Unit information: Stalin in 2012/13

Unit name	Stalin
Unit code	RUSSM0016
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Shaw
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Russian
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The history of the Soviet Union has been dominated by the figure of Joseph Stalin, the powerful and enigmatic ruler who inspired devotion and hatred in equal measure. Yet Stalin’s rule oversaw the development of a unique and active cultural and social landscape that sits at odds with traditional interpretations of Stalin’s tyranny and dictatorship. Taught by specialists in Soviet history, film, literature and visual art, this course examines Stalin’s rule from a variety of angles, including the cult of personality, consumerism, utopian social projects, socialist realist art, sports and the body, the role of women and the influence of socialist architecture. The unit will examine a range of primary sources, including memoirs, state documents, literature, visual art and film, and engage with new historical scholarship which challenges our assumptions about this key period in Russian history. This will enable students to:

• develop knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural characteristics of Stalinism, in evaluative contradistinction to traditional assessments of Stalin and his rule
• develop a sophisticated understanding of the interplay of political, social and cultural forces
• develop the ability to work with primary and secondary sources and an awareness of historiographical and wider scholarly debates
• develop the ability to formulate and engage with complex questions and produce structured, logical responses founded in systematic research

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will:

1. have advanced knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural history of Stalinism
2. have learned to utilise their cultural-historical understanding to evaluate, refine and amplify traditional historiographical models and conceptions
3. have developed their skills in research based on a variety of primary and secondary materials
4. have enhanced their skills in written and oral presentation

Teaching Information

Informal seminar format, with interdisciplinary input from academic subject specialists from across the Faculty, to include student presentations in small groups. Readings and discussion points will be made available through Blackboard, and students will be encouraged to debate issues around the subject using the online discussion forum.

Assessment Information

Formative: students will be required to give one or more presentations, normally as part of a small group. Summative: one 5000-word essay. All assessments require students to demonstrate high-level subject knowledge of the field, drawing in detail on appropriate primary and secondary material. Essays require students to research independently, with some tutorial guidance, and to present their findings in a cogent and structured manner. Similar skills are required for presentations, where skills of oral communication are developed. Both forms of assessment test all 4 of the learning outcomes listed below.

Reading and References

Harold Shukman, Redefining Stalinism (Routledge, 2003) David Hoffmann, Stalinist Values: The Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity (Cornell University Press, 2003) Katerina Clark, The Soviet Novel: History as Ritual (Indiana University Press, 2000) Jochen Hellbeck, Revolution on my Mind: Writing a Diary under Stalin (Harvard University Press, 2006) Stephen Kotkin, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilisation (University of California Press, 2007) Sheila Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s (Oxford University Press, 2000)