Dr Erik Landis
Senior Lecturer in Modern European History
School of Education, Humanities and Languages
Role
Dr Erik Landis has been at Oxford Brookes since September 2005. Before arriving at Brookes, Dr. Landis had previously taught at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, as a member of the Department of International Politics, and has also held a postdoctoral fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. He received his BA degree at Wesleyan University in the United States, and a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge.
Teaching and supervision
Modules taught
Dr Landis contributes teaching to several undergraduate modules, and is also the module leader for advanced subjects in Russian and Soviet history. Dr. Landis leads a module on the comparative study of civil war for the MA History program, and he supervises undergraduate and graduate dissertations on many aspects of modern European political and social history.
Dr Landis currently convenes the following undergraduate modules:
Undergraduate
- World at War: A History of the First World War [Year 1]
Explores the history of this watershed moment in modern history and the impact of ‘total war’ on the state, society and people’s imagination.
- The Crisis of the West [Year 2: The Making of the Modern World]
Investigates facets of the political and cultural history of twentieth-century interwar Europe and the West and the rise of totalitarian states.
- The Unravelling of Russia [Year 3: Advanced Study in Political History]
The modernization of Russia under the last tsars was a complicated drama that culminated in war and revolution.
- The Soviet Revolution [Year 3: Advanced Study in Political History]
Investigates the scale and turbulent character of the project of building the world's first socialist society on the foundations of the Russian Empire.
Postgraduate
- Civil War in Comparative Perspective [MA]
Analyses a variety of themes, from international relations to the dynamics of clan violence, and introduces the practice of comparative history, historical sociology and the analytical study of civil conflict.
Research Students
| Name | Thesis title | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Huw Houssemayne du Boulay | Post-Soviet, postcolonial: Crimea, national identity and territorial integrity in Russian government discourse 1991–2015 | Active |
Research
Dr Landis's research focuses on the history of Russia and Soviet Union in the 19th and 20th centuries. He has written articles and papers on the history of the Russian revolution, and is the author of a book-length study of provincial politics and armed insurgency during the Russian civil war. His broader interests relate to the comparative study of civil conflict and violent political movements in modern European history, as well as the study of popular mobilization and collective political identities.
Keywords
Social and political history of Russia and the Soviet Union; social movements and revolution; peasant studies; history of civil wars in modern European history.