BCSN 10100-10200-10300. Elementary Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian I-II-III.

The major objective of the course is to build a solid foundation in the basic grammatical patterns of written and spoken Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, while simultaneously introducing both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. This course is complemented with cultural and historical media from the Balkans and is designed for students with a wide range of interests. Screenings of movies and other audio-visual materials are held in addition to scheduled class time. Knowledge of a Slavic language and background in linguistics not required.

BCSN 20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian I-II-III.

The first quarter is devoted to an overview of grammar, with emphasis on verbal morphology and syntax, through the reading of a series of literary texts in both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. The second and third quarters are devoted to further developing active mastery of Bosian/Croatian/Serbian through continued readings, grammar drills, compositions, and conversational practice. Study of word formation, nominal and adjectival morphology, and syntax are emphasized. Screenings of movies and other audio-visual materials are held in addition to scheduled class time.

BCSN 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

CZEC 10100-10200-10300. Elementary Czech I-II-III.

This course is an introduction to the basic grammar of Czech with attention given to all four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as exposure to Czech culture. Winter and Spring Quarters include work with Czech film and literature. Students gain some familiarity with the major differences between literary and spoken Czech as they learn to use the language both as a means of communication and as a tool for reading and research.

CZEC 20100-20200-20300. Second-Year Czech I-II-III.

The main goal of this course is to enable students to read Czech proficiently in their particular fields. Conversation practice is included. The program is flexible and may be adjusted according to the needs of the students.

CZEC 24404. Imagining Prague. 100 Units.

Prague is an ever present, if elusive, city on the landscape of Czech history and literature. It is a city that resists easy definition, mainly through the creation of multiple and often contradictory depictions. Peter Demetz opens his history of Prague with the claim: “I love and hate my hometown.” Madeline Albright, in her recent memoir, describes Prague as “a Czech city with a variety of accents.” As much as Franz Kafka and his work are linked to Prague, it is not through overt and direct reference, but instead through the imagination of his readers. Kafka himself declares “Prague will not let go.” Out of multitude of responses to Prague it is possible to identify two predominate, if competing, visions of the city. One vision focuses on the historical and political significance of the city as both a national and cosmopolitan center. The second and competing vision attempts to position the city outside of these historical constraints and instead attempts to track the mythical and imagined representations of the city. There is perhaps no place in which these competing versions of Prague are more muddled and entwined than in the city’s very origins and so stories of Libuše and her prophecies serve as the starting point for the course. The aim of this course is to create a fuller picture of Prague, not by elevating one vision over the other, but by placing these opposing visions side-by-side and allowing them to inform and enrich each other.

Instructor(s): E. Peters     Terms Offered: Spring

CZEC 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

CZEC 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literatures with consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.

EEUR 20766. Shamans and Oral Poets of Central Asia. 100 Units.

This course explores the rituals, oral literature, and music associated with the nomadic cultures of Central Eurasia.

Instructor(s): K. Arik     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of Arabic and/or Islamic studies helpful but not required
Note(s): NEHC 20765 and 20766 may be taken in sequence or individually.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 20766,ANTH 25906,EEUR 30766

EEUR 20900. Structure of Albanian. 100 Units.

Equivalent Course(s): EEUR 30900,LGLN 29700,LGLN 39700

EEUR 21000. Romani Language and Linguistics. 100 Units.

This is a beginning course on the language of the Roms (Gypsies) that is based on the Arli dialect currently in official use in the Republic of Macedonia, with attention also given to dialects of Europe and the United States. An introduction to Romani linguistic history is followed by an outline of Romani grammar based on Macedonian Arli, which serves as the basis of comparison with other dialects. We then read authentic texts and discuss questions of grammar, standardization, and Romani language in society.

Instructor(s): V. Friedman     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LGLN 27800,ANTH 27700,ANTH 47900,EEUR 31000,LGLN 37800

EEUR 21100-21200-21300. Elementary Modern Armenian I-II-III.

