Delivered at:: Department of History

Course type:: Elective course

When:: 4 year, 3 module

Instructor

Kotenko, Anton

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course is a survey of history of Ukraine since the early modern period until 1991. While contextualising and entangling the history of Ukraine and its multinational population in the context of broader Eastern European history, it familiarises the students with the history of Ukraine and its historiography. The main emphasis of the course is made on the 19 century; in particular, it explores how the concept of modern Ukraine appeared and investigates its competition with other national projects.

Learning Objectives

The course aims at familiarising the students with the historiography of history of Ukraine.
Students will study the outline of the history of Ukraine.
In particular they will explore the history of a concept of modern Ukraine and its main competitors.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students will be introduced to the history and current state of the historiography of the history of Ukraine.
They will get acquainted with a practical application of ideas of entangled history.
They will learn the outline of history of Ukraine in the early modern and modern period.

Course Contents

Introduction. Does Ukraine have a history and what does it look like?
Ukraine as part of the Commonwealth of two nations. Cossacks, wars, and faith.
From ashes to caviar: Ukraine enters the Russian empire.
Great Russian discovery of Little Russia.
How many Russian nationalities were there in the Romanov empire?
Ukrainian question in the Romanov empire.
Revolutions and civil wars, 1917–1921.
Ukraine as a part of the affirmative action empires.
Ukraine in the second half of the XX century. Conclusion.

Assessment Elements

Seminar discussions
Seminars are planned as weekly online discussions of assigned readings, which will complement the lectures and explore a given topic in in a more comprehensive way. The discussions will be based around the focus questions, provided to students to reflect upon in advance.
Presentation
Students’ in-class presentations necessarily have to be based on academic and historical literature, well-structured (with an introduction, main part and conclusion) and oriented upon the audience. Power Point or .pdf presentations are recommended to be used to make it easier for the audience to stay engaged and involved during the talk. Time limit for the presentation is 15 minutes.
Exam
The exam consists of a home written analysis of a primary historical source, 1000–1500 words long. The essay should include history of context of the source’s creation, description of its content, reflections on its purpose/motive, intended audience, significance, and put forward a historical argument based on students’ interpretation of the source and research of secondary scholarly literature. Students’ research must involve minimum one historical book or three–four historical articles. Deadline for submission: March 25, 20.00.

Interim Assessment

2021/2022 3rd module
0.2 * Presentation + 0.5 * Seminar discussions + 0.3 * Exam

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Kate Brown. (2003). A Biography of No Place : From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland. Harvard University Press.
Lindheim, R., Naukove tovarystvo imeny Shevchenka (Canada), & Luckyj, G. S. N. (1996). Towards an Intellectual History of Ukraine : An Anthology of Ukrainian Thought From 1710 to 1995. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division.
Serhii Plokhy. (2001). The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine. OUP Oxford.
Yekelchyk, S. (2006). On Transcontinental Travel and Postcolonial Imagination: A Look Back from 2006 on “The Body and National Myth.” Ab Imperio, 3, 55–58. https://doi.org/10.1353/imp.2006.0059
Yekelchyk, S. (2006). The Body and National Myth: Motifs from the Ukrainian National Revival in the Nineteenth Century. Ab Imperio, 3, 23–54.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Faith Hillis. (2013). Children of Rus’ : Right-Bank Ukraine and the Invention of a Russian Nation. Cornell University Press.
Plokhy, S. (2005). Unmaking Imperial Russia : Mykhailo Hrushevsky and the Writing of Ukrainian History. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division.
Plokhy, S. (2006). The Origins of the Slavic Nations : Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Cambridge University Press.
Plokhy, S. (2012). The Cossack Myth : History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires. Cambridge University Press.
Plokhy, S. (2014). The Last Empire : The Final Days of the Soviet Union. Oneworld Publications.
Очерк истории Украины в средние века и раннее новое время, Яковенко, Н.Н., 2012
Последняя империя. Падение Советского Союза, Плохий, С., 2016

Bachelor’s Programme 'History'

Contacts

History of Ukraine