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Red Empire: The Soviet Union and After (HIST20084)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Email: nwils@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
In the lands formerly ruled by the Tsars, the first half of the twentieth century was a violent period with five revolutions, an extremely destructive Civil War, two World Wars and a whole range of smaller military conflicts. This atmosphere of upheaval was reinforced by waves of state terror against a variety of groups (from peasants to bureaucrats, and from the intelligentsia to jazz fans).
Within this cauldron of violence the Russian Empire was unmade, re-constituted as the Soviet Union, and eventually stabilized in a new Red Empire locked in the Cold War with the west. This subject explores the society of the Soviet Empire and the transformations of this social system in the less tumultuous periods between Stalin's death in 1953 and the 1980s. It also explains the crisis and breakdown of the Soviet Union and the continuing struggle of the fifteen successor states to find a stable economic and political system. Particular emphasis is placed on the critical and creative use of the wide variety of sources available for the study of the Soviet Union.
This subject forms part of the pathway “political and international history” within the History major.
Intended learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Understand the analytical challenges in the interpretation of Russian and Soviet history
- Have acquired the ability to overcome some of these challenges by critical analysis of a variety of primary evidence available to the historian of the Soviet Union
- Have learned to creatively and imaginatively use primary sources to build an argument about the Soviet past
- Situate their arguments within the larger scholarly debate on Soviet history.
Generic skills
Students who complete this subject should develop their:
- Critical and analytical skills (including argument identification and analysis);
- Communication (written and oral);
- Engagement (with real world ideas and problems)
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Weekly multiple-choice online quiz, due weekly
| Throughout the teaching period | 15% |
Time-line with annotated primary sources
| Mid semester | 35% |
Essay-length source interpretation
| During the examination period | 50% |
Attendance Hurdle requirement: A hurdle requirement of a minimum attendance at 75% of tutorials applies in this subject. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass this subject. If they have not already done so, students must successfully complete the online 'Researching History' module in order to submit assignments and to pass this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day, after 5 working days late assessment will not be marked.
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Natasha Wilson Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 29 hours: 1.5 hour lecture every week for 12 weeks and 1 hour tutorial every week for 11 weeks (week 2 - week 12) Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 24 July 2023 to 22 October 2023 Last self-enrol date 4 August 2023 Census date 31 August 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 22 September 2023 Assessment period ends 17 November 2023 Semester 2 contact information
Email: nwils@unimelb.edu.au
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Mark Edele, The Soviet Union. A Short History (Wiley, 2018)
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 15 February 2024