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Course name
The History of Imperial Russia: A Cultural Odyssey
Live course taught by Carol Reynolds for Spring 2025 High School World History
Summary

Join this course to take a captivating journey through the storied legacy of Imperial Russia. From the grandeur of the tsars to Catherine the Great's accomplishments, delve into the rich tapestry of Russian history, culture, and artistry. Together with Professor Carol, we will explore Russia’s profound influence on the world stage. 


Special notes: 

1. Students will need individually to register for / purchase the course materials  at Professor Carol’s website: this will bring you each unit’s pre-recorded content, lecture and other materials.  Here is the link for the course on that site: Imperial Russia: A Cultural Odyssey. The cost will be $9 per month.  It is requested to do this before the first class begins. 

[Please note: You  will also  see a mention of a larger,  complete membership to all of her online materials called “The Circle of Scholars” but this is not needed. Rather it is of interest only should you  like access to everything on Professor Carol’s site.]

2. In addition to these online materials, there is a physical book that will aid  the student's understanding and is required: The Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia,  by Suzanne Massie. This text can be found used, in hardback or paper formats, at virtually all on-line stores.  For example, copies here are from Thrift Books; copies new and used from Amazon are here’;  there are many other outlets, including copies at local libraries and often at second-hand bookstores.  Please obtain this book as soon as possible also. 

Total Classes:  12

Class Dates: Mondays, January 6 to April 7, 2025. (No class Feb. 17 & Mar. 17)

Starting Time: 1:00 PM Eastern (Noon Central; 11:00 Mountain; 10:00 Pacific)

Duration: 55 minutes

Prerequisite: none

Suggested Grade Level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested Credit: One full semester of History, Russian History, or Social Studies

Instructor: Carol B. Reynolds, Ph.D.

Course Description:  From its Christianization in 988 through the early Bolshevik years, we will journey in this course through the colorful history of Imperial Russia and discover the intrigue of its tsars, the strengths of its religion and history, and the astonishing beauty of its culture (via music, art, dance, theater, and architecture).

Weekly Outline:

  1. Russia and the West

  2. Orthodox Music and Art

  3. The Rurik Dynasty

  4. The Early Romanovs

  5. The Tsarina’s of the 18th Century

  6. The Accomplishments of Catherine the Great

  7. Napoleonic Russia / Romanticization of Folk Art

  8. Pushkin

  9. The Golden Age

  10. Russian Realism

  11. Final Flowering of Imperial Russia and the Avant-Garde

  12. End of Tsarist Russia

Course Materials: The live (interactive) lectures with the students involve review, summaries, discussion, clarifications, expanding, and exploring the week’s course materials.

  1. Students will need individually to register for / purchase the course materials at Professor Carol’s website: this will bring you each unit’s pre-recorded content, lecture and other materials.  Here is the link for the course on that site: Imperial Russia: A Cultural Odyssey. The cost will be $9 per month.  It is requested to do this before the first class begins.

  1. The Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia,  by Suzanne Massie. This text can be found used, in hardback or paper formats, at virtually all on-line stores. For example, copies here are from Thrift Books; copies new and used from Amazon are here’; there are many other outlets, including copies at local libraries and often at second-hand bookstores. 

Homework: Students will view the video recorded lecture for each week’s topic (1 hour in length), prior to our Monday class (live, interactive lecture). The academic material for each week includes vocabulary, chronology, terminology, and research into specific topics. Results are best if the majority of individual preparation is done before participating together in the live class. There are unit quizzes as well. 

 Fee: For all 12 classes: $207 if you register on or before November 15, $227 if you register after Nov. 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registration is not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)

Course name
The History of Imperial Russia: A Cultural Odyssey
Instructor
Carol Reynolds
Semester
Spring 2025
Category
History ➤ World History
Grade level
High School
Monitor
Anastasia Brooks
Start time
January 6th, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET
Course type
Live
Price
$227
Seats available
25 seats available
Seats remaining
16 seats remaining
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.

About Carol Reynolds

Carol Reynolds is a musicologist and cultural historian specializing in Russian, East European, and German cultural history. She also works extensively as a Smithsonian Expert, leading travelers through Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, and Slovenia.

After a long career as a professor of music history at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Carol and her husband Hank bought a ranch in North Central Texas and began raising goats. Simultaneously, they became fascinated by homeschooling as well as the renewal of Classical Education.

Together, they began designing curricula at the secondary level to teach history through the lens of the Fine Arts. Their signature course "Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Arts, History, and Culture" is used widely and was followed by "Exploring America's Musical Heritage," "America’s Artistic Legacy," "Imperial Russia, and "Early Sacred Music."

Next, they began developing programs for younger children and adult lovers of learning, including regular webinars on art and strategies for teaching history and the arts, opera workshops for those new to opera, and "boot camps" that introduce classic authors and great literary works.

Dr. Reynolds is a regular member of the "Classical Education Unhinged" along with Andrew Kern, Martin Cothran, Christopher Perrin, and Andrew Pudewa. She and her husband now live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which makes them practically neighbors of CiRCE.

Click here for more info about Carol Reynolds!

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Anastasia Brooks

Anastasia grew up as number three of six siblings, originally born in the city then raised in the countryside Anastasia was homeschooled alongside her younger siblings after two years of attending a private Catholic School. When she came into the upper middle school years she took Homeschool Connection classes until she graduated highschool. After prayer and discernment she decided to start her own small business specializing in chapel veils and bridal veils instead of pursuing further education. During Anastasia's free time she can be found in a good book, playing with sheep or learning deeper about the Catholic Faith.