Calendar

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
Week 1: Primary Issues of the Course
1 Introduction: Geography, Sources, Background  
2 The Origins of Rus'  
Week 2: Rise of Kievan Rus’
3 The Rise of the Kievan State, 10th-11th centuries  
4 The State Structure of Kievan Rus’, 11th-12th c.’s  
Week 3: Kievan Civilization
5 Economics and Society in Kievan Rus'  
Week 4: The Decline of Kievan Rus’
6 Succession Struggles Research Paper Topic and Preliminary Bibliography Due
7 Novgorod, Galycia-Volynia, and Kievan Foreign Affairs  
Week 5: The Golden Horde
8 Mongol Conquest  
9 The Russian Lands within the Golden Horde  
Week 6: The Rise of Muscovy
10 The Rise of the Daniilovichi Topic Presentations
11 Unification and Centralization Topic Presentations
Week 7: Muscovy at its Height
12 Domestic Life in Muscovy Topic Presentations
13 Ivan the Terrible Topic Presentations
Week 8: The Government of Ivan the Terrible
14 Government and Politics Topic Presentations
15 Community and Law Topic Presentations
    Research Paper Topic and Preliminary Bibliography Due
Week 9: The Time of Troubles and its Aftermath
16 The Time of Troubles Topic Presentations
17 Reconstruction and the First Romanovs Topic Presentations
Week 10: The Seventeenth Century
18 Law and Society Topic Presentations
19 Social Critics Topic Presentations
    Final Paper (7-10 pages)
Week 11: Culture and Change in the Late Seventeenth Century
20 The Church and the Schism Topic Presentations
21 Peter the Great: Personality and Challenges Topic Presentations
Week 12: Peter the Great in Power
22 Peter the Great: Taxes and Serfdom Topic Presentations
23 18th Century Government and Politics Topic Presentations
Week 13: Life in the Eighteenth Century
24 Religion and Social Order Topic Presentations
25 Everyday Life Topic Presentations
Week 14: Eighteenth-Century Politics and Culture
26 Peter the Great’s Heritage  
27 Review  
    Final Exam