Syllabus:

Lecture Schedule

Assignments

Post to the discussion bulletin board

Hand in Final Essays

Class Meets Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30-5:20 pm, Thomson Hall 331

This course surveys the history of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the broader Baltic region, concentrating on the twentieth century. Students will explore uses of personal documents (memoirs, letters, and oral history interviews) in historical research.  This quarter, special attention will be paid to the depiction of 20th century Baltic history in documentary and feature films.

Course Objectives:

·        Know a timeline of 20^th-century Baltic History, and be able to discuss connections between events

·        Analyze the role of individual persons in experiencing and shaping historical events

·        Learn how to do critical analysis of primary and secondary sources

·        Learn to analyze a historical film's relation to historical events

Grades

• Source analysis 25%
• Film Critique 25%
• Quizzes, class participation 25%
• Final examination (Thursday, December 14) 25%

Required Readings   

• Modris Eksteins, Walking since Daybreak (Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999)
• Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania: Independent Again (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000)
• Toivo Raun, Estonia and the Estonians, 2nd ed. (Stanford, Calif : Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, c2001)
• Selected primary/secondary sources (handouts packet and links in the Lecture Schedule)
• Optional background information: David J. Smith, Artis Pabriks, Aldis Purs and Thomas Lane, The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (London: Routledge, 2002)

Last Updated 09/23/2008