The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union HIST 3352-001 TR 12:30-1:45

Instructor: Dr. Randi Cox Office: Liberal Arts North, room 356 (Mondays and Wednesdays only) Hours: MW 4:00-5:00 (in-person and Zoom), TR 3:45-5:15 (Zoom only), and by appointment Phone: Call or text to 936-645-6727 (I usually respond to texts right away.) Email: [email protected] or via D2L

COURSE DESCRIPTION A general overview of the political, economic and social trends in Russia and the Soviet Union from the reign of Nicholas II to the fall of communism.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO DO AND LEARN IN THIS CLASS (STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES) • You will analyze key developments in the political history of the USSR, including the Revolution of 1917 and the establishment of the Soviet system, the rise of Stalinism, the USSR’s status as a postwar superpower, and the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Twentieth century. • You will analyze key economic institutions of the USSR, such as NEP, the command economy, the collective farm, and the reforms of Khrushchev and Gorbachev. • You will analyze key social and cultural developments in the Soviet Union, in order to explore the impact of communism on social mobility, gender roles, ethnic relations, education, the arts, etc. • You will debate scholarly literature and primary sources, and you will practice the historical reasoning skills outlined in the History Department’s Program Learning Objectives.

TEXTS Choi Chatterjee, et al. Russia’s Long Twentieth Century (optional) Eduard Dune Notes of a Red Guard Lydia Chukovskaya Sofia Petrovna Donald Raleigh Russia’s Sputnik Generation Additional required material will be available through D2L.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES Dune essay: 15% Friday, February 19 Midterm: 20% Wednesday, March 3 Chukovskaya essay: 20% Friday, March 19 Raleigh essay: 25% Friday, April 30 Final exam: 20% Wednesday, May 5 at 1:00

Book Essays You will write short essays on Exams The exams will feature a mix of short the books by Dune, Chukovskaya and Raleigh. and medium identifications, as well as a longer These will not be formal book reviews. Instead essay. The final will be partially cumulative. I will give you specific questions or ask you The essay options will ask you to grapple with grapple with the issues raised by each book. the idea of change and continuity in Soviet The goal of this assignment is to practice the society over the long run. While previous methods that historians use to extract assignments have focused on snapshots of evidence from primary sources, put that particular moments in Soviet history, the goal evidence into historical context, and interpret of this assignment is to ask you to this new information in order to create a demonstrate an understanding of change over historical argument. time, a key element of historical analysis.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

January 14-March 3 The Revolutions, 1894-1940 Topics: The fall of Nicholas II; Revolutionary groups; the Revolution of 1905-07; World War I; the February and October Revolutions; the Civil War; NEP; Stalin’s revolution; the Stalinist economy and society; the Terror; WWII and the origins of the Cold War.

Readings: Chatterjee, chapters 1-6 (as needed) Dune (Introduction and Part I only) Chukovskaya (all)

Dune paper: Friday, February 19

Midterm: Wednesday, March 3

Chukovskaya paper: Friday, March 19

March 15-April 30 Recovering from War and Stalinism, 1941-2000 Topics: Khrushchev’s reforms; the Thaw; Brezhnev; dissidence, apathy and other forms of resistance; Gorbachev and the fall of the USSR; the rise of Yeltsin and Putin

Readings: Chatterjee, chapters 7-12 (as needed) Raleigh (all)

Raleigh paper: April 30

Final: May 5 at 1:00

COURSE POLICIES

Office hours: I will hold both in-person and Zoom Attendance: Although attendance is not formally office hours this semester. It is my goal to conduct required in this class, poor attendance will make it the Zoom hours as much like normal office hours difficult to perform well on assignments. I do my as possible. In order for me to give my full best to ensure that the assignments build on skills attention to students (and to protect student developed in the classroom. I understand that privacy), I will use the “waiting room” option in students get sick, have family emergencies, and Zoom. When you log in, you will be placed in the run into other obstacles that can cause them to waiting room. If I am with another student, you miss an occasional class. That’s just life, and I don’t will see a message that I will be with you shortly. I see a reason to penalize you for having a life. will get a notification that you are waiting, so don’t However, you should know that the more you worry. I WILL get to you in the order that you come to class, the better you will do on arrived, even if it is past time for my office hours to assignments. end. I promise that I won’t forget you!

OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Disability Policy (SFA Policy 6.1) because of unavoidable circumstances. Students I am committed to creating a course that is must complete the work within one calendar year inclusive in its design. If you encounter barriers, from the end of the semester in which they receive please let me know immediately so that we can a WH, or the grade automatically becomes an F. If determine if there is a design adjustment that can students register for the same course in future be made or if an accommodation might be needed terms the WH will automatically become an F and to overcome the limitations of the design. will be counted as a repeated course for the Together we’ll develop strategies to meet both purpose of computing the grade point average. your needs and the requirements of the course. I am always happy to consider creative solutions as long as they do not compromise the intent of the The SFA Way (SFA Policy 10.4) assessment or learning activity. You are also Classroom behavior should not interfere with the welcome to contact the Office of Disability instructor’s ability to conduct the class or the Services to begin this conversation or to establish ability of other students to learn from the accommodations for this or other courses. I instructional program. Unacceptable or disruptive welcome feedback that will assist me in improving behavior will not be tolerated. Students who the usability and experience for all students. If you disrupt the learning environment may be asked to need official accommodations, you have a right to leave class and may be subject to judicial, academic have these met. The Office of Disability Services or other penalties. This prohibition applies to all works with students to identify accommodations instructional forums, including electronic, that remove barriers to learning. The ODS is classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. located in the Human Services Building, Room 325, The instructor shall have full discretion over what 468-3004 / 468-1004 (TDD). For additional behavior is appropriate/inappropriate in the information, go to classroom. Students who do not attend class http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/academic- regularly or who perform poorly on class accomodation-for-students-with-disabilities.pdf projects/exams may be referred to the Early Alert Program. This program provides students with recommendations for resources or other Withheld Grades (SFA Policy 5.5) assistance that is available to help SFA students Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of succeed. For information on the Student Code of record and with the approval of the academic Conduct, called The SFA Way, go to: chair/director, a grade of WH will be assigned only http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/student-conduct- if the student cannot complete the course work code.pdf Academic Integrity (SFA Policy 4.1) I make every effort to distinguish between Abiding by university policy on academic integrity intentional cheating and unintentional errors made is a responsibility of all university faculty and by students as they learn how to cite their work. students. Academic dishonesty includes both Minor errors that are clearly the result of a cheating and plagiarism. misunderstanding of the rules will result in a small penalty ranging from a point deduction to Cheating includes, but is not limited to: using or resubmission of the work. I am more interested in attempting to use unauthorized materials on any helping you understand professional standards class assignment or exam; falsifying or inventing of than punishing you. However, deliberate any information, including citations, on an plagiarism is a violation of our community trust and assignment; and/or; helping or attempting to help insults the hard work of other students. Therefore, another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. significant plagiarism will result in a zero for the Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of assignment or failure of the entire course. I will another person as if they were one’s own. also report plagiarists to the dean. Students who Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited have demonstrated a record of deliberate to: submitting an assignment as one's own work academic dishonesty in multiple classes have been when it is at least partly the work of another expelled from the university. person; submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise obtained from the Internet History Department Program Learning Outcomes or another source; and/or, incorporating the words With a BA, the SFA history major can: or ideas of an author into one's paper or 1. Interpret the past in context presentation without giving the author credit. 2. Understand the complex nature of the historical record Penalties may include, but are not limited to 3. Engage in historical inquiry, research, and reprimand, no credit for the assignment or exam, analysis re-submission of the work, make-up exam, failure 4. Craft historical narrative and argument of the course, or expulsion from the university. 5. Practice historical thinking as central to engaged citizenship Penalties for Academic Dishonesty in this class This course will offer practice in all five areas.

THE FIVE C’S OF HISTORICAL REASONING

1. Change and Continuity: Historians debate what has changed over time and what has remained the same. Change can be a dramatic pivot or a slow shift.

2. Causation: Historians debate the causes of historical events. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that we argue about causality, sometimes passionately. Few events have only one cause (monocausal), so we argue with one another about which cause should be considered the most important.

3. Context: Historians insist that the past must be understood on its own terms. Any historical event, person, idea must be placed in the context of its historical era to be interpreted. The historian’s goal is to discover how people in the past understood their own lives, which is often very different from how we might react to their situation.

4. Contingency and Connections: Historians are aware that events happen for a variety of reasons, which are often interconnected. Change one factor, and the event might not have happened at all. This idea helps us to remember that historical events are not inevitable.

5. Complexity: Historical reasoning is not about memorizing dates and names. It is about making sense of the messiness of the past, in all its complexity. That means recognizing that different historical groups experienced events in different ways.