Course Co-Directors: Iaroslav Kovalchuk (Columbia University) and Arslan Akanov (Nazarbayev University)
The course explores central debates in Soviet historiography through the experiences of diverse non-Russian regions and social groups across the USSR. Drawing on political, social, and cultural histories developed over recent decades, it examines how common all-Union processes—revolution, industrialization, collectivization, destalinization, stagnation, and the collapse of the Soviet state—unfolded differently depending on where and by whom they were lived. At the same time, this course seeks to understand the extent to which these seemingly overpowering state-led processes transformed local societies in favour of Soviet universalism. The goal is to navigate between the Scylla of a unified imperial narrative and the Charybdis of separate and self-sufficient national stories through presenting a comparative framework that holds both in view. Within this framework, students will learn to situate specific cases within broader Soviet history, and to critically interrogate the general narratives that have long dominated the field.