Youth in Russia Vassar College, Fall 2000 Monday 1-3 p.m., Swift 12		Professor Miki Pohl Office: Swift 36 Office Hours: Monday 3:30-4:30,  Wednesday 10-12, and by appointment E-mail: “mipohl@vassar.edu”

Course Description
This seminar explores the history of youth and youth culture in Russia. We will learn how youth and teenagers were discovered and defined as an age group, read accounts of being young (drawing on history, sociology, ethnography, fiction, and memoirs), and explore the youth experience as depicted in films and documentaries. Topics include the experiences of youth during periods of reform (Russia's "Great Reforms," Khrushchev reforms, Perestroika), youth legislation, youth institutions (orphanage, school, the Komsomol), youth and Stalinism, the experiences of girls. The course concludes with an exploration of contemporary Russian teen culture, focusing on rock music and its role in the 1980s, and DJ and club culture of the 1990s. The seminar does not require any previous course work in Russian history.

Required Books

Toby W. Clyman and Judith Vowles, eds., Russia Through Women’s Eyes: Autobiographies from Tsarist Russia, 1996
Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, 1996 (1862)
Alan M. Ball, And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930, 1994
Hilary Pilkington, Russia’s Youth and Its Culture: A Nation’s Constructors and Constructed, 1994
Deborah Adelman, The “Children of Perestroika:” Moscow Teenagers Talk About Their Lives and the Future, 1991

Films

The Road to Life, 1931. My Name is Ivan, 1963. The Burglar, 1987. Is It Easy to Be Young, 1988. 

Also: clips from other Russian and Western documentaries, on the 1950s, on the experiences of Soviet soldiers, on the glasnost youth generation, music videos.

Course Requirements

Attendance and participation. You are expected to complete the readings listed in the schedule each week (including those on reserve) and to participate regularly in discussions. You will be asked to lead class discussion once during the semester, perhaps together with another participant (depends on topical interests and seminar size). Hand in assignments when they are due. Late assignments and more than two unexcused absences will result in lowered grades. Late assignments will lose 1/2 of a letter grade each day after the deadline. Attendance and participation account for 20% of your grade.

Course journal on readings. A total of 5 journal entries (1-2 pages), consisting of responses and discussion questions relating to the week’s topic and readings. The journal is due Monday by 10 a.m., on e-mail (mipohl@vassar.edu). 15% of grade.
Listen to the course tape. One of your journal entries should be a detailed response to the materials on this tape. The tape and a listening guide will be available after the October break. 

Book Review. 3-4 pages, double-spaced. Analysis, critical evaluation, discussion of contribution to youth history, assessment of sources, bias, and intent. Choose a book related to your paper topic. Due week 5, Thursday, October 5, 5 p.m., at Swift 36. 15%.

Film review. 2-3 pages, double-spaced. Analysis and critical evaluation from point of view of youth history. Due week 8 or week 10, depending on your choice of films, Monday, in class. 10%.

Research Paper. A term paper of 15 pages on a topic that interests you and that is 
relevant to the course. You may write on youth in Eastern Europe or choose a comparative topic (e.g. youth and sports in the U.S. and Russia). You are encouraged to use a variety of sources, including films, music, visual sources, fiction. The paper requi
Gres use of primary and secondary sources and is graded based on clarity of exposition and argument, and correct form (documentation, grammar). A paper proposal , including a bibliography, is due the week before fall break (Week 6, Thursday, October 12, 5 p.m., Swift 36), and you will be asked to give an oral presentation on your research during the last weeks of the semester. The final version is due in Week 13, Friday December 8, 5 p.m., Swift 36. 40%.

Students with Disabilities. Academic accommodations are available for students with 
disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please 
schedule an appointment with me early in the semester to discuss any accommodations 
for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support 
Services as indicated in your accommodation letter. 

I strongly encourage each of you to speak with me about any questions regarding course materials, preparation for class, the book and review and the paper proposal, during weeks 3 or 4. You may make an appointment to see me or come to office hours (see above).

Grade distribution in brief. Attendance and participation, 20%. Journal 15%. Book Review 15%. Film review 10%. Research Paper 40%.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

The format of the classes will usually be a brief presentation of background information, including film and video clips, followed by discussion. 

Week 1
September 4
Mutual introductions. The Discovery of Youth. 

Week 2
September 11
Childhood and Youth in nineteenth century Russia.

Required reading:
David L. Ransel, “Infant Care Cultures in the Russian Empire,” in Barbara Clements et al., Russia's Women, pp. 113-132 . On reserve, under "Files.
Olga Semyonova, Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, pp. 22-73. On reserve. 

Week 3
September 18
Girls and Young Women Before the “Great Reforms” 

Required reading:
Toby W. Clyman and Judith Vowles, Russia Through Women’s Eyes. Browse the introduction, esp. pp. 28-35, and read at least four chapters. 

