History and Memory through Cinema

This course is designed to introduce students to two different types of knowledge about the past – historical memory and academic history-writing. It examines the key problems in Russian history from the period of Kievan Rus’ to the present through the lens of major feature films, which reflect on historical memory and at the same time form it.

The exploration of Russian cinematography is accompanied by the analysis of historic documents and contemporary scholarly research, so that students can understand how the films reinforce or depart from conventional history-writing.