Hickey Home Page

42.452  Soviet Russia 

Fall 2006

M. Hickey  Office:  Old Science Hall Room 130      Office Phone: 389-4161

mhickey@bloomu.edu      Office Hours:  M, W, 4:00-5:00; T, Th. 2-3:30.

Navigation links for this syllabus:

Basic course information:

• Brief introduction to the course   

• Required Texts    

• Course grade components and grade scale  

• Policies regarding absences and late papers

• Mandatory paper form

• On using endnotes
• On bibliography form
• On plagiarism (quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing correctly to avoid plagiarism)
• On disruptive behavior

Explanations of graded course assignments:

• Class Participation    

• Précis Assignment   

• Individualized Readings Reports    

• Document Analysis Paper #1

• Document Analysis Paper #2   

• Final Exam                 

 Weekly Schedule and Links to Study Questions  

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other links for this course:

• Hickey's Russian and Soviet History Resource Page

• Seventeen Moments in Soviet History (an amazing collection of documents, images, sound files, and film clips)

• Andrus Library

Brief introduction to the course: 

Since the USSR collapsed, access to previously closed archives and a wealth of new evidence has helped us refine and revise our understanding of several important historical questions.  But documents long hidden in the archives have not answered all of our questions, nor have they dampened heated debates over key issues of Soviet history. 

This course addresses many of the issues that stand at the center of debate among historians of Soviet Russia, including the following questions: 

• Why was there a revolution in Russia in 1917?

• How did the Bolshevik/Communist Party gain and hold on to power in 1917-1921? 

• How did the Communist Party/Soviet government leadership reassemble the fragments of Russia’s former empire?

• How did the realities of functioning as a multi-national state shape the Soviet system? 

• Did the NEP-era policies of the 1920s represent a real alternative to the policies and practices of the Civil War era and the Stalin Period?

• What enabled Stalin’s rise to power in the 1920s?

• Why did the Communist Party/Soviet government leadership institute programs of rapid industrialization and forced collectivization and what did these programs mean in practice?

• What explains the escalating use of state terror by Communist Party/Soviet government in the 1930s?

• How did Soviet citizens cope with the enormous strains of industrialization, collectivization, state terror, and the other policies associated with Stalinism?

• How and at what costs did the USSR defeat Hitler? 

• How and to what extent did subsequent Soviet leaders confront the legacies of Stalinism?

• How did the Cold War and global competition with the United States shape the policies of the Communist Party/Soviet government leadership in the 1940s-1980s?

• What elements of the Soviet system impeded reform in the post-Stalin era?

• What dynamics ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet system?

This course is organized as a seminar. We will be doing a great deal of reading and we will be discussing and writing about what we read. 

All of the assignments in this course are designed to help you meet the following objectives: 

• to develop an advanced level of understanding of the history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century
• to develop an understanding of how the history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century fits into broader patterns of modern history
• to develop an understanding of how Soviet history has evolved as a scholarly discipline, with particular emphasis on the study of Soviet Russia in the United States
• to gain a basic familiarity with techniques for locating secondary and primary sources on Russian and Soviet history
• to improve your skill at read secondary sources for argument
• to improve your skill at reading, contextualizing and analyzing primary sources
• to improve your oral communication skills
• to improve your writing skills, with particular reference to writing according to the conventions used by historians 

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Required Texts:

Stephen Kotkin, Armageddon Averted:  The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 (New York:  Oxford University Press, 2001)

Hiroaki Kuromiya, Stalin (London:  Pearson-Longman, 2005)

Lewis Sieglebaum and Andrei Sokolov, Stalinism as a Way of Life:  A Narrative in Documents (New Haven and London:  Yale University Press, 2000).

Ronald Grigor Suny, The Soviet Experiment:  Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1998).

Rex A. Wade, editor, Revolutionary Russia:  New Approaches (New York: Routledge, 2000).

A grade of "A" in this course means that your cumulative score on assignments equals 93 percent or more of possible points. A-=90-92; B+=88-89; B=83-87; B-80-82; C+=78-79; C=73-77; C-=70-72; D+= 68-69; D=60-67.

Your grade will be based upon: Class Participation (20 percent); a Précis Assignment (10 percent); one Individualized Readings Report (20 percent); two Document Analysis Papers (10 percent each); and a Final Exam (30 percent).  

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Absence Policy:  Your participation grade will fall by 10 percent for every unexcused absence.  I will consider absences "excused" only in cases of medical, family, or university/work-related events about which you have informed me in advance, in writing, or in cases that are documented in writing by the university administration. 