This three-quarter sequence utilizes the most advanced computer technology and audio-visual aids enabling the students to master a core vocabulary, the alphabet and basic grammatical structures and to achieve a reasonable level of proficiency in modern formal and spoken Armenian (one of the oldest Indo-European languages). A considerable amount of historical-political and social-cultural issues about Armenia are skillfully built into the course for students who have intention to conduct research in Armenian Studies or to pursue work in Armenia.

EEUR 29201. The East-European Horror Film. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein     Terms Offered: Spring

SLAV 22000. Old Church Slavonic. 100 Units.

This course introduces the language of the oldest Slavic texts. It begins with a brief historical overview of the relationship of Old Church Slavonic to Common Slavic and the other Slavic languages. This is followed by a short outline of Old Church Slavonic inflectional morphology. The remainder of the course is spent in the reading and grammatical analysis of original texts. Texts in Cyrillic or Cyrillic transcription of the original Glagolitic.

Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of another Slavic language or good knowledge of another one or two old Indo-European languages. SLAV 20100 recommended.
Equivalent Course(s): LGLN 25100,LGLN 35100,SLAV 32000

SLAV 22302. Literatures of the Christian East: Late Antiquity, Byzantium, and Medieval Russia. 100 Units.

After the fall of Rome in 476 CE, literatures of the Latin West and—predominantly Greek-speaking—Eastern provinces of the Roman empire followed two very different paths. Covering both religious and secular genres, we will survey some of the most interesting texts written in the Christian East in the period from 330 CE (foundation of Constantinople) to the late 17th century (Westernization of Russia). Our focus throughout will be on continuities within particular styles and types of discourse (court entertainment, rhetoric, historiography, hagiography) and their functions within East Christian cultures. Readings will include Digenes Akritas and Song of Igor’s Campaign, as well as texts by Emperor Julian the Apostate, Gregory of Nazianzus, Emphraim the Syrian, Anna Comnena, Psellos, Ivan the Terrible, and Archbishop Avvakum. No prerequisites. All readings in English.

Instructor(s): Boris Maslov     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 32302,CLAS 31113,CLCV 21113,SLAV 32302,CMLT 22302

SLAV 22303. Prosody and Poetic Form: An Introduction to Comparative Metrics. 100 Units.

This class offers (i) an overview of major European systems of versification, with particular attention to their historical development, and (ii) an introduction to the theory of meter. In addition to analyzing the formal properties of verse, we will inquire into their relevance for the articulation of poetic genres and, more broadly, the history of literary (and sub-literary) systems. There will be some emphasis on Graeco-Roman quantitative metrics, its afterlife, and the evolution of Germanic and Slavic syllabo-tonic verse. No prerequisites, but a working knowledge of one European language besides English is strongly recommended.

Instructor(s): Boris Maslov     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 32303,CLCV 21313,CLAS 31313,SLAV 32303,CMLT 22303

SLAV 23509. Jews of Central & East-Central Euro during the Interwar Period. 100 Units.

The course intends to lay the foundations for understanding the historical constellation of the Jews in Central and East-Central Europe in the inter-war period, 1919-1939. First, we consider the structural transformation from empires into nation-states as the backdrop of World War I and its aftershocks, especially the pogroms and anti-Jewish violence that accompanied the rise of ethnic nationalism in newly established nations-states. Next, we concentrate on the year 1919 and the Paris Peace Conference, with the minority-treaties as the "Jewish" theme. Finally, we focus on the dissolution of the political order, using the framework of the League of Nations and its repercussions on Jewish life in the region. The course focus will be to gain knowledge and historical awareness concerning Central and East-Central Jewish life; the course will also consider questions of methodology and theory of Jewish history in the modern age.

Instructor(s): PENDING PENDING      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 33509,JWSC 23509,GRMN 23514,GRMN 33514,HIST 23509

SLAV 24550. Central Asian Cinema. 100 Units.

