Office Hours: Wed. 11-12; Fri. 1:30-3, Fall 2000

and by appt.

Office phone: x-8527

E-mail: Heather.Hogan@oberlin.edu

This course examines the extraordinary changes that have taken place on the territories of the former Soviet Union by setting these developments firmly into historical context. To this end, we will broadly study the nature and legacy of Stalinism, the impact of World War II on Soviet society, and the Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods. We will study in greater depth the Gorbachev era and then turn to the causes and consequences of the August coup, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Yeltsin regime. Although the basic lines of foreign policy will be sketched, our essential focus will be on the domestic scene in Russia, with particular attention to socio-economic conditions, and popular and dissident culture.

Course Requirements and Expectations:

1) Students are expected to attend all lectures and discussions and are required to take this course in conjunction with History #298, a 1 credit film course taught jointly with Prof. Crowley on Monday nights (7-10pm) in King 337.

A schedule of films and film discussion sessions will be distributed early in the semester. Students are encouraged to take Prof. Crowley's Politics #115, "Introduction to Soviet and Post-Soviet Polities" in conjunction with History #297/298 to enhance the cross-disciplinary aspects of these courses.

2) Active and regular student participation is an essential part of History 297/298. So as to facilitate discussion, I will expect students to prepare a short "working paper" (1 typed page) for each class/ film discussion which identifies the major issues raised in each reading or film, defines the author's/director's point of view, and includes questions to be raised in class. These "working papers" will be turned in but not graded by the instructor.

                     Papers, examinations, grades

1) A primary objective of this course is to enhance studentsí research skills and to do so through the development of an independent, original research project based on the identification and analysis of primary documents, a discussion of relevant secondary works, and the crafting of a coherent narrative and a persuasive argument resulting in a paper of some 15-20 pages in length. This project will be the work of the entire semester and will constitute the largest part (60%) of the grade. Each student will be required to adhere to the following schedule and to compile a portfolio consisting in:

• Conference with instructor on defining a topic/broad area of investigation during the week of Sept. 18. These meetings will be individually scheduled; you should come prepared to discuss your ideas. Skimming Suny, The Soviet Experiment may help you identify a topic of interest. You may also wish to explore web-based materials: see my Resource page for research in Russian/Soviet and Post-Soviet History.
• 1-2 page preliminary write up of topic to be investigated due in my office no later than Wednesday, Sept. 27. You should discuss: why is this topic worth investigating? what is its significance? what are the questions you want to answer? what is interesting or problematic? This essay will not be based on research; it is more like a 'think piece' which sets out issues to be explored and what you might learn from detailed research. In thinking about your topic, you should also consider the possible sources you will need to use and which sources are likely to be found in English translation if you are not able to read Russian.
• Following class with Reference Librarian Haipeng Li on Sept. 29, 1-2 page write up of research strategy and preliminary bibliography due in my office no later than Wednesday, Oct. 4. Now would be a good time to order materials from Interlibrary Loan, if necessary.
• 1-2 page refined thesis statement with an appended annotated bibliography of approximately equal length which identifies and evaluates both primary and secondary materials due no later than Oct.13 (fall break begins). By this point, you should have identified and read at least one monograph central to your research, and you should be thinking about the next assignment due Oct. 27. You should also be well on your way to gathering relevant material, sifting through it, and taking thorough notes on it.
• 2-3 page critical review of a monograph relevant to your topic due Oct. 27 Your review should identify and discuss the argument made, the relevance of this monograph to your work, and the ways in which it helps shed light on other materials, primary or secondary, that you have been reading. Your review should include specific reference to professional reviews of the monograph. Please include xeroxed copies of at least two professional reviews which you have utilized.
• During the second half of the semester as you continue with your research and begin to write, I will expect you to set appointments with me to discuss progress and/or problems with your work. False starts and dead ends are an inevitable part of original researchÖthat's why you need to be working consistently on your project, so that you'll have sufficient time to search out new sources when the ones you had hoped would be useful prove not to be. Well before Thanksgiving break you should begin drafting parts of your paper which is another excellent way to identify gaps in your research that will need to be filled.
• First draft, to be exchanged with another student for critique by Nov. 27. You should plan to meet with your partner a few days later, share your mutual comments on eachother's work, and allow sufficient time so that a reworked version can be submitted to me by Wednesday, Dec. 6.
• Second draft, to be submitted to instructor not later than Wednesday, Dec. 6.
• While not a requirement of the course, many of you will want to share your research findings with the class. Depending of the numbers, we will allot Dec. 4 and 8 for oral presentations.
• Final paper, and portfolio of all the above written work, due in my office my 5pm, Wednesday Dec. 13.

