RUSS3391: THE MAKING OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLIGENTSIA (1762-1917)

• Russian Language 2A (RUSS2191) OR Russian Language 2B (RUSS2012) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: Russian Language 4 (RUSS3031). Others: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• None

• To impart an understanding of the complex range of circumstances - social, political, ideological, and cultural - that informed the development of the Russian intelligentsia from the late 18th century to the 1917 revolutions;
• To examine specific domains of Russian social life and cultural production, namely literature and criticism, journalism and publishing, the arts, education and science, thought and religion, etc. in the above context.

• This module will explore the historical development of the Russian intelligentsia as a unique and controversial social and cultural phenomenon.
• It will provide the context of its evolution from the late 18th to the early 20th century and it will introduce the most important ideological and cultural concerns that preoccupied Russian thinkers and cultural producers in this period.
• In particular, the module will focus on the ways in which the Russian intelligentsia constructed its identity and status through cultural representations and social practices.
• The module will also enable a wider exploration of Russian social and cultural history in this period.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will acquire a thorough and sophisticated knowledge of the factors that drove the development of the Russian intelligentsia from the late 18th century to the 1917 revolutions, and an understanding of the ways in which the relationship between cultural production, state and society changed through the period.
• They will also acquire detailed knowledge of the main agents of cultural development across the full artistic, social and political spectrum.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will acquire the ability to evaluate a range of texts - including literary, critical, philosophical and historical - in the original Russian, and to identify and utilise appropriate primary and secondary sources for that purpose.
• Students will also develop their ability to deal with the discursive specificity of different kinds of text, and to assess them in terms of their inter-related social, ideological and aesthetic functions.

Key Skills:

• Students will further develop their ability to work independently within a prescribed framework, with considerable emphasis being placed on the rudiments of the research process.
• On completion of the course, students will be able to present a cogent and structured argument in both oral and written form.

• The module will be taught intensively in either Term I or Term II on a 'short-fat' basis.
• Weekly lectures will introduce the historical and conceptual framework specific to the module.
• Weekly seminars provide a forum for the presentation of the results of independent study, and are designed to stimulate and facilitate detailed engagement and collective discussion of themes and sources.
• The assessment takes the form of a single extended essay, the topic of which is formulated by the student in consultation with, and strictly with the approval of, the course tutor.
• Each student is expected to submit a detailed essay plan as piece of formative assignment, on which feedback will be provided in a separate one-on-one consultation.

Each student is expected to submit a detailed essay plan as piece of formative assignment, on which feedback will be provided in a separate one-on-one consultation.

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