Revolution, a formative period in Russian, Soviet, and contemporary .... Library
assignment: Read/peruse a diary from the revolutionary period and write a ...
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Prof. Julie Hessler McKenzieoffice hours(351 McK): Mon. 11:15-12:15,Wed. 1:00-2:00 PLC office hours(271 PLC): Mon. 10:00-11:00 Tel. 346-4857(0), 302-9032(h)
[email protected]
History 407 [Seminar] THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Wednesday,3:00-6:00,McKenzie 471 (in practice,undergraduates will be let out at 5:00 mostweeks)
Course description: This seminarwill explorethe historyandEnglish-languagehistoriographyof the Russian Revolution,a formativeperiod in Russian,Soviet,andcontemporaryEuropeanhistory. Topics includethe causesof the revolution,the eventsof 1917,the Russiancivil war, andthe aftermathof the revolution in the contextof the New EconomicPolicy. Like other history seminars,the coursehasmethodologicalas well assubstantiveaims;class discussionsand assignmentswill focus on the practiceof writing historyas well ason the specific subjectmatterof assignedtexts. Library assignments:The courseis directedtowardsthe productionof anoriginal20-page seminarpaper,duethe Wednesdayof finals week. Towardsthat end,studentsneedto familiarizethemselveswith the sourcesavailablein the library. For the fIrst few weeks,this courseasksyou to spendtwo hoursa weekperusinga majorprimary source, thenwriting up an informal2-pageresponsepaper,due in class. Responsepapersshouldaddressas manyof the following questionsaspossible: Whatwas your source?If you haveread only part ofa biggersource,whichpart? Whatrangeof topics doesthis sourceaddress?For whatkinds of researchtopic could it be used? How would you assessits reliability? Whatquestionsdoesthe sourceraise? Paper proposals: To do enoughresearchfor your paper,you needto start reasonablyearly. This is oneof the reasonsfor the requirementthat you turn in a formal proposalfor your researchpaperon Oct. 29. The otherreason, of course,is that you can getsomefeedbackat an earlystageasto whetheryour topic is feasibleand your approach sound. For the proposal,try to formulateyour topic in termsof a historicalproblem,which is to saythat you should frame it in the form of a question,but alsogive somesenseof why this questionis interestingor significant,basedon the readingthat you have alreadydone. In addition,you shouldtry to give a senseof how you plan to go about answeringthe question(your researchstrategy,and,if alreadypossible,your hypothesisor argument). Aim for roughlytwo pages. You shouldalso appendto your proposala preliminary bibliographyof at leasteight items.
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E-mail progress report: There arebreak neither meetings nor formal assignments the weeksofresearch; November 10and November 17. The purpose of this is to give you time to delve into yourinindependent a 20-page seminarpapershouldrest on significantlymorethantwice the researchthat you would devoteto an ordinary 10-page assignment.Justto makesurethat you stayon track, I would like to hearfrom you bye-mail at leastonceduring thosetwo weeks. I'm not looking for anything formal (though,asalwayswhenyou arewriting to a professor, correctgrammarand capitalizationwould be nice!) --just a brief progressreportthat lets me know whatyou've been doing. Specifically,pleasetell me aboutone secondarybook andoneprimary sourcethathavehad an impacton your thinking,as well as anychangesthat you arethinking of makingto your proposaland someof your ideasfor the paper. For example,whatarethe major sectionsof your paper? Have you startedwriting anysection? Whatdo you arguein it? Whatsourcesdo you use? Are you encounteringanyproblems? I'm not on e-mail everyday,but I'll try to respondwithin a day or two with any commentsor suggestionsthatcometo mind. Rough draft: Roughdrafts (submittwo copies)aredue at 10:00on the WednesdaybeforeThanksgiving. This is a substantialpart of your grade (9%), so put someeffort into it. My approachto gradinga researchpaperis to considerseparatelythe following threecomponents: 1) argument;2) research;3) writing, organization,andformat. Forthe final gradeon your seminarpaper,thesethreeparts will have equalweight. I will also commenton them whenI read your roughdraft --which is to saythat you will receivesubstantialfeedbackfrom me at this point. With regardto roughdraft grading,it is conceivablethat you will not havefinished everysectionby the time that you turn it in, and on the whole I am fairly generouswith roughdraft credit, but I will not accepta draft that is shorterthan 13 pages.The more of the overall argumentthat you havewritten, evenif it is still fairly rough,the more you will be ableto take advantageof constructivecriticism from your fellow studentsand from me.
