Course Catalog

RUSSIAN HISTORY: ANCIENT TIMES TO 1825

RUSSIAN HISTORY: ANCIENT TIMES TO 1825 Russia is over 1000 years old and its past weighs heavily. An understanding of Russia's history does not explain or justify everything, but it does illuminate what goes on today. This course is a broad survey of Russian history from ancient times to the beginning of the modern era, focusing on key events and outstanding personalities and using the past to illuminate the present. We will examine six important periods in the country's development and suggest the ways that they continue to influence how Russians view the world and respond to it. Outline of Topics: 1. Russian Beginnings: Vikings and Vladimir: The disputed origin of the country we call Russia; the "Normanist" controversy; Kiev as "mother" of Russia; Christianization and its impact. 2. Mongols and Muscovy: Russians love to hate them, but without the Mongols (Tatars) there would be no Russia. 3. Ivans and Autocracy: Ivan III consolidated the Russian state; his grandson Ivan IV nearly wrecked it; both left lasting legacies. 4. Peter the Great and Modernity: Peter's reforms wrote on Russia "Europe and the West," and made his country an empire and a great power, but left future generations to deal with these achievements and the questions they posed. 5. Catherine II and Culture: Many loved her, many hated her -- all with good reason. Usurper, conqueror, reformer, she built upon the achievements of Peter, laying the basis for Russia's great19th century cultural explosion. 6. One Day in December: The failed effort of idealistic young officers to overthrow the government on 14 December 1825 opens a fateful gap between state and society and begins the revolutionary era. Richard Robbins grew up in Western New York State and Florida. He went to college in Massachusetts and graduate school in New York City. In 1969 Richard moved to Albuquerque New Mexico where he taught Russian history at the University of New Mexico until he retired in 2007. He and his wife, Catherine Codispoti Robbins, came to the Bay Area in 2009. Richard’s interest in Russia began quite early but solidified in college.

This class is not available at this time.

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