The Communist Experience in the Twentieth Century
HIST 353Z
Summer 2023 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
REES 353Z |
More than thirty years have passed since the collapse of Communism, its empire, and its utopian vision of the kingdom of heaven on Earth. Indeed, the Communist collapse was heralded as not just the end of the Cold War but the end of history itself. Yet how do we understand the nature of the Communist way of life, the causes of its decline, and the meaning of its demise? This course will trace the development of Communism's answer to capitalist modernity from the 1917 revolution through the Soviet collapse. It will seek to shed light on the birth, life, and death of Communist modernity through history, literature, and art, by exploring the world socialism created as an ideological model and a way of life. The emphasis of the course will be on the lived experience of Communism, primarily within the Soviet Union but also beyond it (in Eastern Europe and Asia). In the global conflict between Capitalism and Communism, how did people understand the competing demands of ideology and reality, individual and society, private and public, production and consumption, labor and leisure? How did the state manage the contradictions that arose when lofty ideologies encountered everyday life, and how did citizens make sense of these ideological transformations? What killed Communism: bombs and diplomacy, or refrigerators and Finnish shoes? This course is an intensive reading, research, and writing seminar.
- This course is held entirely online and is a hybrid synchronous and asynchronous format.
- You should be prepared to spend at least 4-6 hours/day on class work.
- There is a class every day: on Mondays and Thursdays we will meet synchronously on Zoom at our regular class time (3:30-5:10 pm); on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the format will be asynchronous (meaning you can engage with the day's materials at your own pace within a 24-hour window).
- You are expected to participate in each class having read the assigned material and reflected on them in your forum comments. Each day's online discussion will cover the topic and materials of the day.
- Each day you are expected to post at least one original comment of your own, and to respond to at least one comment by a classmate.
- The questions will be posted by 12 pm the day of the class, and the forum will be open for 24 hours, until 12 pm the following day.
- Be prepared to engage with the sources critically--to raise important issues, ask for clarification, and/or propose alternative interpretations, and to bring your own questions into the discussion. When possible, point to specific examples in the text and reference sources/page numbers to make the discussion easier to navigate for the class.
- Your active engagement in the seminar--both on the forum and in the synchronous sessions--is absolutely essential. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CGST-MN)(HIST-MN)(HIST)(REES-MN)(REES-Social Sci) |
Major Readings:
Paulina Bren, THE GREENGROCER AND HIS TV: THE CULTURE OF COMMUNISM AFTER THE 1968 PRAGUE SPRING, Cornell University Press, 2010.
Boris Groys, THE TOTAL ART OF STALINISM: AVANT-GARDE, AESTHETIC DICTATORSHIP, AND BEYOND. Verso, 2011.
Heda Margolius Kovaly, UNDER A CRUEL STAR: A LIFE IN PRAGUE 1941-1968. Francis Epstein, trans. Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1997.
Glennys Young, ed. THE COMMUNIST EXPERIENCE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY A GLOBAL HISTORY THROUGH SOURCES. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Ji Xianlin, THE COWSHED: MEMORIES OF THE CHINESE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. Chenxin Jiang, trans. NYRB, 2016.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Seminar attendance and participation: 30% (synchronous discussion, posts, and responses)
Response papers: 30% (10% each)
Discussion leadership and presentations: 20% (10% each)
Final Paper: 20% |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Full syllabi will be linked as they become available |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
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