Also, if as a result of an unexcused absence you miss giving a presentation, taking a quiz, etc., you will fail that assignment.

Late Paper Policy:  If you do not turn an assignment in on the day that it is due, I will deduct 10 percent from the grade for every 24 hours that passes until you turn in the paper.  The only circumstance under which I will allow a paper to be late is if you have an excused absence (see above). 

Mandatory paper form

• All papers for this course must be written in 12 point Times Roman font, DOUBLE SPACED, with one inch margins. 

• Type your name in the top right hand corner of the first page. 

• Make sure that your initials are in the top right hand corner of every subsequent page.

• All pages must be numbered at the bottom center of the page. 

• Staple papers in the top left hand corner. 

• Single-indent the first sentence of each paragraph.

• Do not "double-skip" between paragraphs. 

• All quotations must be placed in quotation marks, except in the case of bloc quotations. 

• All quotations, paraphrases, and direct summaries must be accompanied by endnotes in proper form.  See the linked pages On Plagiarism (Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing correctly to avoid plagiarism) and On using endnotes. 

Warning #1:  If your paper does not follow the proper form, I will give it back to you un-graded.  You then will have 48 hours to correct it.  If you do not correct the form, you will receive no credit for the assignment.  You will have only one chance to revise. 

Warning #2:  If I find more than 5 obvious errors in grammar or spelling on any one page of your paper, I will stop reading the paper and give it back to you un-graded.  You then will have 48 hours to correct the spelling and grammar errors in the paper.  You will have only one chance to revise.

Warning #3:  I will not tolerate plagiarism in any form. 

• It is my policy that if a student is found to have plagiarized all or part of any quiz or short assignment, the student will fail that assignment if it is the first offense. 

• If a student is found to have plagiarized all or part of any exam or a major paper assignment, the student will fail the entire course and I will file a formal charge against them with the University, as per the University's Academic Integrity Policy (PRP 3512). 

• If a student is found to have plagiarized more than once on any assignments in this course, the student will fail the course and I will file a formal charge against them with the University, as per the University's Academic Integrity Policy (PRP 3512).   

• Please be sure that you have read the University's Academic Integrity Policy PRP 3512 (http://www.bloomu.edu/current/prps/3512.php).

• Also, be sure that you have read my explanation of how to avoid plagiarism in the link On Plagiarism vs Quoting.

  Please be sure that you have read the following policies regarding this course:

  On plagiarism (quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing correctly to avoid plagiarism)

  On disruptive behavior

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Class Participation: 20 percent

This class is a reading seminar.  The most basic component of participation is being present in class.  Therefore, I will deduct 10 points from your participation grade for each unexcused absence.  (See above, Policies regarding absences and late papers.)

Beyond your being in the room, my expectations regarding your participation are that you:

• complete the reading assignments for each week before our class session that week (the exception being the first week of class)
• take notes on all assigned readings so that you are able to ask and answer questions in an informed manner
• take notes on any course mini-lectures and on all course discussions
• ask questions about anything that is unclear to you (I will explain as many times and ways as necessary to answer your question)
• ask questions about anything about which you would like more information (I will answer if there is time and if I am able.  If there is not time, I will discuss the answer with you outside of class.  If I do not know the answer, I will say so and will try to find an answer.)
• volunteer to answer questions that I ask to the class in general, but do so in an informed manner
• answer questions in an informed manner if I ask you directly about course readings
• participate in small group discussions and activities in an informed manner
• present your findings regarding all assigned individualized reading assignments to the rest of the class in a clear, direct, and informed manner

What does "in an informed manner" mean? 

• It means that your participation must reflect your having actually completed and given serious thought to the readings. 
• You will find lists of key questions for discussion for each week linked to the weekly syllabus.  I expect you to read and answer these questions and be ready to discuss your answers in class.

Your grade will be based upon the quality of your participation in class (on how your participation has added to the class, rather than on how many times you spoke). 

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Précis Assignment:  10 percent

You will write a précis of one essay (one chapter) in Wade, ed., Revolutionary Russia.  Pick whatever chapter interests you the most.

A précis is a very concise summary.  Writing a précis of an article, chapter, or book requires that you grasp the author's main point and boil it down to a few paragraphs of summary.   

