Master 2024/2025

History and Anthropology of Emotions

Type: Compulsory course (Culture Studies)

Area of studies: Cultural Studies

Delivered by: Department of History

Where: Faculty of Humanities

When: 1 year, 4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Pavel Vasilyev

Master’s programme: Culture Studies

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Emotion is an aspect of the human condition that may appear universal - yet the ways that it has been conceptualized and dealt with around the world are strikingly different. Anthropologists, sociologists, and recently also historians have drawn attention to the socially constructed and changing nature of the experience and expression of emotion. Moreover, emotions not only have history – they make history by motivating human action and influencing social, political, and economic developments. The history and anthropology of emotions have been described as one of the fastest-growing fields within the humanities, yet there is still a clear lack of attention toward this area in most college and university courses. This graduate seminar seeks to fill in this gap and offers an introduction to the history and anthropology of emotions with a focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet experience. Along with a close examination of classic texts in the history and anthropology of emotions, the students will be introduced to various ways of writing it, including a focus on the emotional regimes, emotional communities, emotional practices, and emotional styles. We will then explore the applications of these genres to the (post)Soviet case by examining various texts focusing on the key events and themes of (post)Soviet history as well as on particularly important emotions. The seminar will emphasize the development of skills essential to the profession — active reading; effective communication; critical, creative, and independent thinking; teamwork; global awareness; and lifelong learning. Students with different regional and chronological specializations are encouraged to bring this knowledge to the class and to comment on similarities, differences, connections, and entanglements within the history and anthropology of emotions. Prior exposure to the field is not necessary, but the participants are expected to be familiar with historical and/or anthropological methods and primary source analysis. The seminar will be taught in English, but there will be additional material (primary sources as well as secondary literature) available for students with advanced proficiency in Russian. For some sessions, the readings will be supplemented by audio-visual material (music, movies, images).