If you, like me, have been wondering how a country, which is already the biggest country in the world, by far (with eleven time zones !!!), still feels insecure in its borders, then join me on an amazing journey through a fascinating history of contradictions. How can a country which gave the world Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov and so many more, also produce one brutal dictator after another with no break in between? In this course we will try to learn and understand the history of Russia in the wake of the horrific war currently going on in Ukraine. Should it have been a surprise???  After a consideration of the highlights of Russia’s thousand-year history of continued expansion, we’ll look at leaders including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Stalin.  We’ll discuss the break-up of the USSR and the concept of Putin and other Russian leaders of what “belongs” to Russia—and how Putin aims to achieve that goal. 

The class will start with a presentation by the course leader of that day’s subject, based on the week’s reading, to be followed by a discussion.  Class members are expected to read about 38 pages each week from the book on Russian history and look at occasional videos for which I’ll send links, so likely about one hour of weekly preparation.  Please note that this is a 7-week course, beginning on April 6 and ending on May 18, with the first and last meetings during the break weeks.