History 591: The Russian Empire

 

Fall 2008, MWF 2:30-3:20, EH 224
Professor David Stone                                                  Office: EH 318
email: stone@ksu.edu                                                   Phone: 532-2978

 

I'm available in my office to discuss problems and questions Monday 9:30-10:30, Friday 2:00-3:00, or by appointment, or whenever you can catch me.  Email is better than phone for contacting me.

This course will cover the history of imperial Russia from the founding of Kievan Rus’ in the 800s through the mid-19th century. The story continues next semester with Russia in the 20th century.  This semester will focus on two key themes.  The first is Russia's experience as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire; the second is Russia’s enduring difficulty balancing state and society: why the Russian state resisted society’s participation in governing for so long, and why Russian society was so alienated from the Russian state.  These important themes are one of the reasons this course qualifies as general education.

Both these issues have enduring significance, despite their distance in time, space, and culture from our own lives.  You should not feel intimidated by strange names or concepts--everyone starts studying Russian history knowing very little about it.  The point isn’t what you know coming in, but what you know going out.


GRADE BREAKDOWN:       


20 points                1st paper (Muscovy)
20                         2nd paper (Peter the Great)
20                         3rd paper (Dead Souls)
20                         midterm examination
30                         final examination
30                         10 quizzes @ 4 points each, graded out of 30 points
20                          participation                                       
--
160 total points possible


REQUIREMENTS:

READING.  I expect all students to keep up on the course reading.

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION.  This class has both lectures and discussions.  Even during lectures, I welcome your questions, comments, and contributions.  Discussion days, usually Fridays, depend on participation.  If you have trouble talking in class, see me.  You will still need to participate.  Since this is a general education course, it has to have active student participation.

WRITING.  You will write three papers.  Topics will be distributed two weeks before the papers are due.  I expect papers to be handed in on time.  Late papers will be marked down 10% for each day they are late.

ATTENDANCE.  Since this is a general education class, and attendance / participation is extremely important.  I notice absences, and excessive absences will hurt your grade.

EXAMS.  The class will include a midterm and final covering readings and lectures.  Each lecture will include certain key terms; you are responsible for them on exams.  Make-up exams are given only under dire and WELL-DOCUMENTED circumstances.  The final exam covers only material since the midterm.

QUIZZES.  Five of the discussion days will begin with unannounced short quizzes over the assigned reading.  These quizzes will be OPEN NOTE but NOT OPEN BOOK, so you should take reading notes as you go.

EMAIL ACCOUNT.  Important information will be distributed via the class listserv.  You are required to subscribe to it.  If you use a K-State account, you will be automatically subscribed.  If you do not a ksu.edu email account, you need to subscribe yourself.  If you use a hotmail.com email account, I suggest you switch.  Hotmail is unreliable in terms of getting listserv messages, and you will miss important information.

TEXTBOOKS.  All four required texts are available for purchase at Varney's and the Union.

   Cracraft, Peter the Great Transforms Russia
   Gogol, Dead Souls
   Riasanovsky and Steinberg, A History of Russia to 1855
   Stone, A Military History of Russia

There is also a large and REQUIRED packet of readings available for purchase from the copy center in the basement of Eisenhower Hall.

Any student with a disability requiring accommodation should contact me as soon as possible. 

SCHEDULE.  NOTE: the readings listed with a particular day are to be read BY THE START OF CLASS THAT DAY


August 25.  Lecture: Intro to Class; Looking Backwards.
August 27.  Lecture: The Prehistory of Russia.  Reading: History of Russia, Chaps. 1-2, pp. 3-19.
August 29.  Discussion: The Big Picture.  Reading: Kliuchevskii article (packet), Odom article (packet), Stone, Intro.

September 1.  LABOR DAY.  NO CLASS.
September 3.  Lecture: The Kievan State.  Reading: History of Russia, Chaps. 3 and 1st part of Chap. 4, pp. 21-34.
September 5. Lecture: Kievan Decline.  Reading: History of Russia, pp. 35-38.

September 8. The Mongol Invasion (guest lecture).  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 8, pp. 63-71.
September 10. Lecture: Kievan Society.  Reading: History of Russia, Chaps. 5-6,  pp. 39-57.
September 12.  NO CLASS.  Instructor out of town.

