Deadline: March 9, 2021
How to Apply
To apply, students must complete the steps below:
Apply through https://careers.umich.edu/. Job ID: 194633
Please
upload the following documents as one PDF document with your
application: (1) a cover letter, and (2) CV (including names of two
faculty references).
The cover letter should address your specific
interest in the position and outline skills and experiences that
directly relate to this position. If you have held a GSI position at
U-M, as part of your cover letter please provide the course title,
number, term, and faculty instructor for each course taught. Please also
attach E&E summary sheets for the U-M courses where you have been a
GSI.
Posting begin date: February 23, 2021
Posting end date: March 9, 2021
Notification date: March 31, 2021
Applicants may request status of his or her application at any time.
Course Description
From
the earliest times as a state, the polities of the East Slavs, and,
later, Russia attempted to find a way in a competitive international
environment despite disadvantages and challenges. Even as it became the
largest country in the world (by territory), the Russian Empire and then
the Soviet Union were confronted by rival states that threatened -- and
felt threatened by -- the colossus that stretched from central Europe
to the Pacific Ocean.
Russia's history is of radical social
experiments, the rise of a Great Power, and then the descent into
defeat. Yet, this is the country that provided an influential model of a
kind of state socialism, and it played a key role in the defeat Nazi
Germany, before becoming one of the great antagonists of the Cold War.
Another
striking paradigm is that Russia, always “late to the table” in
European culture, and so different from Western-European cultural
patterns, has, despite (perhaps, in part, because of) its evident
disadvantages and its frequent claim of a distinct path, made stunning
and very original contributions to world literature, music, and the
arts.
This course explores the extraordinary history of the East
Slavs before modern times, then of the Russian Empire, later of the
Soviet Union, and now of today’s Russian Federation, with some reference
to the fourteen other states that emerged in 1991 from the collapse of
the Union: Ukraine, Belarus’, the countries of “Central Asia”, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Baltic republics.
The course is
interdisciplinary; the story is told from different perspectives,
through the lenses of a number of invited lecturers from various
departments and schools, bringing together the methodologies of the
Social Sciences and the Humanities.
Michael Makin, Professor of
Slavic Languages and Literatures, will direct the course and give the
core lectures. Discussions, films, and readings will contribute to the
understanding of a much misunderstood part of the world.
The
humorist Will Rogers once said, "Russia is a country that no matter what
you say about it, it's true. Even if it's a lie, it's true. If it's
about Russia." Come and find out what really is true and what might be
false about the country that Winston Churchill famously called "a riddle
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
Appointment period: Fall Term, 2021
Course name: REEES 395 - Russia and the Soviet Union: Reform, Revolution, and the Socialist Experiment
Lecture meets Tue/Thu 4-5:30 pm. See the Fall Term LSA course guide schedule for details.
FTE: Two positions at 0.50 FTE
Responsibilities*
- GSIs will attend all lectures and films;
- Lead 2 discussion sections per week;
- Grade assignments and exams (with faculty oversight);
- Assist in preparation of exams and lecture materials;
- Hold weekly office hours;
- Be available over email to students and the instructor and assist students in case they have questions pertaining to the course;
- Meet regularly with the course instructor.
Required Qualifications*
Applicants
must be in good standing in a University of Michigan graduate degree
program and be eligible for a graduate student instructorship or staff
assistantship.
Desired Qualifications*
Priority will be
given to applicants who have an academic background on Russia/Former
Soviet Union and knowledge of a language of the region, and who intend
to pursue an academic career (including teaching) focused on the region.
Strong preference will be given to applicants who are continuing
full-time students who have prior experience as a GSI.
Contact Information
Please address applications to Professor Michael Makin. Send inquiries to crees.fellowships@umich.edu.
Decision Making Process
A
CREES faculty committee will review the applications and select the
GSIs on or before March 31, 2021. All GSI appointments are subject to
administrative approval.
Selection Process
A CREES faculty
committee will review the applications and select the GSIs on or before
March 31, 2021. All GSI appointments are subject to administrative
approval.
