St. Petersburg: Imagining a City, Building a City

St. Petersburg, the world's most beautiful city, was designed to display an 18th-century autocrat's power and to foster ties between Russia and the West - on the tsar's terms. It went through devastating floods and a deadly siege; it birthed the "Petersburg myth," poems and prose that explore the force of the state and the individual's ability to resist. This class addresses the struggle between the authorities and the inhabitants; the treacherous natural environment; the city as a node in national and international networks of communication; the development of urban transportation networks; and the supply of goods. NOTE: This course is required of students attending the overseas seminar to St. Petersburg in September 2018.Class times to be determined upon the availability of all enrolled students. Please contact instructor(s) via email if you have any questions.