Week 4
September 25
Nihilists and Radicals

Required reading:
Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, pp. 3-157.
Some of the documents and articles in the second half of the book, including the author's first letter on his novel (pp. 161-168) and articles by Dmitry Pisarev (pp. 185- 206), Alexander Herzen (pp. 218-223), Sir Isaiah Berlin (pp. 228-237), and Richard Stites (pp. 253-259).

Week 5
October 2
The Road to Life

Required reading:
Alan Ball, And Now my Soul Is Hardened.

BOOK REVIEW DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5

Week 6
October 9
Communism and Youth. The Komsomol. Soviet Educational Policy.

Required reading:
Wolfgang Leonhard, Child of the Revolution, pp. 7-125. On reserve.
Larry Holmes, “Part of history: the Oral record and Moscow's model school No. 25, 1931-1937,” Slavic Review, Summer 1997. File, on reserve.

PAPER PROPOSAL DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12
OCTOBER BREAK, October 13-22

Week 7
October 23
Childhood and War. Theoretical approaches to youth studies.

Required reading:
Start reading Pilkington, Russia’s Youth and its Culture, pp. 1-85.

Required viewing: One of the following films - My Name is Ivan (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1963, VHS 2255), Come and See (Elem Klimoff, 1985, VHS 4343), The Thief (Pavel Chukhrai, 1999, DVD 58). Optional evening group screening, date and location TBA, or individually.

Week 8
October 30
Thaw to Disillusionment.

Required reading:
Continue Pilkington.

FILM REVIEW DUE MONDAY IN CLASS
Week 9
November 6
Children of Perestroika I: “Normal” youth.

Required reading:
Adelman, The Children of Perestroika.

Required viewing: One of the following films - "Little Vera," (Vasily Pichul, 1988, Laser
Disk 9019) "Sideburns," (Yuri Mamin, 1990, VHS 5211) or "The Burglar" (Valery Ogorodnikov, 1987). Optional evening group screening , TBA, or individually.


Week 10
November 13
Children of Perestroika II: Subculture and deviance. Rock music in Russia.

Required reading/listening :
Pilkington, pp. 89-315.
Course Tape, Part I.

FILM REVIEW DUE MONDAY IN CLASS

Week 11
November 20
Youth in the New Russia.

Required reading/listening:
Alexander Zouev, ed., Generation in Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (UNICEF, 1999). On reserve.
Course Tape, Part II.

Week 12
November 27
Student Presentations

Week 13
December 4
Student presentations and wrap-up.

RESEARCH PAPER DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 5 p.m., SWIFT 36
Youth in Russia
Vassar College, Fall 2000
Monday 1-3 p.m., Swift 12

Professor Miki Pohl
Office: Swift 36
Office Hours: Monday 3:30-4:30, Wednesday 10-12, and by appointment
E-mail: “mipohl@vassar.edu”

Course Description
This seminar explores the history of youth and youth culture in Russia. We will learn how youth and teenagers were discovered and defined as an age group, read accounts of being young (drawing on history, sociology, ethnography, fiction, and memoirs), and explore the youth experience as depicted in films and documentaries. Topics include the experiences of youth during periods of reform (Russia's "Great Reforms," Khrushchev reforms, Perestroika), youth legislation, youth institutions (orphanage, school, the Komsomol), youth and Stalinism, the experiences of girls. The course concludes with an exploration of contemporary Russian teen culture, focusing on rock music and its role in the 1980s, and DJ and club culture of the 1990s. The seminar does not require any previous course work in Russian history.

Required Books

Toby W. Clyman and Judith Vowles, eds., Russia Through Women’s Eyes: Autobiographies from Tsarist Russia, 1996
Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, 1996 (1862)
Alan M. Ball, And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930, 1994
Hilary Pilkington, Russia’s Youth and Its Culture: A Nation’s Constructors and Constructed, 1994
Deborah Adelman, The “Children of Perestroika:” Moscow Teenagers Talk About Their Lives and the Future, 1991

Films

The Road to Life, 1931. My Name is Ivan, 1963. The Burglar, 1987. Is It Easy to Be Young, 1988. 

Also: clips from other Russian and Western documentaries, on the 1950s, on the experiences of Soviet soldiers, on the glasnost youth generation, music videos.

Course Requirements

Attendance and participation. You are expected to complete the readings listed in the schedule each week (including those on reserve) and to participate regularly in discussions. You will be asked to lead class discussion once during the semester, perhaps together with another participant (depends on topical interests and seminar size). Hand in assignments when they are due. Late assignments and more than two unexcused absences will result in lowered grades. Late assignments will lose 1/2 of a letter grade each day after the deadline. Attendance and participation account for 20% of your grade.

Course journal on readings. A total of 5 journal entries (1-2 pages), consisting of responses and discussion questions relating to the week’s topic and readings. The journal is due Monday by 10 a.m., on e-mail (mipohl@vassar.edu). 15% of grade.
Listen to the course tape. One of your journal entries should be a detailed response to the materials on this tape. The tape and a listening guide will be available after the October break. 

