University of St Andrews - Scotland's first university, founded 1413

Module Catalogue

For information on which modules are specific to your programme, please see : Programme requirements index 2025-2026.

Curricular information may be subject to change.

RU3046 Soviet Culture Under Stalin

Academic year(s): 2025-2026

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 15

ECTS credits : 7

Level : SCQF level 9

Semester: Both

Planned timetable: To be arranged.

This module aims to explore Soviet culture of the Stalin period, as manifested in both official and unofficial literature and film. The primary questions addressed in this course are: What was Socialist Realism? How were culture and terror related in the Stalinist period? How did writers and filmmakers in the Stalinist period imagine the Soviet Union? How does looking at cultural production enhance our understanding of the Stalinist period as a whole? What frameworks do cultural historians and literary scholars use to understand how culture functioned under Stalin?

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 2x1-hour seminars per week, 11 module surgery hours

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment: 3-hour Examination = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr P S Kliuchnikova
Module teaching staff: Professor Victoria Donovan
Module coordinator email psk3@st-andrews.ac.uk