A survey of Russian social, economic, cultural, and political history to the mid-nineteenth century. The course is designed in particular to explore, especially through primary sources relating to four broad periods-Kievan Rus', the medieval period of independent principalities, Muscovite Russia, and Imperial Russia-, the forces and processes that enabled Muscovy to create a vast multi-national empire in Eastern Europe and Asia and that shaped the formation of Russian national identity. Discussion course. Evaluation will be based on class participation, a final self-scheduled exam, a map quiz, and several short essays based on class readings. Groups B and D
W. WAGNER