3 credits
Spring 2025 Lecture Lower DivisionHumanities
This course surveys the paths of the Russian empire through economic modernization, social transformation, and World War I; the revolutionary regimes of Bolshevism, Leninism, and Stalinism; World War II and the Cold War; the collapse of the USSR; and the new Eurasian states.
Learning Outcomes1Identify the major geographical features of the Russian land empire from its European borders, through the Caucasus and Central Asian frontiers, to the steppes and forests of Asia.
2Trace and describe the main historical characteristics of Russian culture, social structure, and political life from the Great Reforms of the late empire (1861) to the present regime.
3Analyze why, twice in recent times (1917 and 1991), the state collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, driven in part by the pace of European and American modernization.
4Understand how Russian history is a metaphor for global history, a study of the crises posed by the world revolution of western values.
5Create a game-style simulation of the topic The Genesis and Structure of the Stalinist State.
made by Purdue students.