Russian Rulers in History and Myth: From Ivan the Terrible to Putin
HIST S2252 (CRN: 30244)
Instructors: Sergei Antonov
Dates: Session B, June 29 - July 31, 2026
Course Mode: In-Person
Meeting Times: MW 1.00-4.15
Distributional Requirements: Humanities
Eligibility: Open to pre-college and college students
In-person Course. This seminar is about Russia’s most memorable and influential political leaders – princes, tsars, general secretaries, and presidents, from Ivan IV (1530-1584) to the present day. Their personalities are often said to encapsulate their entire epoch. Their power of life and death was and is enormous. They are often also said to have been frustrated, deeply conflicted, even tragically helpless to respond to the challenges of their day. To make sense of this enduring appeal, we will examine Russia’s historical tradition of political leadership. We’ll begin with medieval Eastern Slavic conceptions of kingship and chart the development of the unlimited autocratic monarchy as a key political institution in Russia, its demise in the early twentieth century, its forceful regeneration in the Soviet Union, and its survival of the latter’s collapse. Each session will discuss the ways in which rulers structured their power through institutions and personal networks; the ways they presented themselves to their subjects through larger-than-life images and narratives; and also the ways in which ordinary individuals responded to these myths and images. No previous knowledge of Russia or the Russian language is expected, but students must be able to keep up with the readings and to quickly look up unfamiliar information: the course is not meant to serve as an entry-level narrative of Russian history, but rather to focus on several key themes. 1 Credit. Session B: June 29 – July 31. Tuition: $5480.
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