​A description of David's class, from the Honors College coursebook:

HIST 4395: World Revolutions: Russia, 1917
This course studies Russia’s 1917 revolutions, which overthrew a three-hundred-year-old dynasty and gave birth to the first socialist state. We consider the events of 1917 in the context of the early 20th century, a period in Russia that included massive social transformation, profound cultural creativity, three revolutions (1905, February 1917, and October 1917), and three wars (RussoJapanese War, World War I, and Russian Civil War). We will read influential political thinkers (Lenin, Stalin), literary figures (Bely, Zamyatin, Blok, Pasternak), and film-makers (Eisenstein, Vertov) who shaped Russian revolutionary period and global history. Topics include: nationality, mass politics, violence, utopianism, socialism, and memory.

​A great way to prepare for our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in May 2017!

Join me and my brother, Russian historian David Rainbow, on a 9-day trip to Russia in May 2017. Our visit will coincide with the centennial of the 1917 revolution, and will intersect with a year-long program of related cultural and academic events in Houston. You may wish to prepare for the trip by enrolling in David's Russian history courses during the 2016-2017 school year (find these in the Honors College coursebook). You can also study Russian language at U of H.

We will spend several nights each in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and travel between the two cities on a high-speed overnight train. Our itinerary will include museum visits, cruises, walking tours, and excursions to sites outside our two cities. The trip will be of interest to students of history, art, literature, architecture, creative writing, music, and politics, as well as to adventurers of all types.

Planning for the trip is in the preliminary stage. Subscribe to this blog for updates using the RSS Feed button. I'm expecting to have information on dates and pricing soon. Eligible Honors College students will be able to apply for scholarship support from the college, and all eligible U of H students can apply for IEFS funding.

If you are interested in the trip, let me know using the form on this page or by sending an email to [email protected].