Module:

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

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Module Title
Module Code	(ITS: HY228)
Faculty		School
NFQ level		Credit Rating

Description

This module offers a unique look at the Cold War by moving away from the superpower confrontation. Instead, we will explore the impact of the Cold War on Europe and the rest of the world, as well as focus on the numerous contacts that could be established between peoples across borders. This module will also consider the links between the Cold War and parallel histories of decolonisation, international development, globalisation, and European integration, and the way the conflict shaped understandings of society, science and culture.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and understand main problems and periods of the Russian 20th c. history
2. Critically assess main historiographical approaches to the Russian 20th c. history
3. Demonstrate skills of primary and secondary source analysis
4. Develop and improve academic writing skills
5. Place works of cultural production in their historical context and appreciate the links between culture and political/social changes

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	40	Lectures or equivalent in video/audio recordings
Assignment Completion	190	Independent and group work on assignments
Total Workload: 230

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Assignment	Reading Journal. Short comments on assigned readings following specific instructions on the format. Readings are assigned weekly. Students must comment on five readings (minimum).	50%	As required
Group project	Group project: Analysis of a work of art in its historical context.	30%	Week 11
Reflective journal	Short reflection (ca. 500 words) on student learning experience in this module.	5%	Week 12
Assignment	Short written assignment (ca. 500-700 words). A thematic overview of three key themes identified by the student based on the course material.	15%	Week 12

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Late imperial Russia
1905 revolution, nationalities issue, economic development

Russian Revolution and Civil War
Two revolutions, impact of war

Political violence and its tradition, breaking up of social order

1920s, NEP and building new state structures
Social and economic changes, Experiments in art, culture and education. Establishing state and party systems.

Revolution from above
Stalin, ‘Great leap forward’, collectivisation and industrialization

Stalinism and great terror
Mass repressions; gulag; fear and power

WWII
Course, experience and outcomes for Soviet society

Thaw and destalinization
1953 and destalinization, 1960s liberalization and USSR in Central Europe

Science in USSR
Science, technology and space race. Nuclear power

Dissent
Dissent and counter cultures in USSR. Human rights movement

Perestroika
Ideological crisis, quest for freedom, reforms and the end of communism

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Ronald Suny (ed.): 2006, The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 3, The Twentieth Century,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

Overviews: Ronald Suny, The Soviet experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the successor states (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, c1998),
Overviews: Smith, S. A, Russia in revolution: an empire in crisis, 1890 to 1928 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017),
Overviews: Moshe Lewin, The Soviet Century (London, New York: Verso, 2005),
Collections of Primary Sources: Ronald Suny (ed.), The Structure of Soviet History: Essays and Documents (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), http://soviethistory.msu.edu/
Key periodicals: Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/108
Key periodicals: Slavic Review, http://www.jstor.org.dcu.idm.oclc.org/journal/slavicreview