Nowhere has the advent of modernity been more closely entwined with cinema than in Central Asia, a contested entity which for our purposes stretches from Turkey in the West to Kyrgyzstan in the East, though our emphasis will be squarely on Soviet and post-Soviet Central Asia (especially Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan). This course will trace the encounter with cinematic modernity through the analysis of individual films by major directors, including (but not limited to) Shukhrat Abbasov, Melis Ubukeev, Ali Khamraev, Tolomush Okeev, Sergei Paradzhanov, Gulshad Omarova. In addition to situating the films in their cultural and historical situations, close attention will be paid to the sources of Central Asian cinema in cinemas both adjacent and distant; to the ways in which cinema enables a distinct encounter with modernity; and to the cinematic construction of Central Asia as a cultural entity.

Instructor(s): R. Bird     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): PQ: CMST 10100 Introduction to Film or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 34550,CMST 24550

SLAV 26500. Human Rights in Russia and Eurasia. 100 Units.

This course focuses on the political economy of human rights in Russia and Eurasia. We will study how international norms have been “imported” by post-Soviet states. How have regional politics and cultures shaped how rights norms are understood and how they are protected in practice? Why do many post-Soviet countries fail to protect the rights of their citizens? Using knowledge of the history, political culture, and social practices of the region, we will work to identify those rights issues with the most potential for positive change and those more likely to remain enduring problems.

Instructor(s): A. Janco     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 29312,HIST 39313,SLAV 36500,HMRT 26500

SLAV 29001. Poetic Cinema. 100 Units.

Films are frequently denoted as "poetic" or "lyrical" in a vague sort of way. It has been applied equally to religious cinema and to the experimental avant-garde. Our task will be to interrogate this concept and to try to define what it actually is denoting. Films and critical texts will mainly be drawn from Soviet and French cinema of the 1920s-1930s and 1960s-1990s. Directors include Dovzhenko, Renoir, Cocteau, Resnais, Maya Deren, Tarkovsky, Pasolini, Jarman, and Sokurov. In addition to sampling these directors' own writings, we shall examine theories of poetic cinema by major critics from the Russian formalists to Andre Bazin beyond.

Instructor(s): R. Bird
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 25501,CMST 35501,SLAV 39001

SLAV 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

SLAV 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literatures with consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.

POLI 10100-10200-10300. Elementary Polish I-II-III.

This course teaches students to speak, read, and write in Polish, as well as familiarizes them with Polish culture. It employs the most up-to-date techniques of language teaching (e.g., communicative and accelerated learning, and learning based on students’ native language skills), as well as multileveled target-language exposure.

POLI 20100-20200-20300. Second-Year Polish I-II-III.

This course includes instruction in grammar, writing, and translation, as well as watching selected Polish movies. Selected readings are drawn from the course textbook, and students also read Polish short stories and press articles. In addition, the independent reading of students is emphasized and reinforced by class discussions. Work is adjusted to each student’s level of preparation.

POLI 20700. Advanced Polish-3. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): Kosmala Kinga      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): POLI 30300

POLI 24300. Polish Through Literary Reading III. 100 Units.

Readings include original Polish prose and poetry as well as nonfiction. Intensive grammar review and vocabulary building. For students who have taken Third Year Polish and for native or heritage speakers who want to read Polish literature in the original. Readings and discussions in Polish.

Instructor(s): Kosmala Kinga     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): PQ: POLI 303 or equivalent.

POLI 25301. Gombrowicz: The Writer as Philosopher. 100 Units.

In this course, we dwell on Witold Gombrowicz the philosopher, exploring the components of his authorial style and concepts that substantiate his claim to both the literary and the philosophical spheres. Entangled in an ongoing battle with basic philosophical tenets and, indeed, with existence itself, this erudite Polish author is a prime example of a 20th century modernist whose philosophical novels explode with uncanny laughter. In contrast to many of his contemporaries, who established their reputations as writers/philosophers, Gombrowicz applied distinctly literary models to the same questions that they explored. We investigate these models in depth, as we focus on Gombrowicz’s novels, philosophical lectures, and some of his autobiographical writings. With an insight from recent criticism of these primary texts, we seek answers to the more general question: What makes this author a philosopher?

Instructor(s): B. Shallcross     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): All readings in English.
Equivalent Course(s): POLI 35301,ISHU 29405,FNDL 26903

POLI 25302. Kieslowski: The Decalogue. 100 Units.

