European & Russian Studies

Courses

E&RS 511a / GLBL 693a, United States and Russian Relations since the End of the Cold War  Thomas Graham

This course examines the factors—political, socioeconomic, and ideological—that have shaped U.S.-Russian relations since the end of the Cold War, as well as specific issues in bilateral relations, including arms control, counterterrorism, energy, and regional affairs. The goal is to understand the way each country constructs relations with the other to advance its own national interests, and the implications of U.S.-Russian relations for global affairs.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

E&RS 512b / GLBL 797, Case Studies in Russian Foreign Policy  Staff

This course examines a number of key Russian foreign policy issues from the past two hundred years. Through the examination of case studies, the course seeks to understand the permanent and contingent factors that have shaped Russia’s strategic thinking and decision-making and to trace evolution of that thinking up to the present day. The cases studies include the Congress of Vienna and the creation of the Holy Alliance; the conquest of Central Asia; the penetration of Manchuria; the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the start of the Second World War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Prague Spring; the Afghanistan war; German reunification; Sino-Russian partnership; the post-Soviet space; and the Ukraine crisis.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

E&RS 531a / ANTH 430a / ANTH 630a / RUSS 430a / RUSS 630a, Post-Pravda: Truth, Falsehood, and Media in (post-)Socialism and Beyond  Dominic Martin

Following the election of Donald Trump, Brexit, and the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal, it has been declared that Euro-America has entered a 'post-truth' era. Academics, politicians and the media use this term, often connecting it to Russia, without explicit formulation of what it is or might be. This upper-level seminar discusses recent social scientific work in socialist and postsocialist countries to outline a coherent conceptual and empirical picture of a 'post-truth' situation. The works under discussion theorize the relationship between power and knowledge in socialism and postsocialism through the discursive productions of journalists, bloggers, actors, secret policemen, musicians, politicians, and others. Mapping the intricacies of knowledge, personhood, and expression within socialism and postsocialism, these authors present broader arguments about the epistemic roots of the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe and Russia and the rise of authoritarian populism. The seminar considers how socialist and postsocialist uses of media and linguistic productions foreshadowed, and latterly have come to intersect with, the production and consumption of media and information in Europe and the United States.
T 9:25am-11:15am

E&RS 900a, Europe: Who, What, When, Where?  Bruce Gordon

An interdisciplinary seminar designed to provide broad exposure to key topics in modern European studies. Special attention is given to Eastern and Western Europe as well as the humanities and social science disciplines. The seminar is framed by some key theoretical questions, including: What are Europe’s boundaries? When and where is “Europe”? Is there a narrative to European history? If so, what is it? What makes a European? The seminar also focuses on developing academic writing skills and examining research methodologies. Seminar meetings are combined with the Modern Europe in/and the World Colloquia and feature speakers from the Yale faculty and from other academic institutions. The course is required of all first-year European and Russian Studies M.A. students but is open to all graduate and professional students.
W 3:30pm-5:20pm

E&RS 940a or b, Independent Study  Staff

By arrangement with faculty.
HTBA

E&RS 950a or b, Master’s Thesis  Staff

By arrangement with faculty.
HTBA