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Associate Professor of History Russia, East-Central Europe |
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FALL 2002
COURSES |
History, MC 4519 Carbondale, IL 62901 618.453.7874 fax 618.453.5440 |
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Associate Professor of History Russia, East-Central Europe |
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FALL 2002
COURSES |
History, MC 4519 Carbondale, IL 62901 618.453.7874 fax 618.453.5440 |
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and Jayne Mansfield, my close personal friend, in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1966! |
THEODORE R. WEEKS
DEPARTMENT ADDRESS
Department of History p;M.A. German Literature,
University of Colorado, Boulder, 1984
Thesis Title: "Christa Wolf's Kindheitsmuster: A
Re-Creation of Childhood"
B.A. German, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1980 With
Honors
PRESENT POSITION
Associate Professor
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
HONORS
Research Grant, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.
Academic 1998-1999. Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center,
Washington. Short-Term Research Grant, December 1998.
Vitols Prize for Best Article in Journal of Baltic Studies.
Summer 1998.
IREX Advanced Research Grant to Lithuania. May to August
1998.
Title VIII Postdoctoral Fellowship. Hoover Insitution, Stanford
University. March to August 1997
IREX Advanced Research Grant to Russia and Belarus.
September 1996 to March 1997.
Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington.
Short-Term Research Grant, May-June 1996.
IREX Advanced Research Grant to Poland. Summer 1995.
East European Studies, Woodrow Wilson Center. Research grant,
January 1995.
SSRC Postdoctoral Training Fellowship. 1994-1996.
SIU-C Faculty Research Grant to Finland. Summer
1994.
IREX Short-Term Travel Grant to Poland. December
1993.
Research Fellowship, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian
Studies, Woodrow Wilson Center, 1993.
Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities, The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem 1992-93
University of California Exchange with Herzen Institute, St.
Petersburg, Russia April-June 1992
ACLS/Joint Committee on Eastern Europe Dissertation Fellowship
1991-92
Fulbright Research Fellowship to Poland 1991
IREX Research Fellowship to USSR 1990-91
Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship to Finland 1989-90
Graduate Dean's Research Grant to Poland Summer 1989
FLAS Fellowships for Polish, Hungarian, and Russian 1988-89;
1987-88; 1986-87
American-Scandinavian Foundation Research Grant for Finland Summer
1988
Mellon Grant for Hungarian Language Study in Budapest Summer
1987
Patrick Fellowship, History Department, UC Berkeley,
1986-87
FLAS Grant for Polish Language Study in Cracow Summer 1986
ACLS Grant for Czech Language Study in Prague Summer
1985
Phi Beta Kappa, University of Colorado, Boulder
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Nationalism
"Minority Nationalities" in East-Central Europe, the Russian
Empire, and the USSR
National Movements in East Central Europe and Russia
PUBLICATIONS (partial list)
Book
Nation and State in Late Imperial Russia: Nationalism and
Russification on Russia's Western Frontier 1863- 1914. DeKalb:
Northern Illinois University Press, 1996.
Contributions to Collections of Essays
"A National Triangle: Lithuanians, Poles and the Russian
Imperial Government." In Catherine Evtuhov, Boris Gasparov et
al., eds. Kazan, Moscow, St. Petersburg: Multiple Faces of the
Russian Empire. Moscow: O.G.I., 1997, pp. 365-380.
Articles
"Nationality and Municipality: Reforming City Government in the Kingdom of Poland," Russian History/Histoire Russe, XXI, No. 1 (Spring 1994), 23-47.
"Defining Us and Them: Poles and Russians in the 'Western Provinces', 1863-1914," Slavic Review, LIII, No. 1 (Spring 1994), 26-40.
"Lithuanians, Poles and the Russian Imperial Government at the Turn of the Century," Journal of Baltic Studies, XXV, No. 4 (Winter 1994), 289-304.
"Defending Our Own: Government and the Russian Minority in the Kingdom of Poland, 1905-1914," The Russian Review, LIV, No. 4 (October 1995), 539-551.
"The 'End' of the Uniate Church in Russia: The Vozsoedinenie of 1875," Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, XLIV (1995), 1-13.
"Polish 'Progressive Antisemitism,' 1905-1914." East European Jewish Affairs, XXV, No. 2 (1995), 49-68.
"Poles, Jews, and Russians 1863-1914: The Death of the Ideal of Assimilation in the Kingdom of Poland." South East European Monitor, III, No. 3 (1996), 36-54.
"Ukrainians and Official Russia: A Deafening Silence." South East European Monitor (Vienna), IV, No. 1 (1997), 32-41.