In this class, we study the monumental series “The Decalogue” by one of the most influential filmmakers from Poland, Krzysztof Kieślowski. Without mechanically relating the films to the Ten Commandments, Kieślowski explores the relevance of the biblical moral rules to the state of modern man forced to make ethical choices. Each part of the series contests the absolutism of moral axioms through narrative twists and reversals in a wide, universalized sphere. An analysis of the films will be accompanied by readings from Kieślowski’s own writings and interviews, including criticism by Zizek, Insdorf, and others.

Instructor(s): B. Shallcross     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Each half-hour long film will be viewed separately. All materials in English.
Equivalent Course(s): POLI 35302,FNDL 24002

POLI 25303. Kieslowski's French Cinema. 100 Units.

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s long-lived obsession with parallel histories and repeated chances is best illustrated by his The Double Life of Veronique. The possibility of free choice resulting in being granted a second chance conjoins this film with his French triptych White, Blue, Red, all co-written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz. In this course we discuss why and how in the Kieślowski/Piesiewicz virtual universe the possibility of reconstituting one’s identity, triggered by tragic loss and betrayal, reveals an ever-ambiguous reality. We also analyze how these concepts, posited with visually and aurally dazzling artistry, shift the popular image of Kieślowski as auteur to his viewers’ as co-creators. We read selections from current criticism on the “Three Color Trilogy.” All materials in English.

Instructor(s): B. Shallcross     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): POLI 35303,FNDL 25312

POLI 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

POLI 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser. Open only to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literature.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.

RUSS 10100-10200-10300. First-Year Russian I-II-III.

This course introduces modern Russian to students who would like to speak Russian or to use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) are stressed. Students are also introduced to Russian culture through readings, videos, and class discussions. This yearlong course prepares students for the College Language Competency Exam, for continued study of Russian in second-year courses, and for study or travel abroad in Russian-speaking countries. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 10400-10500-10600. Russian through Pushkin I-II-III.

This literary and linguistic approach to Russian allows students to learn the language by engaging classic Russian poetic texts (e.g., Pushkin’s The Bronze Horseman), as well as excerpts from Eugene Onegin and selections from Pushkin’s shorter poems and prose works. Although the focus is on reading Russian, all four major communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) are stressed, preparing students for the College Language Competency Exam and for continued study of Russian in second-year courses. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 20100-20200-20300. Second-Year Russian I-II-III.

This course continues RUSS 10100-10200-10300; it includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, elementary composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students from excessive dependence on the dictionary and develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 20400-20500-20600. Russian through Literary Readings: Second Year I-II-III.

This course is a continuation of Russian through Pushkin. Second-year grammar, as well as oral and reading skills, are strengthened through intensive reading of important poetic and prose texts from the Russian classics. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 20702-20802-20902. Third-Year Russian through Culture I-II-III.

This course, which is intended for third-year students of Russian, covers various aspects of Russian grammar in context and emphasizes the four communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) in a culturally authentic context. Excerpts from popular Soviet/Russian films and clips from Russian television news reports are shown and discussed in class. Classes conducted in Russian; some aspects of grammar explained in English. Drill practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 21002-21102-21202. Fourth-Year Russian through Short Story I-II-III.

This course treats some difficult issues of grammar, syntax, and stylistics through reading and discussing contemporary Russian short stories. This kind of reading exposes students to contemporary Russian culture, society, and language. Vocabulary building is also emphasized. Classes conducted in Russian. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 21302-21402-21502. Advanced Russian through Media I-II-III.

This course, which is designed for fifth-year students of Russian, covers various aspects of Russian stylistics and discourse grammar in context. It emphasizes the four communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) in culturally authentic context. Clips from Russian/Soviet films and television news reports are shown and discussed in class. Classes conducted in Russian. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 21600. Russian for Heritage Learners. 100 Units.