3) take-home final exam (20% of grade)--due no later than 4:00pm, Dec. 21.

                    Lectures, Readings, Resources

Required books available for purchase at the bookstore:

I. Grekova, The Ship of Widows

R. Suny, The Soviet Experiment

All required reading will be placed on Reserve; a course pack of materials will be available for purchase from the instructor.
 
 

                   Approximate Schedule

Sept. 8: Introduction

Sept. 11-18: The Legacies of Stalinism and World War II

    ïGrekova, The Ship of Widows (entire)

    ïBarber and Harrison, The Soviet Home Front, 1941-1945, Ch. 1-4 (pp.3-76)

    ïSuny, The Soviet Experiment, pp. 337-383

Sept. 22-Oct. 2: Khrushchev

    ïSahkarov, Memoirs, pp. 162-175.

    ïBrodsky, "In a Room and a Half," in Less Than One

    ïBreslauer "Khrushchev Reconsidered" in Cohen, Rabinowitch, and Sharlet, eds. The Soviet Union since Stalin
 
    ïAzrael, "Khrushchev Remembered" in Soviet Union, v.2, no. 1 (1975)

    ïSuny, The Soviet Experiment, pp. 387-420

Oct. 6-Oct. 27: Brezhnev

    ïBunce, "The Political Economy of the Brezhnev Era" in British Journal of Political Science, no. 13 (April 1983)

    ïMillar, "The Little Deal: Brezhnev's Contribution to Acquisitive Socialism" Slavic Review, v. 44, no. 4(Winter1985)

    ïBaranskaya -- "A Week Like Any Other Week", Massachusetts Review, Autumn, 1974, pp. 657-703.

    ïSolzhenitsyn, "The Smatterers" in From Under the Rubble (Jan. 1974)
        [Read introductory essay by Max Hayward, pp.v-viii]

    ïSuny, The Soviet Experiment, pp.421-446

Oct. 9: Yom Kippur/ No Class

Oct. 14-Oct .22: Fall Break

Oct. 30-Nov.6: Transition to Gorbachev and the Beginnings of Perestroika

    ïRemnick "The Double Thinkers" in Leninís Tomb, pp.162-79

    ïCohen and van den Heuvel, eds. Voices of Glasnost, pp. 13-32, 115- 139, 140-156

    ïAndreyeva, "I Cannot Waive Principles," (March 1988)

    ïSuny, The Soviet Experiment, pp.449-469

Nov. 10-Nov. 17 From Perestroika to Collapse

    ïGoscillo "A Nation In Search of its Authorsí Glasností, An Anthology of Literature Under Gorbachev

    ïRemnick "Postcards from the Empire" and "The October Revolution" in Leninís Tomb, pp. 234-247 and 306-323

    ïPopov "Dangers of Democracy" New York Review of Books, August 16, 1990

    ïKingston-Mann, "Soviet Women, Soviet Reform, and Media Secrets"

    ïSuny, The Soviet Experiment, pp.469-484.

Nov. 20-Dec.1/ 4: Yeltsinís Russia; Oral Presentations

     Cohen "What's Really Happening in Russia?" The Nation, March 2, 1992

     Remnick, "The October Revolution" in Resurrection

     Tolstaia, "Boris the Firstí New York Review of Books, June 23, 1994

     Kapuscinski, Imperium, pp. 162-180

     Lieven, Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power, pp.1-16; 150-185.

     Rosenberg, "New Lives in the New Russia: Democratic Contradictions after the Fall of the Soviet Regime" in Husband    
     ed., The Human Tradition in Modern Russia

     Graham, "The Politics of Power in Russia" Current History Oct.1999

      Suny, The Soviet Experiment, pp.486-505.
 
 

Dec.8-Dec. 11: What's Next?: Putin's Russia; Oral Presentations; Wrap-Up.