HIS 242 Course Quick Search

HIS 242
History of Russia II

Professors Charles Evans
and Beverly Blois

 
Photo of Rabochnik i kolkhoznitsa (Worker and Farm Girl) by sculptor Vera Mukhina.

 

ps.  I am always looking for photographs, images, slides, artifacts, etc. that I can use in my courses.  If you have anything that you think might be of use or interesting to me, please let me know.  I credit all images/materials that I use in the course.

Workers
 
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Contact Information
Professor Evans e-mail cevans@nvcc.edu
Professor Evans phone 703.450.2520
Professor Evans home page novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/default.htm
   
Professor Blois e-mail bblois@nvcc.edu
Professor Blois phone 703.450.2503
Professor Blois home page www.nvcc.edu/home/bblois/
   
ELI telephone 703.323.3347 (1.888.435.6822)
ELI fax 703.323.3392
Campus division telephone 703.450.2505
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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Course Objectives
If you successfully complete this course, you will be able to:
  1. Define and describe the importance of some key individuals and events in Russian history
  2. Understand the general chronology and geography of Russian history
  3. Understand the main forces at work in the historical development of Russia
  4. Appreciate some of the cultural achievements of the Russians
  5. Develop an ability to analyze historical sources and reach conclusions based on that analysis
  6. Compose critical essays that explain the importance of certain historical events in Russian history
  7. Understand the role and work of the Russian historian
 
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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.
 
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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
 
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Course Schedule
WEEK TOPIC ASSIGNMENT DUE
1 Introduction and Themes in Russian History
Introduction paragraph
2 Reaction and Modernization under Alexander III and Nicholas II
Witte paragraph
3 A Silver Age of Russian Culture
Last Refund Date/Blackboard Sign-In Deadline
4 Marxism
5 1905 1905 Paragraph
6 World War I
Inactive Student Withdrawal Date
7 1917 and Civil War
Midterm exam
8 NEP and the Roaring 1920s
Lenin's Testament paragraph
9 Stalinism in the 1930s

10 World War II
Last Withdrawal Date
11 Cold War Abroad
Secret Speech paragraph
12 Thaw at Home Solzhenitsyn paper
13 Gorbachev Gorbachev paragraph
14 The End of the Soviet Union Russian Culture paper
15 Whither Russia in the Twenty-First Century? Final exam
Course End of Enrollment Date
 
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.
 
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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."
 
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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.

 

All materials on this site are copyright © 2008, B. Blois & C.T. Evans
For information contact cevans@nvcc.edu