Courses

Autumn Semester

IR 642   Russia at War and Peace I (1762-1801): The Ages of Catherine II and Paul I (Hakan Kirimli)

IR 567 Contemporary Russia (Sean McMeekin)

IR 563 Intensive Russian Language (Gülnara Tanrikulu)

OR

IR - Russian Language, PLUS ELECTIVE

Spring Semester

IR 648   Russia at War and Peace II : The Ages of Nicholas I and Alexander I (Hakan Kirimli)

IR 588 Readings in Central Asian History and Politics (H.Ali Karasar)

IR 635 Russia and The First World War (Sean McMeekin)

IR 573 Readings in Russian History Civilization and Culture (Gülnara Tanrikulu)

IR 519 Research Methods (Nil Satana)

OR

IR - Russian Language, PLUS ELECTIVE

Second Year

Autumn Semester

IR 501 International Relations Theory (Paul Williams)

PLUS ELECTIVE IF DESIRED.

Spring Semester

IR 599 Master’s Thesis

PLUS ELECTIVE IF DESIRED.

Course Descriptions (For the Academic Year 2006/2007)

IR 567 Contemporary Russia

This course is a comprehensive study of the Russian socio-economic and political system, focusing on the main actors of the system such as political parties, groups, church, power elite, intellectual movements, nationalism, etc. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6.
Autumn Semester (Sean Mc Meekin)

IR 501 International Relations Theory

This course provides an advanced introduction to current theoretical trends and methods in International Relations (IR). By the end of the course, students are expected to demonstrate greater practical ability in terms of the following: formulating new arguments or models in a particular sub-field of International Relations; appliying existing IR models to particular empirical issues; testing arguments using appropriate tools of analysis; and developing critiques of how theories have been applied in their respective areas of interest. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6.
Autumn Semester (Paul Williams)

IR 563 Intensive Russian Language

This course is an intensive introduction to Russian language. Its contents and coverage are equal to the total of Russian. I, II, III and IV courses taught at Bilkent normally in four semesters. Credit units: 5 ECTS Credit units: 12.
Autumn Semester (Gülnara Tanrikulu)

IR 573 Readings in Russian History Civilization and Culture

This course is an intensive introduction to the colorful world of Russian history, civilization and culture, aiming to increase students' ability to understand and use sophisticated and intellectual level skills of the Russian language. Credit units: 5 ECTS Credit units: 12.
Spring Semester (Gülnara Tanrikulu)

IR 588 Readings in Central Asian History and Politics

This course will examine the emergence and development of modern nation states in Central Asia, taking into account the efforts for nation-building, regional cooperation, as well as the revival of ethnic, tribal and religious identities. Although its scope is post-Soviet Central Asia, an important amount of readings on the history of the region before 1991 will be required to better understand the contemporary trends. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6.
Spring Semester (Hasan Ali Karasar)

IR 635 Russia and The First World War

This course examines the causes, course, and consequences of the First World War, with particular emphasis on the eastern front. Although the enduring images of the war fixed in historical memory were of trench warfare on the western front, in strategic terms the war is best explained as the eruption of clashing great power ambitions in the east. Of all the belligerents, Russia stood to gain the most from a victory in the war, but in the end she lost nearly all, falling into a violent revolution and a terrible civil war. Together we will try to elucidate the reasons for Russia's collapse in 1917, and the consequences for both the course of the war, the formation of the Soviet Union, and twentieth-century history more generally. The principal texts will be Norman Stone, *The Eastern Front 1914-1917* and Richard Pipes, *A Concise History of the Russian Revolution.* Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: Spring Semester (Sean Mc Meekin)

IR 642 Russia at war and Peace I (1762-1801):The Ages of Catherine II and Paul

This course will study the Russian Empire during the late 18th century, the basic reforms and their effects on the various segments of Russian society, the domestic and international circumstances, and the Russian expansion and colonization policies during the reigns of Catherine II (the Great) and Paul. Russian diplomatic relations with the Great Powers of Europe before, during, and after the domestic and international aggressions that took place within the given period will also be covered. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6.
Autumn Semester (Hakan Kirimli)

Other Courses

IR 518 Russian Politics and Foreign Policy

The purpose of this course is to provide an understanding of the Russian politics and foreign policy through historical and analytical research. Internal and international problematical issues of the Imperial Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet Russian states from the main focus of the course. A special emphasis is on the role of the domestic and historic-cultural factors in the conduct of the Russian foreign policy. It is also aimed to develop a general political perspective as well as a methodological approach to the geography of Russia.

