Marist College
Division Of Humanities
Department of History

HISTORY 260L-111: HISTORY OF RUSSIA TO 1850

INSTRUCTOR: DR. NORKELIUNAS
OFFICE LOCATION: WAY HOUSE (located north of Bank of New York branch)
CLASS MEETING HOURS: TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 3:30 P.M. - 4:45 P.M.
PHONE: EXTENSION #2207
E-MAIL:JZFN@MUSICB.MARIST.EDU
URL:HTTP://WWW.ACADEMIC.MARIST.EDU/NORK

FALL 1998 SEMESTER

S Y L L A B U S

Required Tests

1. MASSIE, SUZANNE. LAND OF THE FIREBIRD: THE BEAUTY OF OLD RUSSIA. BLUE HILL, MAINE: HEART TREE PRESS, 1996.
2. SHOEMAKER, M. WESLEY. RUSSIA, EURASIAN STATES, AND EASTERN EUROPE 1998. 29TH EDITION. HARPERS FERRY, WEST VIRGINIA: STRYKER-POST PUBLICATIONS, 1998.
3. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY. THIRD EDITION. NEW YORK: BANTAM/DOUBLEDAY/DELL. PAPERBACK EDITION.
COST: $5.99. AVAILABLE IN THE COLLEGE BOOKSTORE.

Course Objective

The overall aims of this course are to introduce the student to the political, econnomic, and social events that shaped Russian history from its founding as a national state to the reign of Tsar Alexander I, i.e. to the beginning of the nineteenth century. More specifically, we will examine the following periods: Kievan Rus'; The Mongol Yoke (Tatar Russia); Muscovite Russia; Time of Troubles; The first Romanoffs; Imperial Russia to Alexander Ist.

COURSE PROCEDURES:

Assignments and lecture topics are listed in the course outline.

Course Requirements:

1. REQUIRED READING OF TEXTUAL MATERIALS.
2. FOLLOWING OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN RUSSIA IN THE NEW YORK TIMES AND OTHER NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.
3. A TERM PAPER OF MINIMUM OF EIGHT PAGES TO BE SUBMITTED AT SEMESTER'S END ON A MAJOR TOPIC OF RUSSIAN HISTORY OR CULTURE.
4. STUDY OF LECTURE NOTES.
5. TAKING OF SCHEDULED TESTS AND A FINAL EXAMINATION.
6. ATTENDANCE IN CLASS AND PARTICIPATION IN DISCUSSION SESSIONS.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION

A. MARIST COLLEGE E-MAIL

Every student in the class should have a Marist College e-mail address. Please give this information to Dr. Norkeliunas the first week of the semester, or send it via e-mail to DrNorkeliunas' address - JZFN@MUSICB.MARIST.EDU. Questions and discussions regarding topics of written assignments will be facilitated if you contact Dr. Norkeliunas via e-mail. Be sure to make this a regular practice - at least once a week.

B. USING INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB

A list of Internet and WWW sites will be handed out in class to help you locate archives, reference materials, and bibliographical data pertaining to authors and works covered in this course. Please make use of them the way you have previously in searching facts in the "traditional" library. Even the college library can be accessed this way, through "Marist Country" via "Netscape"; this is accessible to you through the college or your own home computers.

GRADING POLICY

A student receives both mid-term grades and final grades. However, only the final grades will appear on the academic record.

Grading is an objective measure of a student so mastery of a selected body of knowledge contained in a specific course. This mastery involves the elements of memory, understanding and expression. Memory refers to retention of certain items of information. Understanding implies insight into the interpretation of these facts. This insight would include the meaning of the thing itself its relationship with other things or data and the things or data and the ability to apply new situations and problems. Expression is the ability to convey this assimilated knowledge to others.

In assigning a grade to a student the instructor must function as a judge in a courtroom: examine thoroughly all the evidence involved in the case weigh the evidence and make a decision on the basis of this evidence. In similar way the basis of the instructor's judgment is the concrete evidence the student himself provides. Formal examinations are only part of this evidence; questions asked by the student recitation term papers, book reports written and oral quizzes the student's participation in class discussion-each sheds light on the student development in mastering a subject and is therefore pertinent to the instructor's grade evaluation of the student.

Viewed in the light of the preceding statement the grading system is as follows:
C
To earn a C grade a student must be able to recall the basic elements of a course, understand the essential background and materials of a course apply the basic principles involved and express them intelligibly.
B
To earn a B grade a student must manifest all the qualities characteristic of a C student and in addition reveal a memory that encompasses more than the basic elements of a course; he or she has a more personal grasp of the principles of the course and perceives wide application of them. The student should be able to discuss the subject matter of the course with ease.
A
An A student is one who in addition to all the qualities manifested be a B student seeks mastery of a specific field by reason of individual interest, he or she has initiative and originality in attacking and solving problems; he or she shows ability in rethinking problems and making associations and in adapting to new and changing situations; moreover he or she has an appropriate vocabulary at his or her command.
D
A student who is deficient in some degree in any of the areas that are characteristic of a C grade will earn a D.
F
The student has failed to show mastery of the base subject matter for the course.