As you already know, this Russification extended well beyond the borders of the Soviet Union. When I was growing up, the Soviet Union was Russia and Russia was the Soviet Union. No one ever said it out loud; it was an unspoken assumption. And I've read books written in the 21st century in which authors refer to Soviet prisoners of war (WWII) as Russian POWs, one German, the other British. So the Russification campaign was successful. And it's annoying as hell when books written in the 21st c., some of them very recent, use Russian spellings for Ukrainian place names. Kharkov! for example.
All the lectures I have heard are very difficult to hear and thus grasp clearly, as Prof Snyder moves beyond mic range and sometimes camera range on the podium. Moreover,his speaking style is much too fast and disconcerting, with excessive hand gestures, continually interrupting the continuity as he remembers and inserts related thoughts. The basic problem is that he apparently speaks from notes. Reading from a prepared text would greatly improve every lecture and thus the impact of his deep knowledge. As a great admirer of his published work, I now also have equal admiration for his book editors.
Reading some of these comments, I smile. One of things that strikes me taking this course is how very much my understanding of history is oriented toward the west. Without those comfortable well-established (what we used to call -- maybe still do) cognitive structures to hang new information, I find things don't stick as well as usual. My mind is busy mapping, building new cities, entire countries, with unpredictably changing, fast moving borders.
What an adventure! And what a guide!
So upward and onward, listening again, reading, reading again, I'm immersing. All I can say is -- well worth the time.
Before and After the End of History
As you already know, this Russification extended well beyond the borders of the Soviet Union. When I was growing up, the Soviet Union was Russia and Russia was the Soviet Union. No one ever said it out loud; it was an unspoken assumption. And I've read books written in the 21st century in which authors refer to Soviet prisoners of war (WWII) as Russian POWs, one German, the other British. So the Russification campaign was successful. And it's annoying as hell when books written in the 21st c., some of them very recent, use Russian spellings for Ukrainian place names. Kharkov! for example.
In the age of information, ignorance is a choice 👩🏻💻 Never stop learning!
All the lectures I have heard are very difficult to hear and thus grasp clearly, as Prof Snyder moves beyond mic range and sometimes camera range on the podium. Moreover,his speaking style is much too fast and disconcerting, with excessive hand gestures, continually interrupting the continuity as he remembers and inserts related thoughts. The basic problem is that he apparently speaks from notes. Reading from a prepared text would greatly improve every lecture and thus the impact of his deep knowledge. As a great admirer of his published work, I now also have equal admiration for his book editors.
Reading some of these comments, I smile. One of things that strikes me taking this course is how very much my understanding of history is oriented toward the west. Without those comfortable well-established (what we used to call -- maybe still do) cognitive structures to hang new information, I find things don't stick as well as usual. My mind is busy mapping, building new cities, entire countries, with unpredictably changing, fast moving borders.
What an adventure! And what a guide!
So upward and onward, listening again, reading, reading again, I'm immersing. All I can say is -- well worth the time.
I don’t see a link to the lecture.
Dear Dr. Snyder, Please add the web link to view Lecture 18. Thanks
Very interesting to understand how the "russification" of Ukraine came to be.