Unit information: Foreigners in Russian Society in 2012/13

Unit name	Foreigners in Russian Society
Unit code	RUSS20011
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Chitnis
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Russian
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This course will survey the role of foreigners in Russian society over a considerable period of time (from the seventeenth to the first half of the twentieth century). During this period, in some fields, foreigners were in a majority in Russia (for example, during the age of Enlightenment, in academic research, higher education and private teaching, engineering, etc.). It will be shown how Russian specialists appeared in different fields very often with the help of foreign specialists. The unit will focus on the process of cultural transfer in Europe, changing Russian policy towards the presence and the control of foreigners in Russia and the connection of this policy with the evolution of Russian national consciousness, the international situation and official ideology. We will explore both the breaks and continuity in Russian history regarding the invitation and the reception of foreigners in Russia. We will also study the role of foreigners as witnesses to the evolution of Russian society and the reaction that their views caused in Russia.

Intended Learning Outcomes

This unit will give the students a good insight into Russian history from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and provide an important link between the histories of Russian thought and Russian literature. The students will reach a better understanding of how the circulation of specialists and information influences the evolution of culture and society. They will learn to analyze primary and secondary sources, to develop their argumentation and their communicating skills.

Teaching Information

a) 2000-word essay plus 2-hour exam (equally weighted) Each assessment will allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of modern literature and history. They will be required to analyse closely a selection of the primary material studied and through detailed study enhance their familiarity with the language of the texts.

Assessment Information

a) 2000-word essay plus 2-hour exam (equally weighted) Each assessment will allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of modern literature and history. They will be required to analyse closely a selection of the primary material studied and through detailed study enhance their familiarity with the language of the texts.

Reading and References

1. Lindsey Hughes, “Attitudes towards Foreigners in Early Modern Russia”, in Russia and the Wider World in Historical Perspective: Essays for Paul Dukes. (Ed. Cathryn Brennan and Murray Frame, London, 2000, p. 1-23).
2. National Identity in Russian Culture: An Introduction. (Ed. Simon Franklin and Emma Widdis, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004, chapter 5, by Antony Cross, “Them: Russians on foreigners”, p. 74-92).
3. Anthony G. Cross, "By the banks of the Neva" : chapters from the lives and careers of the British in eighteenth-century Russia, (Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997).
4. Roger P. Bartlett, Human capital : the settlement of foreigners in Russia, 1762-1804, (Cambridge, New York : Cambridge University Press, 1979).
5. Angela Kershaw, “French and British Female Intellectuals and the Soviet Union. The Journey to the USSR, 1929 – 1942”, in E-rea, Revue électronique d’études sur le monde anglophone, 4.2, 2006, Revolving Commitments in France and Britain, 1929-1955 (ed. Stan Smith and Jennifer Birkett, online: http://erea.revues.org/250)
6. Russia under western eyes, 1517-1825. Edited with an introduction by Anthony Cross. (London: Elek Books, 1971).