Russia as an empire 1550-1950

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Covering the four centuries from the reign of Ivan IV to the Stalin era, this graduate seminar will introduce students to the historiographical study of Russia and the Soviet Union as imperial structures. We will discuss the multiethnic peripheries of the Russian Empire and the USSR through thematic lenses like religion, trade, and scientific discourse, as represented in both recent and classic scholarship. Students in non-Russian fields are especially welcome, as the course will have a strong comparative and transnational component; among our central points of discussion will be the relationship between Russian imperialism and other forms of imperial rule, and the extent to which this changed over time.