Coursera

Russian History: from Lenin to Putin (Coursera)

Offered by University of California, Santa Cruz,
Russian History: from Lenin to Putin (Coursera)

In this course, Peter Kenez, Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, explains the events of modern Russian history and introduces its most significant actors—from Vladimir Lenin to Vladimir Putin.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: The 9th Century to the 1920s
WEEK 2: The Great Patriotic War: Before and After
WEEK 3: Reform, Stagnation, Collapse, Rebirth?

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Structuring Values in Modern China (Coursera) Coursera
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Structuring Values in Modern China (Coursera)

Humanities History

This sequence of four courses will propose a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Chinese cultural history conceived of as a succession of modes of rationality (philosophical, bureaucratic, and economic). The focus will be on the moments of paradigm shift from one mode of rationality to another. For each of these moments, cultural facts and artifacts—thought, literature, ritual—will be examined in relationship to changing social, political, and economic systems.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Science History China
Details
The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) (Coursera) Coursera
Wesleyan University

The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) (Coursera)

Humanities

This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Philosophy Culture
Details
What Is Contemporary Art? (Coursera) Coursera
The Museum of Modern Art

What Is Contemporary Art? (Coursera)

Art and Culture

What is contemporary art? In this course, you’ll consider this question through more than 70 works of art made between 1980 and the present, with a focus on art from the past decade. You’ll hear directly from artists, architects, and designers from around the globe about their creative processes, materials, and inspiration.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Art Creativity
Details
Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way (Coursera) Coursera
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way (Coursera)

Humanities History

Discover the mighty kingdom of Assyria, which came to be the world’s first great empire three thousand years ago. From the 9th to the 7th centuries BC, during the imperial phase of Assyria’s long history, modern day northern Iraq was the central region of a state reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, and incorporating what is now Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as half of Israel, and wide parts of south-eastern Turkey, and Western Iran.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Court Ancient
Details
Transmedia Writing (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Transmedia Writing (Coursera)

Humanities History

Do you have a desire to write a novel, write a screenplay, design a video game? In this project-centered course you will develop your own, original, intellectual property (IP) into a transmedia project containing written versions of your IP on various platforms. You will begin your novel, adapt the first chapters of your novel into the opening scenes of a film or TV show and create a game design concept of your IP.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Creativity Novel
Details
Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University,Meertens Instituut - KNAW

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

Everywhere, every day, everybody uses language. There is no human society, no matter how small or how isolated, which does not employ a language that is rich and diverse. This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language!

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Language Linguistics
Details
Magic in the Middle Ages (Coursera) Coursera
University of Barcelona

Magic in the Middle Ages (Coursera)

Humanities History

Magical thought has always attracted human imagination. In this course we will introduce you to the Middle Ages through a wide conception of magic. Students will have an approach to medieval culture, beliefs and practices from the perspective of History and History of Science. Popular magic, as well as learned magic (alchemy, geomancy and necromancy) will be addressed. Moreover, we will also deal with how eastern practices and texts influenced western culture. In July 2016, the course will contain a brand-new module devoted to astrology. Magic in the Middle Ages offers a captivating overview of medieval society and promotes reflection about certain stereotypes associated with this period.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Astronomy History Middle Ages
Details
The Holocaust - An Introduction (II): The Final Solution (Coursera) Coursera
Tel Aviv University,Yad Vashem

The Holocaust - An Introduction (II): The Final Solution (Coursera)

Humanities

The Holocaust was an inconceivable historical event, which forever robbed Western culture of its innocence. As civilized human beings, we fail to understand how events of such horror could have taken place, and how an idea so inhumanly warped could have spread like wildfire through an entire continent, instigating the systematic annihilation of millions of Jews.

Jun 15th 2026
3 Weeks
History Holocaust Second World War
Details
Cultural Competence - Aboriginal Sydney (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Sydney

Cultural Competence - Aboriginal Sydney (Coursera)

Humanities

This course explores some of the key themes and capabilities of cultural competence by exploring Aboriginal experiences and narratives of Sydney. Australia was ‘claimed’ for the British Crown in 1770, by Captain James Cook, but the invasion began in earnest when the First Fleet of British arrived in 1788 and established a penal colony in Sydney.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
History Colonial Australia
Details