Introduction to Russian History, 862 to the Present

This 200-level survey course traces the longue durée of Russian history from Kievan Rus’ to the present. It focuses on the ‘big questions’ in Russia’s history and its major social, cultural, economic, and political shifts. In particular, it examines the cycle between conservative and reformist strategies of rule, and Russia’s often fraught relationship to Europe and the West—at times seeking to draw closer to it and at times rejecting or challenging it.