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The course explores the most important trends in Russian creative arts from the early period through the nineteenth century, exploring the ideas that were behind the production and reception of various types of Russian art. It tracks the major cultural changes in Russian history, primarily the transformation from a world shaped by Orthodox religious art (icons, frescos) to a world shaped by West European canons. Peter I (ruled 1682-1725) forcibly imposed cultural Westernization on his elites (not the peasant or merchant classes). Noblemen were forced to dress in European clothes, adopt European etiquette and pastimes (dancing), design their homes in European architectural styles and fill them with art painted (by Europeans and Russians) to European tastes, including portraits. By the nineteenth century, artists were using art as a political statement, allegorically criticizing autocratic reality in their choice of topics, particularly historical paintings. Throughout we explore art in the context of ideas -- why were various kinds of art produced? what were their intended purposes? who were their intended audiences? How can we appreciate creative works as art when they weren't intended to be art, such as icons? They were considered holy objects, actors in liturgical worship. Similarly, realist paintings of the nineteenth century were intended as critique more than art, as were penny broadsheets that circulated. Other works, such as portraits of noblemen and decorative elements on maps, were intended to assert social status or political authority. So the course is an opportunity to join appreciation of creative works with a more historical and cultural assessment of their production and reception. Students will be asked to write a paper on one particular work of art an icon, a portrait, an oil painting. This course should be interesting to students interested in the broad sweep of Russian history as well as in medieval religious art (especially Orthodox) and modern European art. Class sessions will discuss assigned readings and images posted to class art gallery from Professor Kollmann's extensive collection of images of Russian icons and art. Students will report on their research paper along the way, culminating in formal presentations. Field trips and events are planned to various works of Russian art in the area, including: Cantor Art Museum (small collection of icons, including a 17th c icon; De Basily Room, Hoover Institution (18th-c Russian portraits; Art Collection, Hoover Institution Library (rare editions of Russian art publications, late 19th c.); Green Library Special Collections (facsimile edition of 16th-c illustrated historical chronicle); Rumsey Map Center, Green Library (18th-c Russian maps and their decorative cartouches); Legion of Honor, San Francisco (Makovskii's great canvas in his Boyar's Wedding series); Christ the Savior Church (Orthodox Church of America), 12th and Anza, San Francisco. Discussion with parish priest Rev. Philip Halliwell. To see icons in situ in small neighborhood parish and discuss the role and theory of icons in Orthodox liturgy with Fr Halliwell; The Joy of All who Sorrow Cathedral, Geary St., San Francisco (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia). To see icons in situ in large, imposing cathedral; Katia's Restaurant, San Francisco (authentic Russian cuisine); Fort Ross, northern California (restored Russian fortress and chapel; art in situ;Viewing of movie Andrei Rublev, about an icon painter in 15th-c Russia.

"Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road." --Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957. From Jack Kerouac's On the Road to Cheryl Strayed's Wild, this Sophomore College explores epic road trips of the twentieth century. Travel is a fundamental social and cultural practice through which Americans have constructed ideas about the self, society, the nation, the past, and the future. The open road, as it is often called, offered excitement, great adventure, and the space for family bonding and memory making. But the footloose and fancy-free nature of travel that the Beat Generation novelist Jack Kerouac waxed lyrical about in the 1957 classic On the Road were available to some travelers but not to others. Engaging historical and literary texts, as well as imaginative modes including film, autobiography, memoir, photography, and music, we will consider the ways that travel and road trips have been represented in American society. This course explores the following questions: How did men and women experience travel differently? How did the motivations for travel change over time? What role did race, ethnicity, class, relationships, and sexuality play in these trips? This Sophomore College examines how writers have explored the theme of travel, American writing, American history and culture, and American life. Students will work together to plan a road trip of their own which the class will take during the period of the Sophomore College.

What conditions prompted the emergence of women political leaders around the world and what difference has their leadership made? This course introduces students to global women's history and focuses on a series of individual women leaders in the 20th century. We look at movements for women's self-determination in the 19th and 20th centuries that set the stage for women's emergence as national political leaders and activists in the 20th century. We then focus on a series of global women leaders including Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Michelle Bachelet and Aung San Suu Kyi. By studying their biographies and historical contributions, we will explore the ways women leaders make distinctive contributions as heads of state and political activists.

U.S. society, culture, and politics since WW II through feature films. Topics include: McCarthyism and the Cold War; ethnicity and racial identify; changing sex and gender relationships; the civil rights and anti-war movements; and mass media. Films include: The Best Years of Our Lives, Salt of the Earth, On the Waterfront, Raisin in the Sun, Kramer v Kramer, and Falling Down.

May be repeated for credit.

Prerequisite: HISTORY 486A.

Units by arrangement. May be repeated for credit.