Imperial Russia on the eve of the First World War presents a complex picture of political conflict, social and economic change, and cultural ferment and innovation. Newly emergent liberal and socialist political parties sought to enlist mass support to transform or overthrow the tsarist regime, which in turn endeavored to preserve itself through reform, repression, and the refashioning of its image. Rapid urbanization and industrialization, and the spread of education and literacy, gave rise to social conflict and dislocation, demands for social reform, and the redefinition of individual identities and beliefs. These political, social, cultural, and economic developments provided a fertile context for the burst of literary creativity and the emergence of modernist literary and artistic movements that occurred in fin-de-siecle Russia. Intended for first- and second-year students, this course seeks to familiarize students with the ways historians study and attempt to understand the past through an exploration of the interrelationships between political conflict, social and economic change, and literary and artistic creativity in imperial Russia between the 1880s and the October Revolution of 1917. Format: seminar. Evaluation based on several short essays based on class readings and on a modest research paper. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). Upperclass students will be admitted only with the consent of the instructor. This course is writing intensive. Group B