Why do this?  Historians must learn to "read for argument."   Whenever you read a book or article, you need to understand the author's main point (the "thesis").  Remember, historians don't just list "facts"; they interpret evidence and propose arguments to explain what the "facts" mean.  Reading for argument helps you read faster and more effectively.  Writing a précis of a book or article gives you "instant recall" of the argument, which is a very handy tool for writing papers (and in particular historiographic essays).  Once you learn to write a précis, you can apply that skill to readings that you do for any of your classes.   

Without quoting the author at all, you must explain the thesis of the chapter you are assigned in no more than two paragraphs. 

• At the head of your paper, list the author of the essay and the essay's title.

• Begin your paper by stating as clearly as possible the fundamental question that the author is trying to answer or the basic problem that the author is trying to solve in the essay . 

• In two paragraphs, explain as clearly as possible the main point the author makes in answering that question/solving that problem.

• Do this without quoting the author's text!

Remember, I am asking you to explain the THESIS of the essay.  I am not asking you to describe the topic of the essay!

If you are at all confused about the assignment, be sure to discuss it with me before you start writing!

Due in class on Week V

I will grade each précis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and accuracy. 

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Individualized Readings Report:  20 percent 

Defining a topic for your Individualized Readings Report: 

If there is some topic regarding the history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century that holds particular interest to you, then you should work on that topic.

If you do not have any particular interest in a topic already, then try to define your topic either by

a) thinking about topics that have interested you in regards to the modern history of other countries, and then asking me if there are analogs in the case of 20th century Russian/Soviet history;

b) looking at table of contents to the Suny textbookThe Soviet Experiment, at the titles of the chapter subsections.   If one of the subsection titles interest you, then skim the section of the book (to be that it really interests you).  Does it interest you enough to read more on the topic?

You need to be sure that you have a strong interest in the topic, because you re going to read an entire scholarly book (or the equivalent) on the topic. 

Obtaining permission for the topic:

• You must provide me with a brief typed written statement of a sentence or two defining your prospective topic by the end of WEEK III.  If you have not done so by the end of Week III, you will fail the assignment.

• I will approve the topic if it is "doable" (in other words, if it is neither too broad nor too narrow and if there are adequate books and articles on the topic in languages that you can read).

• If I do not approve the topic, you will have one week to find and get approval for a different topic.

Finding secondary source readings on the topic:

You must locate and read one book length study on your topic.  You can substitute journal articles at a rate of 4 article per book.

The readings must meet the following criteria:

    For books:

• A monograph based upon the author's own research in primary sources

• published by a scholarly press

• at least 120 pages long

    or

• a collection of scholarly essays by one or more authors, based upon their own research in primary sources

• published by a scholarly press

• at least 120 pages long

    For journal articles:

• a research article based upon the author's own research in primary sources (not a book review or a survey of literature)

• published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal

• at least 20 pages long

• again, the substitution rate if 4 articles per book

Tips for locating BOOKS on your topic: 

• Remember that you are looking for secondary sources that fit the criteria outlined above.

• Consider starting by looking at the lists of further readings in the relevant chapter or chapters of Suny, The Soviet Experiment (or the excellent lists of further readings found in Wade, Revolutionary Russia; Kuromiya, Stalin;  Sieglebaum and Sokolov, Stalinism as a Way of Life; or Kotkin, Armageddon Averted).

• The Andruss Library has a small but decent collection of monographs on Soviet History, which you can locate by doing "subject" and "keyword" searches in the library's on-line catalog.  Once you find the call number for books on your topic, actually go up into the stacks and browse!  See if a particular book strikes you as interesting. 

• If you are browsing through books in the stacks at Andruss Library, look at the bibliographies in those books.  What other books have those authors read?  That might lead you to something of interest.

• If you don't find anything in the stacks that catches and holds your attention, try doing "subject" and "keyword" searches on your topic using the data bases and search engines linked to the Andruss Library web site, such as "WorldCat."  

• If you get frustrated, ask me for help!  I can probably suggest a few books or articles that might interest you.  But do this as a "last measure"--part of the exercise is for you to find books and articles on your own.

IMPORTANT!  It is very likely that you will need to obtain books or articles that are not in the Andruss Library collection.  In those cases, you will want to order the book using Interlibrary Loan.   This can take several weeks, so get a jump on the process.  It is your responsibility to obtain the book, so don't delay!

Tips for finding Scholarly Articles on your topic: 

• If you have found a book on the topic, look at the bibliography and/or the footnotes.  Has the author cited or listed any journal articles that look interesting to you?

• Try doing "subject" and "keyword" searches on your topic using the Andruss Library electronic databases designed for locating scholarly journal articles, such as “Historical Abstracts.”