September 15.  Discussion: The Mongol Impact on Russia.  Reading: Vernadsky and Halperin Mongol readings (packet).
September 17.  Lecture: Appanage Russia.  Reading: History of Russia, Chaps. 7 and 12, pp. 59-62, 105-122.
September 19.  Lecture: Russian Orthodoxy. Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 13, pp. 111-122.

September 22.  Lecture: Lord Novgorod the Great.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 9, pp. 72-81.
September 24.  Lecture: Poland-Lithuania.  Reading: History of Russia, Chaps. 10 and 14, pp. 82-87, 123-129
September 26.  Discussion: To whom does Kievan Rus’ belong? Reading: packet articles on Russian vs. Ukrainian history; Hrushevskii essay

September 29.  Lecture: The Growth of Muscovy.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 11, pp. 88-104; Stone, pp. 1-5.
October 1.  Lecture: Ivan the Terrible, pt. 1.  Reading: History of Russia, 1st part of Chap. 15, pp. 131-136; Stone, pp. 6-13.
October 3.  Lecture: Ivan the Terrible, pt. 2.  Reading: History of Russia, 2nd part of Chap. 15, pp. 136-143; Stone, pp. 14-18.

October 6.  FALL BREAK.  NO CLASS.
October 8. Discussion: Muscovite political philosophy.  Reading: political documents, Kurbskii, Domostroi (packet).
October 10.  NO CLASS.

October 13. Lecture: The Time of Troubles.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 16, pp. 144-160; Stone, Chap. 2.
    FIRST PAPER DUE on Monday, October 13, on Muscovite political philosophy.
October 15. Lecture: Rise of the Romanovs.  Reading: 1st part of Chap. 17, pp. 161-164; Stone, pp. 30-34.
October 17.  Discussion: Orthodoxy, Old Belief, and the schism.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 19; documents on Nikon's reforms, excerpts from Avvakum's autobiography (packet).

October 20. Lecture: from Aleksei to Peter. Reading: History of Russia, 2nd part of Chap. 17, pp. 164-180, start of Chap. 20, pp. 197-203; Stone, pp. 34-43; Cracraft, pt. I.
October 22. MIDTERM EXAM.
October 24. Lecture: Peter the Great's Foreign Policy.  Reading: History of Russia, 1st part of Chap. 20, pp. 197-210; Stone, Chap. 4; Cracraft, pt. II.

October 27. Lecture: Peter the Great's Domestic Policy.  Reading: 2nd part of Chap. 20, pp. 210-222; Cracraft, pts. III-VI.
October 29. Lecture: After Peter.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 21, pp. 223-234; Cracraft, pt. VII.
October 31. Lecture: Peter III and Catherine the Great.  Reading: History of Russia, 1st part of Chap. 22, pp. 235-239.
    SECOND PAPER DUE on Friday, October 31, on Peter the Great.

November 3. Lecture: Catherine the Great: economy and society.  Reading: History of Russia, 2nd part of Chap. 22 and Chap. 23, pp. 239-245 and 256-263.
November 5. Lecture: Catherine the Great: Russian foreign policy. Reading: History of Russia, pp. 245-255.
November 7.  Discussion: Russian absolutism.  Reading: documents, excerpt from Catherine's Instructions, Karamzin's Memoir (packet)

November 10. Lecture: The Turkish Wars.  Reading: Stone, Chaps. 5-6.
November 12. Lecture: Lecture: Paul and Alexander.  Reading: History of Russia, Chap. 25, pp. 279-288.
November 14.  Discussion: Golden Age Russian Culture.  Reading: History of Russia, 1st part of Chap. 28, pp. 323-333; stories from Pushkin, Gogol (in packet)

November 17. Lecture: Russia and Napoleon.  Reading: History of Russia, middle part of Chap. 25, pp. 288-296; Stone, Chap. 7.
November 19. Lecture: Reaction under Nicholas I.  Reading: History of Russia, end of chap. 25, pp. 296-300; Chap. 26, pp. 301-316.
November 21.  NO CLASS.  Professor Stone out of town at a conference.

