Rebecca Mitchell

Russia: Tsars, Tsarinas, and Terrorists
In this course we will follow Russia’s development, expansion and transformation from its earliest beginnings to the revolutionary cataclysms of the early 20th century. How and why did Russia come to dominate a vast Eurasian space? How did Russia’s Tsars and Tsarinas exert control over diverse cultures, languages, religions and peoples? What impact did this have on the lives of their subjects? How was Russian identity defined within the context of a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional empire? Central themes will include political governance, imperial expansion, ethnic relations, religious identity, social upheaval, and the emergence of the radical intelligentsia. Pre-1800 3 hrs lect./disc.

The Soviet Experiment
In this course we will explore the Soviet attempt to forge a fundamentally new form of human life. Starting with the revolutionary movement of the early 20th century, we will examine the development and ultimate downfall of the USSR. What was Soviet communism (both in idea and in practice)? How did its implementation and development transform local identities (religious, ethnic/national, social)? How did internal and external factors (political, social, economic) transform Soviet policy and life? Was the collapse of the USSR inevitable? Special attention will be paid both to political leaders and ordinary people (believers, collaborators, victims, dissidents, outcasts). 3 hrs lect./disc.

Music, Power, and Resistance in World History
This class examines the conflicting relationship between music, power and resistance in world history. Beginning with ancient Greece, we will discuss the relationship between music and power in a wide range of cultural and historical contexts, including music’s relation to religious power (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), political power (China, Europe, North and South America, Africa), and social power (gender, ethnicity, class). Questions of state censorship, propaganda and musical expressions of dissent will be highlighted, as well as the interconnection between aesthetic choices, social status and political views. Musical sources will range from classical to popular forms. No prior musical training required. (formally HIST 0116) 3 hrs sem.

Revolutionary Russia
The Russian Revolution was a continuum of violence that, through years of civil war and political, social and cultural revolutions, sought to transform the basis of human existence and usher in a utopian future, imposing “Marxist” values upon diverse local cultures and contexts. We will examine the rise and fall of revolutionary sentiment from late-imperial terrorism through the establishment of Stalin’s dictatorship. Through analysis of primary and secondary sources, students will assess both the manifold ambitions of the revolutionary years and how memory of 1917 has been used to justify, critique and at times repossess aspects of Russian/Soviet history. 3 hrs sem.

Soviet Science from Sputnik to Chernobyl
In 1957, the USSR launched the world’s first artificial satellite. Just four years later, Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit Earth. Yet by the 1980s, Soviet development had fostered environmental devastation, a crisis made manifest with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. In this course we will explore the Soviet state’s fascination with science as a means through which to build a utopian future. How did science and technology interact with state power? How was science implicated in Cold War tensions? How did Soviet “atomic culture” affect ordinary citizens? (Counts for HSMT credit) 3 hrs. sem.

Contested Kyiv: Ukranian-Russian Relations in Historical Context
Kyiv: capital of the Ukrainian nation? Or Kiev: cradle of Russian civilization? Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2021 claim that “Russians and Ukrainians were one people – a single whole” was a geopolitical maneuver; nonetheless, it highlighted a deeply intertwined and contested history. In this course we will explore the multifaceted history of Kyiv from its founding to the present day in order to better understand the entangled histories of the contemporary Ukrainian and Russian states. Central to our discussions will be primary and secondary sources that offer conflicting dynastic, religious and national histories which have sought to claim Kyiv as their own. We will also probe Kyiv’s Jewish past to better understand the region’s complex multi-confessional and multi-ethnic past. 3 hrs sem.

Saints, Heathens and Heretics: Belief and Unbelief in Imperial Russia
Though Orthodox Christianity is often viewed as synonymous with Russian culture, the Russian Empire was home to a dizzying array of religious faiths, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and varying forms of Christianity. Through primary and secondary source analysis (including textual, visual and aural sources), we will explore the challenges and opportunities this multi-confessional reality posed to Russia’s rulers and the official Orthodox Church. We will also probe the question of what religious faith (in its multiple iterations) meant for subjects from across the social strata and geographic expanse of the empire. How did one lead a spiritually fulfilled life? How did members of different religious faiths interact? What was the relationship between religious and ethnic identities? 3 hrs sem.

Russia’s Imperial Borderlands
In this course we will explore the complex fabric of Russia’s multi-ethnic borderlands in the 19th and 20th centuries. How did shifting relations with Russia and other imperial systems shape local identities? How and when did nationalist sentiment emerge in these regions, and how did the imperial center(s) respond? How did shifting borders affect identity formation? Did the creation of the Soviet Union mark the end of empire or its transformation into new forms? Regions to be discussed include Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Georgia, the Baltic countries, and the Central Asian states. 3hrs lect/disc.

Nuclear Cold War: Americans, Soviets and the Fate of the World
Fears of nuclear Armageddon gripped the world after 1945. How is it that nuclear war never broke out by the time the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991? This course traces the complex relationship between nuclear security, international relations, and domestic politics through the initial development of nuclear weapons, Cold War arms race, emergence of independent Russia, and contemporary tensions. How did shifting social and political environments shape nuclear security concerns? Why, despite the end of the ideological Cold War, did the early 21st century witness the collapse of bilateral arms control and nonproliferation cooperation between Russia and the USA? This course is part of the Public Humanities Labs Initiative administered by the Axinn Center for the Humanities. (Counts for HSMT credit)

Writing History
In this course students discuss historical methods and writing strategies to create convincing historical narratives. With the approval and guidance of the professor, students complete a 20-25-page research paper based on primary and secondary sources. Students take this course in the fall of their junior year or with permission in the spring. If students are away for the entire junior year, they can take the course in the fall of their senior year. 3 hr. sem.

Violence, Trauma and Historical Memory in the South Caucasus
In 1991, independent Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia emerged from the dissolution of the USSR. Despite optimistic hopes, all three countries were riven by war. In 2022, a new wave of Russian emigres fleeing conscription reawakened memories of colonial oppression. This course examines social, cultural and political attempts to overcome the violent legacies inherited from colonial, Soviet and post-Soviet conflicts. We will engage in reading first-hand memoir accounts and interviews, official government documents, and theoretical work in memory studies and conflict transformation and assess both the causes for conflict as well as its long-term impacts. We will focus on the questions: how should a society heal from its traumatic past? Is healing even possible? What role does historical truth and reconciliation play in building contemporary reality?