Michael Hittle was attracted to the study of Russia by the launching of the Sputnik satellite and by undergraduate coursework in Russian history and literature. He graduated from Brown University with a major in Russian Studies and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at Harvard University. He then joined the history department at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where he taught a variety of courses on Russian and Soviet history over the span of 35 years. His scholarly research focused on urban matters, in particular the plight of city merchants and artisans in early modern Russia. He is the author of The Service City: State and Townsmen in Russia, 1600-1800, published in 1979 by Harvard University Press.
Courses offered:
Ties that Bind and Ties that Sever: Russia and Ukraine