November 24. Discussion: Dead Souls, Chaps. 1-5.
November 26 and 28.  NO CLASS.  Thanksgiving holiday.

December 1. Discussion: Dead Souls, Chaps. 6-11.
December 3. Lecture: The Problem of the Nationalities.
December 5. Lecture: Economy and Society.  Reading; History of Russia, Chap. 27, pp. 317-322.
    THIRD PAPER DUE on Friday, December 5, on Dead Souls.

December 8. Lecture: Crimean War.  Reading: Stone, Chap. 8.
December 10.  Lecture: The Great Reforms.
December 12.  Discussion: Westernizers and Slavophiles.  Reading: History of Russia, 2nd part of Chap. 28, pp. 334-338; excerpts from Chaadaev, Kireevskii, Herzen (in packet).

FINAL EXAM on Friday, December 19, 4:10 PM.

 
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

INCOMPLETES.  The KSU policy on incompletes states (http://courses.ksu.edu/catalog/undergraduate/grades/):
The grade of Incomplete (I) is given in regular courses . . . upon request of the student for personal emergencies that are verifiable. The faculty member has the responsibility to provide written notification to the student of work required to remove the incomplete. The student has the responsibility to take the initiative in completing the work, and is expected to make up the incomplete during the first semester (enrolled) at the university after receiving the grade of I.  If the student does not make up the incomplete during the first semester in residence at the university after receiving it, a grade may be given by the faculty member without further consultation with the student.

 
ACADEMIC HONESTY, CHEATING, AND PLAGIARISM

I expect students to work honestly, and the vast majority of students do.  Every semester, however, I catch one or two students cheating, and my policy on cheating is to assign an F for the course and turn in the student to the Honor System.

From the Honor System website (http://www.ksu.edu/honor):

                        Kansas State University has an Undergraduate Honor System based on personal integrity which is presumed to be sufficient assurance in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance.  Undergraduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Undergraduate Honor System.  The policies and procedures of the Undergraduate Honor System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning.

                        A component vital to the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by undergraduate students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated:  "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

                        A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty.  An XF would be failure of the course with the X on the transcript indicating failure as a result of a breach of academic honesty.

There are two main types of academic dishonesty that concern me.  The first is cheating on quizzes and exams.  While this happens relatively rarely given the type of exams I give, cheating of this sort (crib sheets, copying from a neighbor) is grounds for failing the course and a referral to the Honor System. 

The more common type of academic dishonesty, in my experience, is plagiarism on papers.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work as your own.  This can involve turning in a paper written by someone else, taking a paper from the internet, or not properly giving credit to sources.  For another definition, see the Honor System's discussion at http://www.ksu.edu/honor/examples.htm

WHY IS PLAGIARISM WRONG?

Plagiarism combines lying and stealing.  Plagiarizing is lying, because it falsely claims credit for work actually done by someone else.  It is stealing, because it takes the product of someone else's labor.

Plagiarism also makes the exchange of ideas impossible.  How can you trust what someone tells you if you can't check it yourself?  You need to be able to examine evidence for yourself to be sure that an argument makes sense, but you can't do that if the sources aren't available.

HOW DO I AVOID PLAGIARISM?

Avoiding plagiarism is simple.  First, if you take an idea, concept, or fact from someone, you must give credit to your source.  That's usually done through a footnote, endnote, or parenthetical reference.  HOW exactly you give credit isn't so important; what's important is actually doing it.

Second, if you use someone's exact words, you have to show that.  Otherwise, you're taking credit for someone else's work.  You indicate use of exact words by quotation marks (or a blocked quote for longer quotations) around the passages you've taken, and some sort of reference to the source.

Plagiarism is disregarding either rule: taking information without giving credit, or taking someone else's language without showing that and giving credit.

WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET?

Information on the internet is no different than information in books.  If you take ideas or exact words from the internet without giving credit, you have lied, stolen, and committed plagiarism.

Identifying your sources is even more important with internet sources.  While getting a book published means getting an editor and a publisher to agree that your work is good, any idiot can put anything on the net.  Wouldn't you like to know if your information about Hitler, for example, comes from the American Nazi Party?