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HIST 395 The Rise and Fall of Communism

This course is a general overview of the history of communism. It examines how the theories of Carl Marx were put to practice by leaders such as Lenin, Stalin and Mao. The class focuses on the antagonism between communist and noncommunist states and on the impact the communist regimes had on the people who lived under them.

Prerequisites

4 Undergraduate credits

Effective January 25, 2000 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Broadly understands the emergence and development of socialism and communism as political ideologies, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Grasps how and why Russia underwent a socialist revolution and how socialism in the Soviet Union developed over time, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands fundamental Marxist theory and its relationship to other socialist theories, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands why the Soviet system eventually came into crisis and the reasons for the revolutions of 1989 that signaled the fall of Communist regimes in Europe, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.