IR 520 History and Politics in Central Asia

Research and analytical work on selected cases related to the cultural and political history as well as contemporary politics of the Turkic and/or Muslim peoples who had been subjects of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, the peoples at issue include the native Turks and/or Muslims of Central Asia (Turkestan), Volga-Ural region, Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus, Crimea, Siberia, etc. The course topic also covers their relations with their ethnic and/or religious kinsmen in other countries and with the third powers.

IR 521 Studies in Russian and Soviet History

This is an advanced political history course which is specially suggested to students who have a strong interest in Russian and Soviet studies.

IR 531 Central Eastern Europe (1815-1945)

Political and military history of Eastern Central Europe with an emphasis on wars and revolutions between 1815 and 1945.

IR 537 The Russian Revolutions

This course focuses on the analysis of the events leading up to the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 in Imperial Russia. Particular attention will be paid to the social, economic and political transformations of the pre-revolutionary period; the nature of the revolutionary and liberal opposition and the reactionary imperial administration. The main stages of the revolutions, changes in the nature of the Russian autocracy, the role of Duma in the imperial administration system, the nationalities problem, the formation of various political organizations and ultimately the overthrow of the autocracy will be examined in detail. A particular emphasis will be on the impact of the Russian revolutions on the subsequent global developments.

IR 550 Modern Russia and the New Independent States

This seminar deals with selected cases from a broad spectrum of historical, political and diplomatic issues concerning the Soviet Union (post-war period) and the new independent states which emerged after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

IR 559 Russian Nationalism

The course aims to explore the historical circumstances which hampered the formation of Russian nationhood. It primarily focuses on the Late Imperial Period, but also covers the foundation of the Russian Empire and Russian nationalism in the USSR. It explains the dilemmas of Russian nationalism and the ambivalent relations between the state and the native people of Russia.

IR 564 History of the USSR

This course will involve chronology, starting with the end of the Civil War. Attention will be paid to efforts at reform of classic "socialism'' - the New Economic Policy, and subsequent attempts in the 1960's and 1980's at "market socialism'' and to the causes and consequences of the breakdown of such efforts: the collectivization of agriculture and the immense famine and purges that followed; the semi-de Stalinization that occurred under Brezhnev, and the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The course will concentrate on a) nationality policy, its successes and failures b) the role of the Party and c) the foreign relations of the Soviet Union.

IR 568 Russian State and Politics in the Twentieth Century

This course will involve chronology, starting with the end of the Civil War. Attention will be paid to efforts at reform of classic "socialism'' - the New Economic Policy, and subsequent attempts in the 1960's and 1980's at "market socialism'' and to the causes and consequences of the breakdown of such efforts: the collectivization of agriculture and the immense famine and purges that followed; the semi-de Stalinization that occurred under Brezhnev, and the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The course will concentrate on a) nationality policy, its successes and failures b) the role of the Party and c) the foreign relations of the Soviet Union.

IR 571 Russia and Turkey

This course is a unique seminar on the history of Turco-Russian relations in the course of history. Although it covers the period from 1552 to present, its main focus would be 20th century Turco-Russian relations, given the similarities of the ``modernization'' projects of both countries.

IR 575 The Ottoman-Russian Relations: Centuries of Struggle and Coexistence

The centuries of long relations between the Russian and Ottoman Empires were of critical importance, which virtually determined each other's fate. A series of wars and diplomatic struggles notwithstanding, they had an even longer history of peacetime relations and active cooperation. These two Eurasian empires also bore striking similarities and parallels in their internal affairs. This course aims at an in-depth analysis of these complex sets of relations and transactions, by making extensive use of source material in English, Turkish and Russian languages.