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Commentson your partner's rough draft: This is your chanceto seewhatone of your fellow studentsis doing in the paper,and alsoto give that personsomefeedback. You will be assigneda partner. Logistically, you shouldplan to pick up your partner's paperat my office the Mondayafter Thanksgiving,so asto write commentsby Wednesday'sclassperiod. I will havea checklistof somethings for you to think aboutas you write your critique. Try to be both honestand constructive. Commentsshouldbe typed,andmakesurethat you bring two copiesof your commentswith you to class.
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Grading: Much of your grade for this courserides on your seminarpaper,but notall! Attendanceis mandatory. We meetformally only six times in the quarter,so if you missone session,your participationgradewill drop substantially.Missing two or more sessionswill meanan automaticF in the course. Becauseof the natureof this course(the large amountof independentwork andthe needto getthroughthe early materialquickly), I will not acceptlate paperson any assignments(library assignments, proposals,rough drafts,peercomments,or final papers). In the caseof roughdrafts,failure to turn one in on time meansthat you will not havethe benefit of commentsfrom me or your peers,and of courseyou will lose out on the roughdraft part of the grade. Assumingthat you attend class,gradeswill be determinedasfollows: 20% preparationfor and participationin classdiscussion 18% library assignments 9% on-time submissionof a decentroughdraft 3% e-mailprogressreport 5% commentson assignedpartner'srough draft 45% seminarpaper Required text: Orlando Figes,A People's Tragedy
S~llabus Wednesday,Sept.29 Introductoryremarks: interpretingthe RussianRevolution;viewing and discussionoffilm The BattleshipPotemkin,dir. SergeiEisenstein. Wednesday, Oct. 6 Origins of the RussianRevolution. Reading: A People's Tragedy,pp. 1-306 Library assignment: Focussingon the period 1904-1916,look up the British (DOC-LC IX 632.B74) and/orAmerican(Microfilm E183.8 .R9 U5) foreignservicereportson one of the following topics: the revolution of 1905-6andthe government'sresponse;industry,labor,and strikes; agriculturalreforms;the Russianmilitary; the Dumaand its relationswith the government; political assassinations andthe revolutionarymovement. Wednesday, Oct. 13 The revolutionaryyear: 1917 Readings: A People's Tragedy,pp. 307-473 Library assignment:Readas muchas you can in two hours of one of the major Bolshevik political treatises: Lenin, Whatis To Be Done; Lenin, Stateand Revolution;Bukharinand Preobrazhenskii,TheABC ofCommunism;Trotsky, TheNew Course;Kollontai, Autobiography ofa SexuallyEmancipatedCommunistWoman(all on reserve).Write a responsepaper. Wednesday, Oct. 20 From revolutionto civil war. Readings: A People's Tragedy,pp. 474-649.
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Library assignment:Read/perusea diary from the revolutionaryperiod and write a responsepaper: SemenKanatchikov,A Radical Workerin TsaristRussia(trans.and ed. ReginaldZelnik); Pitirim Sorokin,Leavesfrom a RussianDiary; Iu. V. Got'e, Time ofTrolJbles;Alexis Babine, A RussianCivil WarDiary (all on reserve). Wednesday,Oct. 27 The earlyNEP. Readings: A People's Tragedy,pp. 650-825. ** Friday, Oct. 29 (by 3:00 pm) Paper proposaldue under the door of McKenzie 351. Sign up for an individual consultation on your researchpaper. Wednesday, Nov. 3 No class; individual meetingswith Prof. Hessler. Wednesday, Nov. 10 No class. Email progress report due betweennow and Friday, Nov. 19. Wednesday, Nov. 17 No class. Wednesday, Nov. 25 No class. Two copiesof your seminar paper rough draft due by 10:00a.m. Turn themin to me at McKenzie 351. If I'm not there,slide your drafts underthe door. Partnerswill be assignedoverthe weekend. Get your assignment and pick up your partner'sdraft from my office (or from the folder/boxnextto my office door) on Monday. Wednesday,Dec. 1 Paper workshop. Bring two copiesof your typed commentson your partner's paper,andbe preparedto talk both aboutyour partner'spaperand aboutyour aims,challenges,and argumentsin your own paper. Final papers due at 10:00, Wednesday,December8. Bring themto McKenzie 351. Again, if I'm not there,slide your paperunderthe door.
