Fall 2021 Schedule / RUSSIAN HISTORY: TENTH CENTURY TO WORLD WAR II
Coordinators: Caroline Thompson, Steve Allen
Russian history is a study of fascinating contrasts: a country in close contact with Western Europe but maintaining a very separate set of traditions, including a history of serfdom and absolute authority exercised by the Tsar.
We begin with a quick summary of the three lectures that were given before the course was interrupted. We will then pick up with the legacy of Peter the Great and follow events from Catherine the Great through Napoleon’s invasion, the freeing of the serfs, the Russian Revolution, Lenin and Stalin.
We also discuss Russia’s enormous contributions to Western literature, music, dance, theater, and intellectual traditions. Hopefully, a study of Russian history can help us understand modern Russia of today.
B WEEK / TUESDAY / 2:00pm to 3:30pm
| Date | Presenter | Topic |
| 2/09 | Steve Allen | Kievan Rus, The rise of Moscow, The Romonovs and Peter the Great (900 – 1725) |
| 02/23 | Caroline Thompson | Peter’s Successors and Catherine the Great (1725 – 1800) |
| 03/09 | Caroline Thompson Steve Allen | Alexander I and Nicholas I(1800 – 1855) Foreign Policy and the Military |
| 03/23 | Caroline Thompson Steve Allen | Alexander II (1855 – 1880) Literature, Science, and the Intelligensia |
| 04/13 | Caroline Thompson Steve Allen | Alexander III and Nicholas II (1880 – 1917) Music, Dance, the Arts |
| 04/27 | Caroline Thompson Steve Allen | Lenin and the Russian Revolution (1917 – 1925) |
| 05/11 | Caroline Thompson Steve Allen | Stalin and World War II (1925 – 1950) Conclusion |