Russia: Research and Teaching
Teaching opportunities
There
are a number of ways in which students in Russian history can expect to
gain teaching experience in their years at the University of Chicago.
Students who have completed their oral field exams are eligible to serve
as interns in undergraduate College Core sequences, usually Russian Civilization
and European Civilization; ideally, students will fit in two quarters
of internship before departing for their research year in Russia. Russian
history graduate students with minor fields in European history are encouraged
to teach in European Civilization as well as Russian Civilization, as
this provides valuable experience as well as useful credentials later
when students are on the job market. Russian-history students whose minor
fields are in East Asia sometimes choose to teach in the East Asian Civilization
for the same reason. Some of our students have also chosen to teach in
courses in the Social Science Core curriculum.
In addition to intern positions in the Core, TA positions are available in undergraduate lecture courses if enrollments exceed 25. History graduate students may also serve as preceptors for the Masters of Arts Program in the Social Sciences and as interns in the Little Red Schoolhouse Writing Program.
Advanced graduate students who have served as interns or course assistants may apply to lead their own section in the appropriate Civilization sequence. In the case of graduate students in Russian history, this usually happens after the student's return from the research year in Russia. In the History Department, advanced graduate students may also apply to serve as preceptors for the undergraduate B. A. seminar and to teach courses of their own design through the Von Holst Prize Lectureship program. Advanced graduate students are also eligible to offer courses of their own design through the Graham School of General Studies. There are also regularly opportunities for advanced graduates to serve as visiting lecturers at other institutions in the Chicago area, such as Chicago State University, Columbia College, DePaul University, and Dominican University.
Note that students with some kinds of Fellowship support from the University of Chicago are not only expected but required to do a certain amount of teaching at the University. For details on these requirements, ask Joanne Behrens of the Department of History or consult at the terms of your admission to the graduate program.
Research Resources
The Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago is fortunate to possess two fine bibliographers, June Farris and Sandra Levy, who provide valuable help for students, ranging from answering individual research questions to conducting an annual introductory briefing on printed and electronic resources in the Russian, former Soviet, and East European field. June Farris also regularly produces a bulletin or acquisitions.
The Slavic and East European collections contain over 588,500 volumes on Russia and the Soviet Union, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the countries of Eastern Europe, including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Macedonia. The collections, which are accessed through the Library's Horizon Catalog, include material from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and in all of the vernacular languages of these geographic areas. The collections are especially strong in Slavic philology and linguistics, Russian and other Slavic literatures, history, economics, political science, geography, and the history of religions. Areas of particular focus include materials on women and the family, contemporary Russian women writers and Slavic Judaica. The Slavic Reference Collection, numbering over 7,500 volumes, is located in the Second Floor Reading Room (RR2S), and includes a wide selection of specialized bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, serial indexes, library catalogs, archival guides and other research aids.
Recent major acquisitions include:
- Fond R-9414 GULAG. [Opis 1]: Dokumenty. [Cambridge, England]: State Archival Service of Russia [and] Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace in association with Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1993. 115 reels [microfilm HV8964.S65F65 1993 Microforms]
- Everyday Stalinism / RGAE. Leiden: IDC, 2001. 1141 microfiches [microfiche HC335.E84 2001 Microforms]
- NEP Rare Editions From BAN. New York: Norman Ross Publishers, 2001. 558 microfiches [microfiche HC335.2.N47 2001 Microforms]
- Birobidzhan: An Experiment to Create a Jewish Homeland. Leiden: IDC Publishers, [2000]. 941 microfiche, 31 reels of microfilm. [DS135.R93B53 2000 Microforms]
- Fond 6, KPK pri TsK KPSS: Opis 6: dokumenty. Cambridge: State Archival Service of Russia and Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace in association with Chadwyck-Healey Ltd, 1993. 172 reels [microfm JN6598.K7F66 1993 Microforms]
- The GULAG Press, 1920-1937. State Archive of the Russian Federation & Federal Archival Service of Russia, Moscow; International Institute for Social History (IISH), Amsterdam. Leiden: IDC, 2000. 649 fiches [microfiche PN5277.P67G853 2000 Microforms]
- Gosudarstvennyi teatr imeni V. E. Meierkhol´da, 1920-1938gg.: Iz fondov Rossiiskogo Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva literatury i iskusstva, Moskva, Rossiia. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, 1999. 165 reels [microfm PN2728.M4G58 1900z Microforms]
- Moskovskaia kinostudiia "Mosfil'm" (1938-1945): iz fondov Rossiiskogo Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva literatury i iskusstva, Moskva, Rossiia. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, Primary Source Media, 1999. 12 reels [microfilm PN1993.5.R9M675 1999 Microforms
- Assotsiatsiia rabotnikov revoliutsionnoi kinematografii (ARRK) (1923-1932). Woodbridge, CT : Research Publications, Primary Source Media, 1999. 14 reels [microfilm PN1993.5.R9A87 1999 Microforms]
- Card Catalog of the Slavonic Department of the Library of the Academy of Sciences (BAN), St. Petersburg, 16th Century to 1930. New York: Norman Ross, 1993. 700 microfiches [microfc Q158.5.C37 1993 Microforms]
- Kazanskie gubernskie vedomosti. 1838-1917. 71 reels [microfilm DK511.T17K393 Microforms]
- Russian Women's Serials from the National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg. Norman Ross Publishing. 32 titles on 3,500 microfiches
- Central Asian Newspapers & Journals. 30+ titles on film and fiche from Norman Ross Publishing
Slavic and East European Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/slavic/inside.html
Samuel N. Harper Collection:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/slavic/harper.html
Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/