| Unit name | Revolutionary Russia, 1881-1917 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | RUSS20066 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Coates |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Russian |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
In 1917, a centuries-old authoritarian Empire that refused to adapt to the times finally collapsed at the hands of a modern revolutionary movement that embodied the popular will. Or did it? This is just one of a multitude of ways the Russian Revolution has been defined over the years. This unit explores the surprising range of revolutions that were reshaping Russia during the final decades of the tsarist period: some of them violently and others much more quietly; some of them at the tsar’s behest, and others to his detriment; some of them secular, modernist, or European in origin and aim, others conservative, Orthodox, and distinctly Russian. On this unit, you will encounter first-hand the competing pushes and pulls of this turbulent and exciting period in Russian culture and thought, when writers and artists, tsars and priests, and of course revolutionaries sought to refashion Russia for a new era and bring to life their vision of an ideal future.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit builds on the mandatory first-year Understanding Russia units by focussing on a key moment in Russian history and culture. Second-year units in Russian complement each other: students will be able to relate the Russian revolutionary period back to the imperial period (‘The 19th-century Russian Novel’) and forward to the cultural experimentation of the early Soviet period (‘Engineers of the Human Soul’). Students from outside Russian will enjoy making connections to parallel phenomena in other European cultures and societies. All will gain a nuanced understanding of a globally significant empire at one of the turning points of its history.
Overview of content
The course surveys examples of three types of revolution: political (e.g. Revolutionary Populism, Marxism), cultural (e.g. religion, ethnic minorities) and social (e.g. peasants and workers, women). Primary sources include state documents, photographs, life-writing, fiction, and journalism.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of this unit?
You will be more willing, and intellectually prepared, to question your assumptions about the meaning of revolution and nature of Russian imperial society, and by extension your assumptions about other cultural, historical, and political phenomena. You will be better equipped, in terms of critical skills, to engage in contemporary debates about Russia, and by extension other societies, including your own. You will have gained in confidence to challenge received opinion and arrive at your own understanding of phenomena and events.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
Each week, you will have one two-hour class or two one-hour classes that will include, broadly, three types of learning: lecture, discussion, and presentation.
Lecture: Lectures equip you with foundational subject knowledge. Far from being a passive mode of learning, lectures help you build critical analysis and evidence-gathering skills by modelling textual interpretation and posing key questions related to the discipline. We will often have a lecture followed by plenary or small-group activities. The lectures will provide the basic contextual knowledge that will facilitate the analysis of specific documents.
Discussion: discussions are a student-centred mode of learning. You will discuss key questions about the texts, developing, sharing and defending your own arguments as we discuss the material together as a class, and/or in pairs and small groups.
Presentation: All students will deliver a presentation. Through participation in presentations, both as a presenter and an audience member, you will become familiar with the key critical debates on the topic and learn to engage with and critique existing ideas. You will also sharpen your presentation skills.
Beyond the classroom, you will devote much time to primary and secondary reading, essential in the humanities. You should anticipate reading in a number of different genres and media: play texts, memoirs, manifestos, visual illustrations, video clips, scholarly articles and book chapters. Reading is sometimes misunderstood as a ‘passive’ activity, but engaged reading is an active process, as you will not only be expanding your subject knowledge, but also developing your sense of empathy, imagination and critical judgment judgement.
In total, you will have 22 hours of class teaching and 178 hours of independent learning.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
In-unit training for the assessments focusses respectively on how to approach a primary source (A1) and how to use critical literature effectively to support an argument (A2).
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
You will work together with one or two other students to present on one or more primary sources in class. You will formulate discussion questions arising out of your contribution to the group presentation and get input on them from the group. The process of discernment of your topic and feedback on the questions it raises will help you with the subsequent individual written analysis of a primary source.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. RUSS20066).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