• You can consult the “Suggestions for Further Reading” at the end of each chapter in the Suny book, in the Wade book, etc.. 

• If you get frustrated, ask me for help! 

Our library has a limited print run of the two most important Russian-Soviet history journals published in the USA (The Russian Review and the Slavic Review), and we have full text digital access to recent issues of these and other journals on Russian history.  We also have full runs (print and/or digital full text) of other journals that print essays on Russian history, such as the Journal of Modern History and The Journal of Social History. 

If you find a reference to an article that we do not have in our library, there is a chance that it may exist in a digital text versions through our library's databases. 

IMPORTANT:  It is very likely that you will need to order some articles using Interlibrary Loan.  This can take several weeks, so get a jump on the process; it is your responsibility to obtain the articles, so don't delay!

Approval of reading list:

• You must present me with a typed list of your chosen readings by the end of WEEK IV.   The list must be in proper bibliography form (see link on bibliography form).

• I must approve your selections.  I may very well reject some of your selections.  For that reason, it is a good idea for you to prepare some alternative choices.

• If you do not obtain my approval for your reading list, you will fail the assignment.   

Writing your papers

Once you have obtained approval of your readings, begin reading! 

Instructions for the paper:  you must write a short essay (2-4 pages, not counting endnotes) in which you:

• clearly identify the book or articles with correct bibliographic entries at the heading of your paper

• explain the thesis of the book and provide extensive evidence to support your contention regarding the book's thesis

• if you have substituted articles for books, explain the thesis of each article

• compare the thesis of the book (or each article) to what other authors we have read said about the topic (For instance, if Suny discussed the topic in The Soviet Experiment, what did he argue?  In Kuromyia discussed the topic in Stalin, what did he argue?  How did those arguments compare and contrast with the argument of the book or articles that you read for your report?)

Your paper must follow the mandatory paper form for this course.

The paper is due at our class session on Week XII.

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Document Analysis Papers:  2 @ 10 percent each

Document Analysis Paper 1

During Weeks VII-IX, we will be reading Lewis Sieglebaum and Andrei Sokolov, Stalinism as a Way of Life, a collection of documents on life in the USSR during the 1930s.  You will choose one document from this book on which you will write a document analysis paper.

• Your paper must be between 2 and 4 pages long and it must follow the mandatory paper form.
• Your paper must presents a thesis (your own main point about the document) that explains the evidence in this document. 
• At the heading of your paper, be sure to properly identify the document.
• Be sure to explain who wrote or created the document, where, and when.
• Be sure to explain the context of the document (in what situation was it written?).
• Present a thesis (a main point) in interpreting the document:  what does it mean?  What does it show us?
• Be sure to present evidence from the document itself that supports your thesis (remember that historians have to back up their arguments using specific evidence).
• You may quote the document when necessary (in which case you must provide endnote citations in proper form). 

I will grade each analysis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and accuracy. 

Your first document analysis paper will be due at our class session on Week IX

Document Analysis Paper 2:

Choose a time period OTHER THAN THE 1930s that interests you in regard to the history of Soviet Russia.  Register as a user on the web-based document archive Seventeen Moments in Soviet History, and then locate a primary source document (in text form) that interests you from that time period. 

Write a document analysis paper on that document.

• Your paper must be between 2 and 4 pages long and it must follow the mandatory paper form.
• Your paper must presents a thesis (your own main point about the document) that explains the evidence in this document. 
• At the heading of your paper, be sure to properly identify the document.
• Be sure to explain who wrote or created the document, where, and when.
• Be sure to explain the context of the document (in what situation was it written?).
• Present a thesis (a main point) in interpreting the document:  what does it mean?  What does it show us?
• Be sure to present evidence from the document itself that supports your thesis (remember that historians have to back up their arguments using specific evidence).
• You may quote the document when necessary (in which case you must provide endnote citations in proper form). 

I will grade each analysis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and accuracy. 

Your second document analysis paper will be due at our class session on Week XV.

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Final Exam: 20 percent

The final exam is a take-home final exam.  It requires that you draw together material from all of our assigned readings and also from outside readings.  It will be due at our scheduled final exam meeting.  Your essay must be at least ten pages long (typed, double-spaced), not counting endnotes (see On Endnote Form).  I will grade your exam on the basis of its logic, clarity, accuracy, and use of relevant evidence.  It is due at our final exam session.    FINAL EXAM QUESTION

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Link to key questions for discussion: