Course Description

DESCRIPTION

An introduction to the dominant themes of Russia's past and their impact on the shaping of the present day Russian mind. We will investigate how the occidental and oriental elements blend into a unique Euro-Asian culture, nation, and world power. Selected topics: Slavic mythology and Russian Orthodoxy; Concept of autocracy and legacy of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great; Roots of Russian radicalism; Legacy of Lenin and Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev, Role of Gorbachev and Eltsyn, and a Look into the future, Russian Arts and Music, works by Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol and several other Russian writers and poets.

REQUIRMENTS

Readings for each class, WWW search, Library Research

Class and electronic discussion participation - 15%

Reports - 10%

Five response papers on the movies (2-3 pages) - 10% each

Midterm exam - 10%

Final exam - 15%

BOOKS

Carmichael, Russia. An Illustrated History

Gibian, The Portable Nineteenth-century Russian Reader

Brown, The Protable Twentieth-century Russian reader

ANTHOLOGY of xeroxed materials (about 200 pages)