As you may be able to tell, our class has now reached the era of the #RussianRevolution
So, continuing our exploration of student #cultural #literacy (as always: descriptive, not prescriptive!):
1) As I expected, "Battleship Potemkin" was something completely new to them. They were suitably moved by the famous scene on the Odessa steps
https://archive.org/details/BattleshipPotemkin
(but why I did I first have to admonish a couple of them focused on their laptops or phones to turn toward the screen? WTF)
1/n
If "Battleship Potemkin" meant nothing to our students, then they were certainly not aware of Eisenstein's great "October," either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k62eaN9-TLY
I hinted that, when their cultural tastes had further matured, I might at last introduce them to
"Aelita Queen of Mars" (1924)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014646/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl
3/n
But back to issues of students' cultural literacy, for lack of a better term (as noted, always descriptive rather than prescriptive)
Today, re: Bolshevik Revolution
One had an idea of housing blocks & monumental architecture
The rest: pretty much: 0
I noted opinion polls showing that students/young people had more positive views of socialism vs. capitalism--which I found interesting insofar as they had 0 knowledge of Marxism, socialist theory, revolutionary history
All instructive!
4/n
Final/bonus point about students' cultural literacy. I did not expect them to know "Battleship Potemkin" and the like: it's my job to introduce them to it.
But I thought I'd try something more recent, if still before when they were born:
Mikhail Gorbachev, (a) a major historical figure (b) who died only last August (so that should in some sense mitigate the before-you-were-born factor)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/world/europe/mikhail-gorbachev-dead.html
Nothing. A few had heard the name, none could attach anything specific to it
5/n
Finally:
It was ironic that I was teaching about the #RussianRevolution/ October Revolution (1st task: explain Julian versus Gregorian calendar!) on the anniversary of the establishment of the #Comintern (2 March 1919)
Didn't even have time to discuss the history of the previous Internationals in detail, though I did explain the splits in the socialist movement, 1905-1917 over issues of radical action vs. reform & social democracy vs. communism, so that probably sufficed for their needs
6/n