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16E:051:002: Postwar Soviet Life and Culture

Instructor

Prof. Paula Michaels

Phone

335-2287

Office

Schaeffer 160

E-mail

paula-michaels@uiowa.edu

Office Hours

Thursdays 12:00-2:00 and by appt.

URL

http://www.uiowa.edu/~c16e051/index.htm

 

Course Description:

“Our system, it’s a military system, essentially, and it works great in emergencies.  You’re finally free there, and necessary….  And in those times the Russian shows how great he is. How unique. We’ll never be Dutch or German.  And we’ll never have proper asphalt and manicured lawns.  But there’ll always be plenty of heroes.”

--former Soviet soldier,  interviewed in1996

Cataclysmic upheavals punctuated the Soviet experience from the beginning: revolution, civil war, collectivization, famine, World War II, and more.  The soldier quoted above spoke with regard to the cleanup of the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl, but he could just as easily been referring to any number of events in the Soviet past.  Most notably, World War II had a transformative effect on Soviet everyday life and popular culture. A force equal in its impact was the death of Joseph Stalin after nearly 30 years of rule. A struggle to come to terms with the war, Stalinism, and their legacies in the context of the Cold War characterize the years after Stalin's 1953 death. At the same time, the post-Stalin era was unquestionably the most stable and prosperous period of Soviet history.  This course will take advantage of the recent blossoming of historical scholarship on postwar culture and life in the USSR in order to deepen our understanding and appreciation of a way of life now passed, but not forgotten.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are encouraged to make an appointment with the instructor if they want course adaptations, have emergency medical information, require special arrangements in case of building evacuation, or need other special contingencies.

 

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