Book Review. 3-4 pages, double-spaced. Analysis, critical evaluation, discussion of contribution to youth history, assessment of sources, bias, and intent. Choose a book related to your paper topic. Due week 5, Thursday, October 5, 5 p.m., at Swift 36. 15%.

Film review. 2-3 pages, double-spaced. Analysis and critical evaluation from point of view of youth history. Due week 8 or week 10, depending on your choice of films, Monday, in class. 10%.

Research Paper. A term paper of 15 pages on a topic that interests you and that is 
relevant to the course. You may write on youth in Eastern Europe or choose a comparative topic (e.g. youth and sports in the U.S. and Russia). You are encouraged to use a variety of sources, including films, music, visual sources, fiction. The paper requi
Gres use of primary and secondary sources and is graded based on clarity of exposition and argument, and correct form (documentation, grammar). A paper proposal , including a bibliography, is due the week before fall break (Week 6, Thursday, October 12, 5 p.m., Swift 36), and you will be asked to give an oral presentation on your research during the last weeks of the semester. The final version is due in Week 13, Friday December 8, 5 p.m., Swift 36. 40%.

Students with Disabilities. Academic accommodations are available for students with 
disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please 
schedule an appointment with me early in the semester to discuss any accommodations 
for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support 
Services as indicated in your accommodation letter. 

I strongly encourage each of you to speak with me about any questions regarding course materials, preparation for class, the book and review and the paper proposal, during weeks 3 or 4. You may make an appointment to see me or come to office hours (see above).

Grade distribution in brief. Attendance and participation, 20%. Journal 15%. Book Review 15%. Film review 10%. Research Paper 40%.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

The format of the classes will usually be a brief presentation of background information, including film and video clips, followed by discussion. 

Week 1
September 4
Mutual introductions. The Discovery of Youth. 

Week 2
September 11
Childhood and Youth in nineteenth century Russia.

Required reading:
David L. Ransel, “Infant Care Cultures in the Russian Empire,” in Barbara Clements et al., Russia's Women, pp. 113-132 . On reserve, under "Files.
Olga Semyonova, Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, pp. 22-73. On reserve. 

Week 3
September 18
Girls and Young Women Before the “Great Reforms” 

Required reading:
Toby W. Clyman and Judith Vowles, Russia Through Women’s Eyes. Browse the introduction, esp. pp. 28-35, and read at least four chapters. 

Week 4
September 25
Nihilists and Radicals

Required reading:
Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, pp. 3-157.
Some of the documents and articles in the second half of the book, including the author's first letter on his novel (pp. 161-168) and articles by Dmitry Pisarev (pp. 185- 206), Alexander Herzen (pp. 218-223), Sir Isaiah Berlin (pp. 228-237), and Richard Stites (pp. 253-259).

Week 5
October 2
The Road to Life

Required reading:
Alan Ball, And Now my Soul Is Hardened.

BOOK REVIEW DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5

Week 6
October 9
Communism and Youth. The Komsomol. Soviet Educational Policy.

Required reading:
Wolfgang Leonhard, Child of the Revolution, pp. 7-125. On reserve.
Larry Holmes, “Part of history: the Oral record and Moscow's model school No. 25, 1931-1937,” Slavic Review, Summer 1997. File, on reserve.

PAPER PROPOSAL DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12
OCTOBER BREAK, October 13-22

Week 7
October 23
Childhood and War. Theoretical approaches to youth studies.

Required reading:
Start reading Pilkington, Russia’s Youth and its Culture, pp. 1-85.

Required viewing: One of the following films - My Name is Ivan (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1963, VHS 2255), Come and See (Elem Klimoff, 1985, VHS 4343), The Thief (Pavel Chukhrai, 1999, DVD 58). Optional evening group screening, date and location TBA, or individually.

Week 8
October 30
Thaw to Disillusionment.

Required reading:
Continue Pilkington.

FILM REVIEW DUE MONDAY IN CLASS
Week 9
November 6
Children of Perestroika I: “Normal” youth.

Required reading:
Adelman, The Children of Perestroika.

Required viewing: One of the following films - "Little Vera," (Vasily Pichul, 1988, Laser
Disk 9019) "Sideburns," (Yuri Mamin, 1990, VHS 5211) or "The Burglar" (Valery Ogorodnikov, 1987). Optional evening group screening , TBA, or individually.


Week 10
November 13
Children of Perestroika II: Subculture and deviance. Rock music in Russia.

Required reading/listening :
Pilkington, pp. 89-315.
Course Tape, Part I.

FILM REVIEW DUE MONDAY IN CLASS

Week 11
November 20
Youth in the New Russia.

Required reading/listening:
Alexander Zouev, ed., Generation in Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (UNICEF, 1999). On reserve.
Course Tape, Part II.

Week 12
November 27
Student Presentations

Week 13
December 4
Student presentations and wrap-up.

RESEARCH PAPER DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 5 p.m., SWIFT 36