Instructions
Blog Posts: Beginning in Week 3, you will work together to create a blog, which will help shape our intellectual journey. You will sign up for TWO days on which you commit to writing a lead blog post. Your post should be roughly one page in length and respond thoughtfully and substantively to the assigned materials. In addition, your post should include at least one discussion question. Over the course of the semester, you must also write 10 comments responding to your colleagues’ lead posts. (You are welcome to write more and will get extra credit if you do!) All posts are due by 10pm the night before class, so I have time to read and consider them before we meet. This is your blog, and it will have a big impact on the direction we take in our classroom discussions. Please be creative, have fun, and keep it respectful!
Leading Discussion: On your lead blog post days, you and your partner will also take a turn leading our classroom discussion. You are only responsible for the primary sources. To complete this assignment, you will need to prepare some contextual information, which you will present in class, and 7-8 written discussion questions. You must meet with me in advance to go over your questions.
Schedule
Week 3: Muscovy and Ivan the Terrible
Sept. 9: Ivan Kalita, Mongols, Monomakh
Week 4: The Time of Troubles
Sept. 16: Domostroi
Andreanna Stefl
Max Kimmell
Week 5: Peter the Great
Sept. 23: Petrine Documents I
Timera Toppin
Dan Androsik
Week 6: Catherine the Great
Sept. 30: Corruption, Catherine’s Accession
Paige Keith
Katie Ruffing
Week 7: Alexander I, the Decembrists
Oct. 7: Karamzin
Sarah Byrne
Marc Péaquin
Week 9: Serfdom and the Great Reforms
Oct. 21: Purlevskii memoir
Tori McKeehan
Rakiah Ellis
Oct. 25: Emancipation Manifesto and Petitions
Katie Ruffing
Andreanna Stefl
Week 11: Slavophiles vs. Westernizers
Nov. 4: Chaadaev
Timera Toppin
Tori McKeehan
Week 12: Radicals and Revolutionaries
Nov. 11: Belinsky, Herzen, Bakunin
Paige Keith
Dan Androsik
Week 13: Late Empire and Change
Nov. 18: The Cherry Orchard
Max Kimmell
Marc Péaquin
Week 15: On the Eve of Revolution
Dec. 4: Fashion, Music, Art
Sarah Byrne
Rakiah Ellis
