92674 - History of Modern and Contemporary Russia (1)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide essential knowledge on political and social history of Russia from tsar Alexander II (1855) to present day. At the end of the module, students will master the global chronology of the period as well as key controversial issues (forms and paths of “modernization”, revolutionary projects, State violence, dictatorship/totalitarianism, forms and extent of social mobilization). They will have assimilated most recent breakthroughs of scholarship (post-Soviet, German, American, British, German and French). Though the course is focused on domestic history of Russia/USSR, the students will be able to contextualize it in a broader frame, through the study of the ways in which international projects of Russia influenced its domestic agenda.

Course contents

The course (30 h.) will follow a chronological approach.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The students are expected to handle the contents presented during classes, the contents published on IOL and to have read the bibliography indicated below.

Imperial Russia:

Paul Bushkovitch, A concise history of Russia (Cambridge : Cambridge University press, 2012) , chapters 11-12, 15-16

Gregory L. Freeze, ed. Russia : a history (Oxford: Oxford University press, 2000), chapters 7-8-9

Alexandr Polunov, Russia in the Nineteenth Century: Autocracy, Reform, and Social Change, 1814-1914 (London : Routeledge, 2005), introduction and chapters 4-12

Soviet Union:

Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Andrea Graziosi, L'Unione Sovietica : 1914-1991, Bologne, Il Mulino, 2011

 

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

The students are expected to fully handle the contents published on IOL and also  to have read the references indicated above.

 

Teaching methods

The course will be based on frontal lectures and mandatory readings available on IOL. Various types of sources (texts of diverse nature, graphic sources and film material) will be studied during each section.

Assessment methods

In view of the emergency situation arisen during the course and compromising - as was thought at that moment - the previously announced assessments methods, the latter were replaced as announced in the "News" published on 23 March:

"In view of the emergency situation, the written exam will be replaced by an oral exam performed in remote mode through the program Teams.

The exam will consist of 2-3 questions on the content of the course (political & social history of Russia, 1855-1945). The questions will assess students’ handling of primarily the lectures and powerpoints uploaded on the IOL of the course in the section “For the exam” and their reading of the following references

Books (chapters on period 1855-1945)

Alexandr Polunov, Russia in the Nineteenth Century: Autocracy, Reform, and Social Change, 1814-1914 (London: Routeledge, 2005)

Gregory L. Freeze, ed. Russia: a history (Oxford: Oxford University press, 2000)

Paul Bushkovitch. A concise History of Russia (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 2012)

Peter Kenez. A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Articles:

chapter 5 (Kotkin) and 6 (Holquist) of Stalinism: the essential readings, edited by David L. Hoffmann. Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2003 (available online through Unibo catalogue).

Amir Weiner’s article “In the Long Shadow of War: The Second World War and the Soviet and Post-Soviet World.” Diplomatic History 25, No.3 (Summer 2001), 443-456 (uploaded on IOL)

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the student’s ability to use his/her knowledge of facts and scholarly debates to critically present an issue that was addressed in the course."

 

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

 

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarize them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

During frontal lessons the teacher will do ample use of power point presentations.

After class, the powerpoint files and other texts will be uploaded in the teaching material section of the website, so that students will be able to download and learn them.

Other tools will be made available in the teaching material section of the website, such as lists of original terms and abbreviations with their Italian translation.

Office hours

See the website of Vanessa Voisin