Understanding Russia

About This Event

In this DVD lecture series, award-winning professor and Russian historian Lynne Ann Hartnett of Villanova University guides us through hundreds of years of Russian culture, from the world of Ivan the Terrible to the dawn of the Soviet Union to the post-war tensions of Putin's Russia. Blending history with cultural studies, these 24 illuminating lectures are designed to bring us closer than ever before to the Russian people—not just the authoritarian rulers like Peter the Great, the Romanovs, and Stalin, but also the everyday men and women who sought their own meaning in the poetry of Pushkin, the comfort of early folk tales, the faith of medieval iconography, the avant-garde films of Eisenstein, and more. This lecture series was produced in September 2018. Two, 30-minute lectures will be viewed each week along with a discussion.