IR 584 Reading and Research in French or German Viens of Russia and Turkey

In view of the importance of French and German writings on Russia, Turkey and the relationship between them, candidates may opt for this course, which requires a good reading knowledge of either language. By arrangement with a senior member of the Bilkent Russian Center, a candidate will undertake a research-topic concerning any aspect of the Russo-Turkish relationship, or of the Russian past and present, for which the sources are primarily French or German. The candidate will be expected to contribute a research paper or to undertake a "take-home" examination. The course will normally be taken in a candidate's second year of study.

IR 585 The Mass Deportations in the Soviet Union

The course focuses on the broad spectrum of activities known as the "mass deportations'' which occurred under the Soviet rule. It will attempt to analyze and discuss the state terror applied against the set of stigmatized nationalities. Various Soviet ethnic groups who suffered mass deportation from their homelands during the rule of Yosif Stalin are examined. Moreover, the ideological motivations and pretexts of the rule of the perpetrators and the experience of the victims are also be dwelled on. The ethnic groups at issue will include the Volga Germans, Chechen-Ingushs, Crimean Tatrs, Koreans, Ahiska Turks, Karachay-Balkars, and Kalmyks. ( Hakan Kirimli)

IR 586 The Crimean War 1853-1856

This course concentrates on the Crimean War (1853-1856), whose consequences molded the political and diplomatic relations in the European Continent. It will cover the pre-war situation [Revolutions in Europe (1848-1849)], the crisis of the Great Power politics, the events that led to the war, the military preparations); the theatres of the war ( Danubian, Crimean, Caucasian, Baltic, and Far Eastern fronts); the outcome of the war and the new balance of power in the international arena; the Paris Treaty; the Concert of Europe; the Eastern Question; the subsequent relations between the Russian and the Ottoman Empires. ( Hakan Kirimli)

IR 596 Turkic/Muslim Peoples of the Russian Empire During the Turmoil of 1917-1922

This course analyzes the reactions of the Turkic and/or Muslim peoples of the Russian Empire to the revolutionary turmoil of 1917 and its aftermath. The preceding enlightening, nationalistic, and democratic movements which defined and shaped such reactions are also covered. A special emphasis is given to the structures of the independent or autonomous states or other political entities created by these peoples during this extremely eventful and thus-far-little-studied period. ( Hakan Kirimli)

IR 595 To Overthrow the World: A History of Revolutionary Socialism,1864-1943

This class examines the history of revolutionary socialism from the advent of Karl Marx's first Workingman's International Association in 1864 to the dissolution of the Third (Communist) International by Stalin in 1943. Our focus will be not on the theory but rather the practice of revolutionary socialism. Finally, we will look at the parallels between the Bolsheviks' use of looted Russian imperial treasure to "overthrow the world'' by attacking "its capitalist'' governments and the contemporary al-Qaeda terrorist network, which uses Saudi oil money to wage global jihad.

IR 597 Russia and Pan-Slavism

This course aims at providing an understanding of the nature and essence of the Pan-Slavic idea(s) and its role on the Russian state and people from an historical perspective as well as its legacy today. The covered topics include, the Roots of the (Pan-)Slavic idea among the East European Slavs and in Russia, the Slavophiles, Russian Pan-Slavic ideology, Linguistic and Cultural Pan-Slavism, Pan-Slavism and the Russian state, Pan-Slavism and the Eastern Question, Pan-Slavism and the Polish Question, the Legacy of the Pan-Slavic ideology as it exists today. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6. ( Hakan Kirimli)

IR 637 Russia,Turkey and the Eastern Question:The War of 1877-78

This course dwells on the issues related to the `Eastern Question' in the post-Crimean War Era until the Congress of Berlin with a special emphasis on the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878. In due sequence, the internal situation in the Russian and Ottoman Empires during 1860s-70s, Serbian, Bulgarian and Montenegrin revolts during the 1870s, the Russo-Turkish crises over the Balkans that would bring out the War of 1877-78, the events of the war itself, and mass immigrations of the post-war period is covered and an analysis of the new order after the Berlin Congress is made. Credit units: 3 ECTS Credit units: 6. (Hakan Kirimli)