92673 - Russia in Global History (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will have acquired an understanding of the historical role played by Russia at a global level, especially as a key region located at the intersection of the European and Asian worlds. Students will be able to critically engage the study of Russian political, economic, social and cultural history, being capable to adopt sound theoretical frameworks and to read a wide set of different relevant sources. At the end of the course, students will also be able to deploy their analytical skills in professional activities linked with the popularization and public use of historical knowledge.

Course contents

The course explores key themes and dynamics of Soviet history, resorting to insights brought by political, social, and cultural history. The students are introduced to the scholarship that aimed to re-situate this history within a broader context, global circulations and interactions. The assumed exceptionality of Russian/Soviet trajectory is reassessed against the backdrop of colonial violence, imperial disintegrations, the emergence of the citizen, the triumph and defeat of ideologies, practices of modern state violence, the emancipation of subaltern groups.

The course begins with a brief overview of late imperial Russia, then focuses on the main phases of Soviet history, integrating recent scholarship. The last six classes - functioning as seminars -  explore a thematics that exemplifies how Russia, despite undeniable exceptional features, fully partook in global dynamics and challenges in the contemporary period.

In 2026/27, the thematics is “making a New Man”. It discusses the ideas of a new human type in the political utopia that was experimented in its peculiar way in the USSR, questioning the link established by diverse social sciences between the personality and the regime, comparing the Soviet case with the Nazi-Germany one, and exploring case studies of Soviet women, youth and "ordinary citizens".

Readings/Bibliography

The mandatory readings for the exam are indicated in the section "Assessment methods" below and on the ‘Virtuale’ space of the course.

In the present section are indicated mere recommendations for students who have not approached the history of Russia and/or the Soviet Union in their former curriculum. Those students are strongly invited to get an overview of contemporary history of the Russian empire and the USSR before the beginning of the classes.

For instance:

· highly readable, succinct, recent and accessible online through AlmaRe: Mark Edele, The Soviet Union. A Short History. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019.

· Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Shortest History of the Soviet Union, Columbia University Press, 2022

· the more detailed synthesis of Andrea Graziosi, L’Unione Sovietica, 1914-1991. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2020 (electronic version of the 2011 print) or finally

· the introduction and chapters on the 19th to 20th centuries of Valerie A. Kivelson and Ronald G. Suny, Russia’s Empires. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017

Other general references include:

· Mark Edele, Debates on Stalinism, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.

· Silvio Pons, The Global Revolution : a History of International communism 1917-1991 (tr. Alan Cameron) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Teaching methods

The classes alternate frontal lectures by the professor and collective discussions of academic texts. The professor will offer and demonstrate the critical methods to apply to these secondary sources. Students are expected to actively participate in class: ask and answer questions, engage with the material continuously, thus improving their methodological skills in the historical interpretation of sources and critical appraisal of scholarship, and acquiring essential knowledge on modern and contemporary Russia.

The space "Virtuale" of the course provides access to the texts to be discussed in class and reviewed for the final exam, explanations on the assignments for attending students, the detailed calendar of the course, and other resources.

Assessment methods

Regular attendance will make it easier to pass the exam. Students are considered attending if they participate in at least 75% of the classes.

The exam is an oral, with different modalities and programs for attending and non-attending students.

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The mark is composed of two parts:

A. The first part is ascribed on the basis of the general participation during classes, especially those dedicated to collective discussions, and on the assignments that will be used as a basis of discussion. To be considered attending, students must send to the professor at least 2 assignments (out of 6 texts discussed in class). The professor provides in due time explanations on the expected preparation, and students can find them in written form on the ‘Virtuale’ space of the course. The use of IA can only be limited as the discussion will make obvious if students actually read and reflected on the text, or did not.

B. An oral exam checking the assimilation of key topics and language seen during the classes (one open question) and (not "or") of the documents (academic articles/chapters) studied collectively (a second open question), applying methods of source criticism studied in class.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

After the end of the classes, students take an oral exam with 2 to 4 questions aimed at verifying their critical study and assimilation of the mandatory literature:

*Radchenko, Sergey. To Run The World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024, 768 pp.

The questions will test the student's ability in exposing with appropriate and precise language: the methodological or conceptual choices made by the author, the sources exploited, and naturally the content of the monograph.

If any question or doubt persists about the content of this oral exam, the students are strongly invited to contact the instructor during scheduled reception hours (see the professor’s personal page).

There will be 6 calls for the final oral exam: one immediately after the end of the course (in priority for exchange students) in December 2026 (date considered: 15 Dec. afternoon); in January 2027; in March; in July; in early September; in December 2027.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

GRADUATION SCALE (FOR ALL STUDENTS)

The final overall grade will be in the range 18-30: - 30 cum laude (outstanding, sure grasp of all the material and many interesting insights) - 28-30 (excellent, sure grasp of all the material and some interesting insights) - 26-27 (very good, competent grasp of all the material) - 24-25 (good, competent grasp of some the material) - 21-23 (satisfactory, partial grasp of the material) - 18-20 (pass, barely sufficient grasp of the material) - 17 or below (fail, insufficient grasp of the material).

Teaching tools

Besides the articles or chapters discussed during classes and the primary sources chosen for students’ presentations, the 'Virtuale' space of the course provides a set of maps, and the most essential instructor's thematical complements.

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Vanessa Denise Aline Voisin