STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 

 I. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic outline of Russian and Soviet history and their key historical events and personages.

 II.     Synthesize the complex integration of influences such as Orthodoxy, foreign elements, ethnic cultures, the monarchy, the role of the peasant, revolution and evolution, the emergence and decline of communism and socialism, the nationalities issue, war, and foreign policy within Russian and Soviet history.

 III.    Analyze the role of geography in Russian and Soviet history.

 IV.     Formulate models or patterns of how and why a “backward” Russia evolved into the powerful Soviet Union.

 V.      Evaluate the roles of Gorbachev and Yeltsin and other world powers in the fall of the Soviet Union.

 VI.     Estimate the Soviet Union’s role in the world and compare that with Russia’s role today.

 VII.    Anticipate Russia’s future role in the world and how and why it might change.

 VIII.   Evaluate Russian and Soviet science and culture, how one affected the other, and how political and economic systems shaped them.

 IX.     Delineate and analyze the patterns of Russian and Soviet social life, including rural and urban life, women and families, consumerism, crime, and social problems.

 X       Evaluate Russian and Soviet culture through the lenses of literature and film

 XI.    Four general goals integrate history with workplace skills:

       A.      Acquire information from many sources

       B.      Break complex and multiple sources of information down into parts to create clearer understanding

       C.      Understand the impact of time and space on perspective

       D.      Develop narrative structures and arguments based on evidence

 XII.     Throughout the course, students should be introduced to course content, practice using course content, and demonstrate they can:

       A.        Describe how peoples, groups, cultures, and institutions covered in this course change over time

       B.        Understand the events covered in the course in historical context and recognize how social, cultural, gender, race, religion, nationality and other identities affect historical perspective

       C.        Communicate orally and in writing about the subject of the course and select and apply contemporary forms of technology to solve problems and compile information

       D.        Use different resources for historical research, including libraries, databases, bibliographies and archives

       E.         Analyze secondary sources and recognize differences in historical interpretation

       F.         Identify types of primary sources, the point of view and purpose of their author or creator

       G.        Create substantive writing samples which employ critical analysis of primary and secondary sources, and document those sources correctly

       H.        Construct knowledge in the discipline and synthesize historical narratives and timelines from primary and secondary sources, maps, and/or artifacts and critically analyze, interpret and evaluate many different points of view to construct historical arguments.

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 

 I. The Foundations of Russian History

         A. Earliest inhabitants

         B. Role of geography

         C. The Slavs as an ethnic grouping

         D. The non-Slavs

         E. Formation of the Russian state

         F. Cyril and Methodius

         G. The introduction of Christianity

         H. Orthodoxy and faith

         I. Decline of Kiev-Russia

         J. Migrations & schisms

         K. Russia under the Tatars

         L. Ivan the Great

 II. The Emergence of Modern Russia

         A. Ivan the Terrible

         B. Siberia

         C. Exploration and Russian expansion

         D. The `Time of Troubles`

         E. War

         F. The Romanov Dynasty

         G. Conditions after the `Time of Troubles`

         H. The peasant uprising & status

         I. Ukraine

         J. Schism between church and state

         K. Russia as a European power

         L. Peter the Great and reform

         M. Politics and culture in the 18th century

         N. Life in the 18th century Russia

         O. Catherine II

         P. Foreign policy in the 18th century

         Q. Entering the 19th century

         R. Russia and France

         S. After Napoleon

         T. Discontent and domestic instability

         U. The Decembrists and the Westerners and Slavophiles

         V. Alexander II

         W. Emancipation

         X. Reform

         Y. The Intelligentsia and new political movements

         Z. The arts and culture in the 19th century

         AA. Russia and Europe

         BB. Russia`s international reorientation

         CC. Russia and the United States

         DD. Expansion in Asia

         EE. Wars in the 19th century

         FF. The Revolution of 1905: the stage is set for 1917

         GG. World War I

 III. Bolshevism and Civil War - the `Reds` versus the `Whites`

         A. The October Revolution

         B. Marxism and Leninism to the foreground

         C. The struggle for power

         D. Communism arrives

         E. Economic maneuvering

         F. Life in the 1920`s

         G. Religion and the arts

         H. Stalinism and the purges

         I. Foreign relations in Europe, with the U.S., and in Asia

         J. World War II

         K. After WWII

         L. `Cold War` and “Coexistence`

         M. Khrushchev and Brezhnev