| Week 1: Primary Issues of the Course |
| 1 | Introduction: Geography, Sources, Background | |
| 2 | The Origins of Rus' | |
| Week 2: Rise of Kievan Rus' |
| 3 | The Rise of the Kievan State, 10th-11th centuries | |
| 4 | The State Structure of Kievan Rus', 11th-12th c.'s | |
| Week 3: Kievan Civilization |
| 5 | Economics and Society in Kievan Rus' | |
| Week 4: The Decline of Kievan Rus' |
| 6 | Succession Struggles | Research Paper Topic and Preliminary Bibliography Due |
| 7 | Novgorod, Galycia-Volynia, and Kievan Foreign Affairs | |
| Week 5: The Golden Horde |
| 8 | Mongol Conquest | |
| 9 | The Russian Lands within the Golden Horde | |
| Week 6: The Rise of Muscovy |
| 10 | The Rise of the Daniilovichi | Topic Presentations |
| 11 | Unification and Centralization | Topic Presentations |
| Week 7: Muscovy at its Height |
| 12 | Domestic Life in Muscovy | Topic Presentations |
| 13 | Ivan the Terrible | Topic Presentations |
| Week 8: The Government of Ivan the Terrible |
| 14 | Government and Politics | Topic Presentations |
| 15 | Community and Law | Topic Presentations |
| | Research Paper Topic and Preliminary Bibliography Due |
| Week 9: The Time of Troubles and its Aftermath |
| 16 | The Time of Troubles | Topic Presentations |
| 17 | Reconstruction and the First Romanovs | Topic Presentations |
| Week 10: The Seventeenth Century |
| 18 | Law and Society | Topic Presentations |
| 19 | Social Critics | Topic Presentations |
| | Final Paper (7-10 pages) |
| Week 11: Culture and Change in the Late Seventeenth Century |
| 20 | The Church and the Schism | Topic Presentations |
| 21 | Peter the Great: Personality and Challenges | Topic Presentations |
| Week 12: Peter the Great in Power |
| 22 | Peter the Great: Taxes and Serfdom | Topic Presentations |
| 23 | 18th Century Government and Politics | Topic Presentations |
| Week 13: Life in the Eighteenth Century |
| 24 | Religion and Social Order | Topic Presentations |
| 25 | Everyday Life | Topic Presentations |
| Week 14: Eighteenth-Century Politics and Culture |
| 26 | Peter the Great's Heritage | |
| 27 | Review | |
| | Final Exam |