"The 'International Jewish Conspiracy' Reaches Poland: Teodor Jeske-Choi ski and His Works." East European Quarterly, XXXI, No. 1 (March 1997), 21-41.
"Fanning the Flames: Jews in the Warsaw Press, 1905-1912." East European Jewish Affairs (November 1998).
"Polish Jews and Jewish Poles: Assimilation in Russian Poland, 1863-1914." Polin: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies, vol. 12 (1999).
Translations
Martin Jay, ed. An Unmastered Past: The Autobiographical
Reflections of Leo Lowenthal. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1987. (chapters 1, 3, 5 and
essays)
Leo Lowenthal. "Sociology of Literature." Critical Inquiry 14, No.
1 (Autumn 1987), pp. 1-15.
Leo Lowenthal. "Toward a Psychology of Authoritarianism" and "Excursus: Draft Animals and Slavery" in False Prophets: Studies on Authoritarianism. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Press: 1987, pp. 253-312.
Martin Lüdtke. "The Utopian Motif is Suspended:
Conversation with Leo Lowenthal." New German Critique, no. 38
(Spring/Summer 1986), pp. 105-111.
Why study history?
Any historian or history teacher has her favorite reasons -- let me give you a few of my own.
First of all, history helps you locate yourself within the "stream of humanity" that started millions of years ago (depending on who's counting!) and will continue, we hope, for many more. A knowledge of history -- not just "American" or "European" history -- will help you realize who you aren't, which is a first step to recognizing who you are.
History is many things. It is NOT just "names and dates," "kings and battles," "dead white men." When I teach, I hope that students will take away with them a sense of the similarities and differences between themselves and the people of the area and time-period studied. It has been said that "the past is a foreign country" -- history is a method of time travel that avoids the hassles and expense of actual journeys. But most historians and history students (in particular this one!) end up wanting to travel to the sites that they study, be those located in China, Russia, Israel, Australia, or Kentucky.
History is not just about "what was." It's even more vitally concerned with what changed, how things changed, and why. If you take Western Civ from me, I hope you'll gain a better understanding not just of the fact that "the Industrial Revolution happened" (so what?) but of the process by which the West industrialized (why England first? why not in Russia?), the effects that this economic change had on technology, society, politics, art, thought, international relations, military strategy, etc. etc.
History also provides a corrective to our own assumptions and prejudices. You may think that it's "natural" -- even in a biological sense -- for society to be structured in family units with the woman mainly taking care of house and children while papa goes out to work. But how typical was this kind of family unit (and the society that grew out of it) in the context of world history? Study history and find out!
Certainly the study of history has practical aspects,
too. The problem-solving nature of history ("why did the
Bolsheviks succeed in the Russian Revolution of 1917?") develops in
students skills of organization, research, and clear writing and
argumentation that will serve them well in the world of business,
administration, teaching, or academia. But for me, the study of
history has an even more important side: it creates better
citizens. In a world where you can be in Paris, Moscow, Tokyo
or Canberra in a day's time, we must think not in "national" but in
world or "human" terms -- study of the historical record helps us do
just that.
The exact grading scheme for each course is always located on my syllabi. The due date for every exam, quiz, paper, and discussion is clearly marked. Sometimes those dates change, but rarely (when they do change, it's usually to give you an extra day or two to finish -- but don't count on this). Don't attempt to turn in papers late -- you knew well in advance the due date and it would be unfair to allow some students to fudge on that required aspect of the assignment. Similarly, if for some very serious and unavoidable reason you must be absent for a quiz or exam, speak with me in advance. No make-ups will be sanctioned without prior discussion. But if you have some special difficulty or just a hard semester, come by and talk to me -- at best I will have to say "no" ... but you can't really lose!
What do grades mean? Speaking in general terms, this is how I see them:
A - Student has done all the required assignments, attended all or nearly all of the lectures, has actively participated in discussions, and her/his exams and papers show not only a mastery of the material, but an ability to fit details (IDs that I give at every lecture!) into the larger scheme of things. Papers show a reading and understanding of the texts and take issue with the major theses of the texts.
B- Student has done all required assignments, attended nearly all lectures, participated in discussions, exams and papers show good level of knowledge of material and some ability to link it up with broader historical trends. Papers show that text has been read carefully and on the whole understood, attempts to argue a thesis relevant to the assigned text.
