminality; how the state policy itself criminalized behaviors such as political non-alignment, work indiscipline, marginal activities; how the central place taken by the Gulag in Soviet society left deep imprint on the minds and the communities after its disappearance. And how justice kept playing a crucial role in a state known for its broad resort to extra-judiciary practices.

• SEMINAR 2 focusing on the Western, European parts of the Russian empire / Soviet Union: the attention will focus on the complex relationship of Russia to Europe, both in terms of political values and representations of itself, and in terms of limits. Where Europe ends and Russia begins, if the latter doesn’t ‘belong’ to the former but pursues its own, specific path (the myth of a ‘Sonderweg’ à la russe can be followed from the ‘Moscow, Third Rome’ of the 16th century to the latest historical considerations of the current president)?

ONLY Students enrolled from the MA MIREES can attend classes both in presence in Bologna and online on MS Teams. Please, contact the Professor on this issue.

Testi/Bibliografia

For those students who have not approached the history of Russia and the Soviet Union before, it is highly recommended to study carefully

• Edele, Mark. The Soviet Union. A Short History. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019.

Readings, which relate to the specific topics of single lectures, will be uploaded on the web (platform Virtuale) before February 2023. See the calendar of the classes in the next section.

Section A (common to all students) for this part of the course the textbook is MANDATORY:

• Pons, Silvio. The global revolution : a history of international communism 1917-1991. Oxford, England : Oxford University Press, 2014

Section B, SEMINAR 1 for this part of the course, the readings indicated below are MANDATORY

Section B, SEMINAR 2 for this part of the course, the readings indicated below are MANDATORY

Metodi didattici

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, along the "Y" system, as detailed in the following program.the student health and safety with the best possible interaction with the Professor and among students.

Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the class, especially in section B.

 

Section A.

8 Lectures (2 hrs each) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline and the chronology of the region. This section relies mainly on frontal lectures with the use of PowerPoint presentations, though active participation of students in class – by asking questions, requiring additional bibliographical advice – is strongly encouraged.

Class 1: 22 Feb., 9-11.00 (Aula 4, Strada Maggiore, 45)

Class 2: 24 Feb., 9-11.00 (Aula C, Via San Petronio vecchio, 32)

Class 3: 1 March, 9-11.00 (Aula 4, Strada Maggiore, 45)

Class 4: 3 March, 9-11.00 (Aula C, Via San Petronio vecchio, 32)

Class 5: 8 March, 9-11.00 (Aula 4, Strada Maggiore, 45)

Class 6: 10 March, 9-11.00 (Aula C, Via San Petronio vecchio, 32)

Class 7: 15 March, 9-11.00 (Aula 4, Strada Maggiore, 45)

Class 8: 17 March, 9-11.00 (Aula C, Via San Petronio vecchio, 32)

 

Section B (Seminaries SEM1 and SEM2)

Two Alternative Seminars of 6 lectures (2 hrs each) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of specific topics. During those classes, the students are required to participate actively, by engaging in discussions among themselves and with the Professor. To this end, they must have prepared the discussion on the concrete topic of the day by reading the texts assigned by the professor.

Lectures by guest-scholars will integrate with further different perspectives and competences the topics under scrutiny.

Voluntary, Oral Presentations by groups of students on topics related readings. The aim is to stimulate cooperation among students on bibliographical research, both by their own and under supervision of the Professor, as well as to improve their capabilities in public speaking.

Sem1 Sem2

12 April (Str Maggiore) 14 April (Via San Petr. vecchio)

19 April (Str Maggiore) 21 April (Via San Petr. vecchio)

26 April (Str Maggiore) 28 April (Via San Petr. vecchio)

3 May (Str Maggiore) 5 May (Via San Petr. vecchio)

10 May (Str Maggiore) 17 May (Str Maggiore)

24 May (Str Maggiore) 26 May (Via San Petr. vecchio)

 

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The exam is composed of two parts.

• The first part consists in active participation during the 8 classes and 6 seminars and a Mid-Term oral exam (2 open-ended questions on the Section A). Participation is assessed in terms of attendance, active interaction reflecting the fulfillment of reading assignments and the student’s analytical & critical skills. This first part of the exam will count for 60% of the grade.

The mid-term oral exam will take place in presence, in Bologna, on either of these days: 29 March, 31 march, 5 April and 4 April from 15.00 to 19.00. Students who can not attend this exam must shift to the status of non-attending students. 

• The second part consists in an essay (5000 words max) on a topic agreed with the professor of Section B-SEM1 or B-SEM2 (40% of grade)

Those who do not pass the Mid-Term exam will be considered, for their marking, as "Non Attending Students".

 

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

The final result is made out of one oral exam with two to four open questions pertaining both to Section A and to the topics of Section B-SEM1 or B-SEM2. Therefore non-attending students must also choose one of the 2 seminars and its reading list.

The first call for non-attending students' will be held in June, a second one will be organized in July.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

The course will make use of ppt and audio-visuals whenever necessary.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Vanessa Voisin