Courses

Provides a chronological overview of civilization in the area now known as Russia, from its beginnings to the end of the Romanov dynasty, paying particular attention to the geographic, social, artistic, economic, and political forces that have combined to give the Russian people and their culture their unique characteristics. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

Introduces students to major trends in Russian culture from the 1890's to the present, through the study of literature, art, architecture, music, journalism and film in an historical context. Addresses such questions as: how have past events affected Russian society? How can we use knowledge about Russia's past to understand social and cultural forces today? Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

Provides a general introduction to fairy tales including various theoretical approaches to classifying and interpreting them; introduces students to a wide selection of Russian folk and fairy tales. Examines the cultural, social and political values they reflect, as well as the continuing influence of fairy tales and folk beliefs in Russian literature, music, folk art, and film, as well as in the political propaganda of the 20th century. Taught in English. Approved for GT-AH2. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

Introduces students to the folkloric and historic origins of the vampire of contemporary culture. Students will read extensively from both Russian and Western literary works, analyzing the image of the vampire as represented in folk narrative, popular fiction, and film. Students learn and apply critical approaches to understanding the vampire metaphorically, symbolically, and as a demonized "other". Taught in English.

Explores the changing role and cultural images of women as reflected in Russian folklore, medieval documents, and literature (fiction and non-fiction) of the 10th-19th centuries. Focuses on the construction of gender in traditional (patriarchal) Russian culture and on the strategies of women's resistance to the political, social and cultural implications of gender stereotypes. Although the course includes works of Russian women and men alike, it intends to revise the canon of Russian culture by reading them through the prism of the gender issues of their times. Taught in English. Approved for GT-AH2. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

Introduces students to post-communist Russia, its values and ideologies. It is equally wrong to interpret post-Soviet society through the prism of the Cold War as through the models of contemporary post-industrial capitalism. Neither totalitarian nor liberal, contemporary Russia raises numerous questions about such ideological and cultural constructions as neo-liberalism and capitalism, nationalism, globalization, state power, and popular vs. high cultures. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: contemporary societies.

Surveys Russian cinema in historical and cultural context from early 20th century to the present. Taught in English. Prereq., RUSS 2221 or FILM 1502. Same as FILM 3211. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

Examines forms, genres and social functions of laughter in Slavic cultures (Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, and others). Analysis of the carnivalesque, grotesque, and irony in the works of Gogol, Chapek, Hashek, Lem, Kundera, Gombrowicz, Kharms, Zoshchenko, Ilf and Petrov, Kusturica, Kieslewsky, and other authors; also provides an introduction to literature and film of Eastern Europe. Taught in English.

Examines the relationship between politics, economics, aesthetics, and the way moral and social issues are treated in noteworthy Russian films of the last 20 years. Taught in English. Same as FILM 3301.

Russian culture from the ninth century to the present. Focuses on interdisciplinary exploration of literature, folklore, art, architecture, and music through study in St. Petersburg. Offered abroad only. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

Explores contemporary Slavic and American folk practices and investigates the possible origins and consequences of such practices. Focuses upon the value systems these practices represent, and ways that core values help to define identities and cultures. Topics include folk religion, magic, healing, life cycle and calendar rituals and folk music. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

Selected topics in Russian literature, film, art, and music. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours when topic varies. Taught in English.

Investigates how cultural and ideological myths such as those of the great leader, utopian future, new man, hero, "enemies of the people", and some others were produced in Soviet Russia from the 1920's to the 1950's; what general mechanisms of cultural production in the age of modernity do they reveal. Taught in English. Recommended prereqs., RUSS 4821, 2221, 2211. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

Surveys the development of American-Russian cultural relations from the second half of the 18th century to the present. Examines the character and significance of Russian-American relations in social, intellectual, artistic, and other spheres from a comparative perspective. Taught in English. Restricted to juniors/seniors. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context or U.S. context. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors).

Explores major fictional and dramatic texts of the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasil'evich Gogol (1809-52) -- "The strangest prose-poet Russia ever produced" (Nabokov). Works will be analyzed in the context of Western and Russian Romanticism. Relevant nonfiction texts will also be introduced when appropriate. Class will be run largely as group discussion, with necessary historical and critical background provided. Taught in English. Same as GSLL 5421.

Focuses on close reading of major novels and other works by Dostoevsky, one of the most important psychological novelists in modern literature, a profound religious thinker, and the greatest crime novelist in the world. Taught in English. Same as GSLL 5431.

Examines the development of Tolstoy's thought and literary style through study of the novel War and Peace and short works from different periods of Tolstoy's writing. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., some experience with college-level expository writing. Same as GSLL 5441.

Analyzes the life and creative works of the author of some of the funniest and some of the gloomiest stories in Russian literature. Examines Chekhov's major plays that laid the foundation for modernist theatre. Taught in English. Same as GSLL 5451.

Acquaints students with major issues concerning women in 20th century Russian culture. Examines sources from folk culture, popular culture, and high culture (poetry, prose, songs, tales, visual art, and cinema) that mythologize or question women's images and societal roles. All texts and films are offered in English translation. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., course(s) in literature or film studies, and upper-division writing courses. Same as WMST 4471 and GSLL 5471. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.

Surveys background of Russian literature from 1800 to1900. Russian writers and literary problems in the 19th century emphasizing major authors: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. Taught in English. Same as HUMN 4811. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

Interdisciplinary course emphasizing the influence of art in 20th century Russian literature. Follows the changing cultural landscape from the time when Russia was in the vanguard of modern European literature to the gradual cultural relaxation that culminated in Perestroika and Glasnost. Taught in English. Same as HUMN 4821. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

Acquaints students with the most representative works of Russian writers from the 1960s to the present in a broad historical and political perspective. Examines the relationships between ideological concepts and aesthetics, and the treatment of moral and social issues in recent literary works. All readings are provided in translation. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., lower level literature course. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts or contemporary societies.

Examines Russian plays of the 20th and 21st centuries (from Chekhov to contemporary authors) in the context of the Western theatre theory. Through the analysis of plays and their theatrical/filmic productions, students will familiarize themselves with main genres of modern drama and most influential directorial styesl from Stanislavsky's "method" to contemporary verbatim theatre. All readings are in English. Prereq., RUSS 2221 or instructor consent. Same as GSLL 5841.

Through structured discussions, selected readings, and written assignments, examines topics in Russian film from socio-historical and cultural studies perspectives. Identification and critical analysis of concepts and assumptions underlying differing cinematic approaches to controversial topics. Taught in English. Prereqs., RUSS 2221 or RUSS/FILM 3301 or equivalent. Same as GSLL 5851.

Studies themes of grotesque, bizarre, surreal, absurd, supernatural, and fantastic in Russian short stories and novels of the 19th and 20th centuries. Discusses works by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Kharms, Bulgakov, Siniavskii, Petrushevskaia, and Pelevin, within contexts of Russian folklore, Freud and Jung's interpretations of jokes and dreams, and Romanticism. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., one upper division humanities course. Same as GSLL 5861.