Michael Romanov was elected Tsar of All Russias in 1613, creating a dynasty that was to last just over three hundred years. 2013 will mark the Romanovs’ 400-year anniversary. Are you prepared?

In surveying this broad period, we will consider the age-old question of Russia’s position vis-à-vis western Europe. How unique was the trajectory of its development into a modern European state?  We will debate the extent to which Russian autocracy differed from absolutism in the west; the relationship between church and state; and the question, whether Russia had a civil society. Recent scholarship has emphasized Russia’s status as a multi-ethnic empire, and we will consider whether its role in Central Asia was comparable to the British in India.  Finally, we will visit social and economic problems: the differences between serfdom and slavery, as well as the nature of Russian industrialization. Most of the questions we will address have been posed before; we will simply revisit them in light of some new publications and a fresh look at older works.