BEFORE YOU START WORK IN YOUR COURSE, YOU SHOULD:
- This is the HIS 242 course home page which provides
general information
about the course and the links for the specific weekly assignments
below. You might wish to
add this page to your bookmarks for quick access in the future.
- Check the Quick-Start Syllabus
that ELI mailed to you for your applicable Critical Course Dates (They can also be found on the ELI home page.) These important
dates are specifically relevant to your enrollment in the
course. You must get started quickly in your course.
- You must withdraw before the Last Refund Date (Spring 2009: 30 January first session; 20 February second session; Fall
2008: 11 September first session; 26 September second session) to receive a refund.
- You must log into Blackboard (or submit an assignment) by
your Blackboard Sign-in Deadline (Spring 2009: 30 January first session; 20 February second session; Fall
2008: 11 September first session; 26 September second session) to avoid being
administratively deleted from the course without a refund.
- If you have not completed (received a grade for) the Introduction paragraph and the Witte paragraph
by the Inactive Student Withdrawal (Spring 2009: 16 February first session; 9 March second session; Fall
2008: 29 September first session; 13 October second session) date, I will withdraw
you from the course without tuition refund per official college and
course policy. This gives you about four or so weeks to get
started. (No
Exceptions; No excuses accepted.)
- Your Last Withdrawal Date (Spring 2009: 25 March first session; 15 April second session; Fall
2008: 4 November first session; 19 November second session) is the last date on which
you can withdraw yourself from the course using Novaconnect, without grade
penalty. Also, to remain in the course, by this date you must have completed
the Introduction paragraph, the Witte paragraph
and the Midterm exam. If
you do not complete these assignments by your Last Withdrawal Date, I will
automatically remove you from the course with a grade of "W." (No
Exceptions; No excuses accepted.)
- Finally, remember, you must complete all
course assignments, including the final exam, by your official
course End Date (Spring 2009: 11 May first session; 1 June second session; Fall
2008: 21 December first session; 5 January September second session).
- Check the quick-start syllabus to verify
your instructor's name.
- Please note that your
enrollment in this course is subject
to the general ELI
rules and regulations. Please be sure to review these
procedural matters now. For an Incomplete grade
in the course, a
student must earn 500 points, pass the midterm exam and explain the extenuating
circumstances leading to the incomplete request.
- Take appropriate action now if you will
need proctored examinations.
- Any student with a documented
disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is encouraged to
contact a counselor for disability services. Contact information can be found
online on the college web page. For
additional information, please contact an ELI counselor at
elicounselors@nvcc.edu or
703.323.2425. All information is kept confidential.
- Please note that you must send all of
your assignments and extra credit work to your instructor by e-mail according to the Using Email in Your ELI History Course instructions. (No more than one submission per calendar day will be accepted.) Feedback
on your work will be returned via e-mail, usually within 24-72 hours.
Your work is considered to have been submitted only when it
actually reaches your instructor's inbox in a gradable form. In
other words, the simple fact that you may have emailed something does not constitute "submission" of an assignment.
-
Please review the information on
Using Blackboard for instructions on how to
access the online discussions and your gradebook and for the requirements to post to Blackboard in the course.
- To begin the course, review this page and all of the
course weekly
assignments and then click on the link to week 1 on the
schedule below.
- Finally, please remember that you must
pass the final exam with a grade of "C" (175/250) or better to earn a
passing grade in this course.

Required books
The text for the course is
Nicholas Riasanovsky and Mark
Steinberg, A History of Russia, 7th ed. (Oxford University Press,
2005, isbn 9780195153941). Earlier
editions of this textbook cover much of the same material but lack coverage of Russian
events over the last twenty years. If you wish, you can read my Explanation of why I choose this text.
There is one short paperback
required:
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Signet Classic,
isbn 9780451527097, although any edition is acceptable). Please check the distance learning bookstore website for information on where and how you can purchase your textbooks. You may also be able to
buy your books at another retail outlet or on the web.
Course Overview
This course reviews the history of Russia from about 1900 to the present and introduces students to the world of
Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. We will examine the major themes
and issues that have defined Russia's recent past, and we will also take a look at
some Russian cultural achievements in such areas as art, architecture,
music, theatre, dance, literature and philosophy. Although there is
no formal prerequisite for this course, some basic knowledge of European
history will be helpful.
Course Objectives
If you successfully complete this
course, you will be able to:
- Define and describe the
importance of some key individuals and events in Russian history
- Understand the general
chronology and geography of Russian history
- Understand the main forces at
work in the historical development of Russia
- Appreciate some of the cultural
achievements of the Russians
- Develop an ability to analyze
historical sources and reach conclusions based on that analysis
- Compose critical essays that
explain the importance of certain historical events in Russian history
- Understand the role and work
of the Russian historian
Course Prerequisites
Although there are no formal prerequisites for this course, please consider:
-
It is expected that students
possess college-level reading and writing skills.
- You should also have relatively good technology and web-use skills. Take the short quiz,
Is A Web Course for Me?, to determine your
preparedness to succeed in a web-based course.
- I highly encourage you to have taken at least one 100-level introductory history course,
- I would recommend that you allot at least three hours a week of study time for this course.
Grading
Course grades are based on the
following scale:
- 1,000-900: A
- 899-800: B
- 799-700: C
- 699-600: D
- 599-000: F
Course Schedule
You can earn extra credit in the course by
finding typos or broken links on the course web pages. You can also suggest additional websites
that would be useful in the course.
Course Progress
and Record Sheet
You are expected to make regular and steady progress in
completing your course assignments and examinations. Please use
the HIS 242 course schedule to keep
track of your
assignments. You can also check your
Blackboard online gradebook for
your grades. Once
you begin this course, it is your responsibility to withdraw if you do not
intend to finish it. If you do not
withdraw and if you do not finish your course assignments, then you will receive a
grade based upon the work that you have
submitted. Usually, this grade is an "F."
Writing in the Course
Note that proper grammar, spelling and style are an
inherent part of each assignment in this course. Please check
Charlie's History Writing Center for
more information. Any student caught cheating in this course will be
subject to disciplinary action.
We do wish to acknowledge the
help and suggestions of many people in creating this course and also offer a note
about copyrighted materials.
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