Time Schedule:
Simon R. E. Werrett
HIST 498
Seattle Campus
Each seminar examines a different subject or problem. A quarterly list of the seminars and their instructors is available in the Department of History undergraduate advising office.
Class description
This course focuses on an historical theme to explore issues in historiography - the way historians tell different kinds of stories about the past. The theme in Winter 2012 will be the history of science in Russia and the Soviet Union. The course will explore this history from the medieval era to the present, examining signal moments in the development of Russian science, including themes such as science and religion, science and the state, science and empire, and science and war.
Student learning goals
Students will gain a knowledge of key events in the history of science in Russia and the Soviet Union.
Students will gain experience making critical and close readings of primary and secondary sources.
Students will gain experience presenting and discussing their ideas and arguments in a focused seminar group.
Students will gain instruction and experience in researching and writing historical essays.
General method of instruction
Seminars, with presentations by instructor and students, and discussion of texts.
Recommended preparation
Previous knowledge of Russian history or the history of science would be useful but is not required.
Class assignments and grading
Participants will be expected to make short presentations in class on selected texts, to contribute to discussions, and to research and write an essay on a subject connected to the history of science in Russia and the Soviet Union, which takes account of historiographical issues pertaining to the theme.
Grades are based on participation, presentations, short written appraisals of readings, and a final research essay.
