NB Your paper must reflect in some way the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet society. Choose a well-focused topic and be specific!!!
Cinema (analysis of a film or theme)
Analysis of a theme in one or several Soviet or post-Soviet films: Mikhalkov, Lungin, Balabanov, showing how they contribute to our understanding of Russian issues.
Culture (analysis of specific works)
Russian painting or sculpture and its reflection of the cultural revolution of the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods; rock music as a reflection of the cultural revolution.
Literature (analysis of a text or a theme)
The work of a writer such as Solzhenitsyn, Dovlatov, Pelevin, Tolstaia, Petrushevskaia, Brodsky as a reflection of late Soviet or post-Soviet Russian society. The role of the Nobel prizes in fostering change.
Politicians (analysis of a specific contribution to change)
Andrei Sakharov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Boris Eltsyn, Galina Starovoitova, Grigory Yavlinsky, Vladimir Putin.
Politics
The storming of the White House 1993; Chechnya; relations with newly independent states, e.g., Georgia, Ukraine; relations with a western country, e.g., USA, France, Germany since the 1980s; the Russian constitution. Political parties in Russia.
Society
Health care; drug addiction; New Russians; Russians outside Russia, racism, religion, the media,
Economics
Cooperatives; privatization; the default of 1998; the oligarchs.
Suggested approaches: Remnick; library search; internet; archives of Radio Liberty, Russian Analytical Digest; back issues of magazines and newspapers such as Business Week, the Economist, Le Nouvel Observateur, etc.
Students needing help in defining a topic should visit professor during office hours. Choice of topic must be approved by professor (by office visit or e-mail). |
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