Socialist Urbanism in Global Context

2023/2024

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

4

ECTS credits

Delivered by:

Department of History

Type:

Elective course

When:

4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Kalemeneva, Ekaterina

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The goal of the course "Socialist Urbanism in Global Context" is to acquaint students with the basic theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of Soviet urbanization policy and urban culture during the 20th century and its social, economic and cultural consequences. In the result of this course students would learn the major concepts and approaches for the study of urban history and Soviet culture. Students would also learn the main issues of the development of social and architectural theories of urban planning in the USSR, the implementation of various urban experiments, and policies regarding a city and urban inhabitants.

Learning Objectives

• To acquaint students with the basic theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of the phenomenon of a socialist city, Soviet urbanization projects and policy during the 20th century and its social, economic and cultural consequences.
• To develop students' ability to analyze special historical literature and works of popular culture of the 20th century, to conduct a scientific discussion and publicly present the results of the study.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To learn major theoretical and historiographical approaches toward the phenomenon of a socialist city and socialist urbanism.

Course Contents

• Introduction. Phenomenon of Socialist Urbanism. What Makes a City “Socialist”?
• Imperial cities in the Revolution
• Early Soviet planning and social experiments in the 1920s
• Industrialisation and New Social Towns (Sotsgoroda) in the 1930s
• Socialist Urban Technologies and Infrastructures
• Everyday Stalinism. Social Hierarchies in Stalinist Cities
• Post-War Urban Reconstructions and the Sovietisation of New Territories
• “The Thaw” in Soviet Society and Architecture: Mass Housing Campaign and Standardisation of Socialist Cities
• New Models of Consumption and Urban Culture in Late Socialism
• Soviet Urban
 Subcultures
• Socialist Urban Tourism: Dynamics of the Representation of Heritage and Different Regions
• Soviet legacy in 
 Post-Soviet Environment

Assessment Elements

• In-class participation
  On seminars, students are expected to take active part in the discussion and demonstrate knowledge of the content of lectures and readings. Seminar discussions are based on the previously given readings, and fragments of sources introduced by the teacher and analyzed collectively by the class.
• Group presentation on the topic "The legacy of a Socialist City in Post-Soviet Space"
• Final essay
  A written essay should be about 15.000 characters length in English. In this essay a student should analyse and compare at least two movies on Soviet and socialist cities/urban life through the perspective of topics and questions discussed during the course. In this essay a student should: 1) describe the context of a chosen topic / phenomenon based on research literature, 2) demonstrate the dynamic of its representation in chosen movies / cartoon movies and explain reasons for its changes, 3) analyse and explain which elements of urban life / urban planning were at the forefront of representation and which were hidden, and demonstrate different sides of representation of a chosen topic in different time periods.

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 2nd module
  0.4 * Final essay + 0.2 * Group presentation on the topic "The legacy of a Socialist City in Post-Soviet Space" + 0.2 * In-class participation + 0.2 * In-class participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Babiracki, P., Zimmer, K., & David-Fox, M. (2014). Cold War Crossings : International Travel and Exchange Across the Soviet Bloc, 1940s-1960s: Vol. First edition. Texas A&M University Press.
• Barenberg, A. (2014). Gulag Town, Company Town : Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta. New Haven: Yale University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=818471
• Boym, S. (2008). The Future of Nostalgia. New York: Basic Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=499418
• Ganguly, L. (2007). Alexei Yurchak: Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.951C3C60
• Hellbeck, J., Bonfiglio, D., & Tauchen, C. (2015). Stalingrad : The City That Defeated the Third Reich: Vol. First edition. PublicAffairs.
• Karl Loewenstein. (2006). Re-emergence of public opinion in the Soviet Union: Khrushchev and responses to the secret speech. Europe-Asia Studies, (8), 1329. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130600996572
• Kotkin, S. (1997). Magnetic Mountain : Stalinism As a Civilization (Vol. [Pbk. ed., 1997]). Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=21251
• Stalinism : new directions / ed. by Sheila Fitzpatrick. (2000). London [u.a.]: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.080753531
• Zachmann, K., & Oldenziel, R. (2009). Cold War Kitchen : Americanization, Technology, and European Users. MIT Press.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Brake, M. (2013). The Sociology of Youth Culture and Youth Subcultures (Routledge Revivals) : Sex and Drugs and Rock “n” Roll? [S.l.]: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=649607
• Fitzpatrick, S. (1999). Everyday Stalinism : Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=169117
• Fitzpatrick, S. (DE-588)132798344, (DE-576)160958431. (1999). Everyday Stalinism : ordinary life in extraordinary times; Soviet Russia in the 1930s / Sheila Fitzpatrick. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.075108488
• Kirschenbaum, L. A. (2006). The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1995 : Myth, Memories, and Monuments. New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=174478
• Koenker, D., & Gorsuch, A. E. (2013). The Socialist Sixties : Crossing Borders in the Second World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=597267
• Koposov, N. (2011). “The Armored Train of Memory”: The Politics of History in Post-Soviet Russia. Perspectives on History, 49(1), 23–26.
• Rittersporn, G. T. (1996). Stephen Kotkin. Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as Civilization. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1995. Pp. xxv, 639. $55.00. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.18E2D6D6
• Smolkin, V. (2018). A Sacred Space Is Never Empty : A History of Soviet Atheism. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1679019