C- Student has done required assignments, attended most lectures, participated in discussions, exam and papers show some level of knowledge and material but with significant weaknesses in accuracy and/or inability to link up details with broader trends and issues. On papers, some misunderstanding of fundamental issues involved, unclear writing and structure, failure to state and develop a thesis having to do with the text assigned.
D - Student has either not done or done poorly the required assignments/readings, has missed lectures, on exams severe weaknesses in accuracy and failure to link up (or even recognize) broader trends and pertinent detail. On papers, not clear that major and fundamental issues of the assigned work have been understood.
F - We won't have any of these, will we?
Attendance - Tardiness
Attendance at lectures are mandatory. Often there will be visual elements, class discussion, question and answer, that cannot be "made up" even by the best notes. Besides, how sure are you that your comrades' notes are accurate? Perhaps most important: you have a significant amount of reading already assigned -- do you really need more stuff to read? You don't. You also need to hear -- not just to read -- about the material covered.
You'll notice that in every class I teach, there's an "attendance and participation" grade. The fundamental part of this grade is your attendance, and the rule of thumb is this: you have two "free" absences. After that, with each two absences, your attendance grade goes down a letter grade. So... miss three lectures, get a B for the attendance grade (not, of course, the final grade -- but it's a significant part of that grade). Furthermore, missing discussions or showing up unprepared (i.e., you haven't read the assigned material) can further depress this grade.
TARDINESS. I will make every effort to get to class
about five minutes early to set up any maps, slides, etc., I might
have and to put the IDs on the board. I will start the lecture
promptly at the hour (or, as the case might be, 12:35, 9:35, etc.
etc.). I will also make every effort not to go over time.
So I ask from students: please get to class on time -- arriving late
is distracting to other students and hurts you, because you will miss
announcements with which I start classes.
Current Research Projects
At the present moment I'm working on two projects.
1. First, a study of Polish-Jewish relations during the period 1855 to 1914. During this period relations between Poles and Jews deteriorated significantly. My research looks into the political, social, and economic reasons behind this deterioration. I concentrate on the relations between Poles and Jews in the Russian partition, or so-called "Kingdom of Poland" and argue that the restrictions placed by the Russian authorities on Polish culture and political life did much to embitter relations between Poles and their Jewish neighbors. I hope that my research will shed light on the roots of modern Polish antisemitism.
2. My other project looks into socio-economic
change in the Russian Empire's "Northwest Provinces" (more or less
present-day Belarus and Lithuania) 1855 to 1914. The central
question of this research is: How did socio-economic change in
this rather backward, almost exclusively rural region, influence the
formation of national identities and national political movements in
this region. The major nationalities living in these provinces
were Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, Belarusians, and Russians.
During these decades each of these groups, to very differing extents,
developed "nationalist politics," which we see in the post-1905 Duma
era (and even more, of course, after 1918). My research will
document and, I hope, explain how changes in social and professional
structure in this area parallel and help give birth to nationalist
movements.
HIST426: European Cities and Culture 1870-1914
HIST 205B: History of Western Civilization
HIST 339: 20th Century Russian Culture and Society
HIST 552: Graduate Colloquium: Nationality, Ethnicity, Nationalism
HIST 553: Graduate Research Seminar: Nationality, Ethnicity, Nationalism
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These sites are just a few possibilities. If you find
other and/or better sites, pass them along to the rest of us.
(tadeusz@siu.edu)
** WARNING **
ANYBODY can post their own "historical theses" on the Internet --
there's a lot of junk out there. Do NOT believe everything you
read.
Also, consult the Net after you have completed course assignments
-- it's very easy to spend many hours "surfing" around.
Finally: I've checked out most of these sites, but they may have
been taken down by the time you try to access them. The Web is
always changing!
http://koi.www.online.ru/
Russia On Line
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/
Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty Newsline
http://www.lib.umn.edu/rce/erfedgen.html
Russian Federation: Electronic Resources
http://www.tntech.edu/WWW/ACAD/HIST/russee.html
Russian and East European History
http://www.interknowledge.com/russia
Russian National Tourist Office
http://www.multimania.com/timlcf/spb/index.html
St. Petersburg
http://www.fe.msk.ru/travel/web5.html
Travel to Russia - Galleries and Museums.
http://www.idbsu.edu:80/history/nmiller/
Nick Miller's homepage - lots of links...
http://www.ceu.hu/
Central European Un tp://www.psp.cz/
Parliament of the Czech Republic
http://www.czech.cz/
Welcome to the Czech Republic
http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/ferenc.gogos/HUNGARY.HTM
Links to Hungary.
http://www.nepszabadsag.hu/
Nepszabadsag newspaper, Budapest.