This course examines the major aspects of Russian grammar and stylistics essential for heritage learners. Students engage in close readings and discussions of short stories by classic and contemporary Russian authors (e.g., Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Platonov, Bulgakov, Erofeev, Tolstaya), with special emphasis on their linguistic and stylistic differences. All work in Russian.

Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Ability to speak Russian fluently required; formal training in Russian not required

RUSS 23900. Lolita. 100 Units.

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul, Lolita: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate, to tap at three on the teeth.” Popular as Nabokov’s “all-American” novel is, it is rarely discussed beyond its psychosexual profile. This intensive text-centered and discussion-based course attempts to supersede the univocal obsession with the novel’s pedophiliac plot as such by concerning itself above all with the novel’s language: language as failure, as mania, and as conjuration. (B)

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 28916,FNDL 25300

RUSS 24101. Pushkin and His Age. 100 Units.

This course approaches the Golden Age of Russian culture through the prism of the artistic and intellectual legacy of its most influential writer. We read and analyze Pushkin’s poetry, prose fiction, essays, and critical works in the context of the critical, philosophical, and political debates of his time. We also consider writers such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, Karamzin, Balzac, Chaadaev, and Belinsky. Texts in English or the original; classes conducted in English.

Instructor(s): Daria Khitrova     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 34101,HIST 23602,HIST 33602

RUSS 25007. The Places of Memory, 1780-1880. 100 Units.

This course will investigate the affinities between place and memory in literature. In considering works that span a century of literature, we will reflect on memory as a force that emerges as an expression of self – or nation – that is tethered to objects, places, or structures. Course readings will be drawn primarily from German, Russian, and Anglophone literatures (Eichendorff, Tieck, Hoffmann, Fet, Tiutchev, Pushkin, Elliot, Scott, Brontë, others). Supplementary readings drawn from literary criticism, philosophy, historiography, and complementary fields will help us to consider the intersection of literature and history as it relates to questions of a historically constructed subject or nation. Topics include collaborative memory, romanticism, intertextuality, historical representation, historical fiction, and nostalgia.,No prerequisites. All readings in English with optional reading groups to discuss German and Russian works in the original for all interested students.

Instructor(s): M. Felix
Prerequisite(s): None
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 25014,CMLT 25007

RUSS 25100-25200. Introduction to Russian Civilization I-II.

This two-quarter sequence provides an interdisciplinary introduction to Russian civilization. The first quarter covers the ninth century to the 1880s; the second quarter continues on through the post-Soviet period. Working closely with a variety of primary sources—from oral legends to film and music, from political treatises to literary masterpieces—we will track the evolution of Russian civilization over the centuries and through radically different political regimes. Topics to be discussed include: the influence of Byzantine, Mongol-Tataric, and Western culture in Russian civilization; forces of change and continuity in political, intellectual, and cultural life; the relationship between center and periphery; systems of social and political legitimization; and symbols and practices of collective identity. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. Taking these courses in sequence is recommended but not required. This sequence is offered in alternate years.

RUSS 25500. Russian Literature from Classicism to Romanticism. 100 Units.

This course offers a survey of the main literary movements, schools, and genres during the period from the 1760s to the 1830s. We will explore the main works of Russian new-classical, pre-romantic, and romantic authors, including Mikhail Lomonossov, Gavriil Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin, Nikolai Novikov, Anns Labzina, Nikolai Karamzin, Aleksandr Radischev, Vassilii Pushkin, Denis Davydov, Vassilii Zhukovskii, Alexandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Vladimir Odoevskii. Most texts are available in Russian as well as in translation. However, students are encouraged to read all texts in Russian.

Instructor(s): L. Steiner     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Two years of Russian language
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 35500

RUSS 25600. Realism in Russia. 100 Units.

From the 1830s to the 1890s, most Russian prose writers and playwrights were either engaged in the European-wide cultural movement known as "realistic school" which set for itself the task of engaging with social processes from the standpoint of political ideologies. The ultimate goal of this course is to distill more precise meanings of "realism," "critical realism,"and "naturalism" in nineteenth-century Russian through analysis of works by Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Goncharov, Saltykov-Shchedrin, and Kuprin. Texts in English and the original. Optional Russian-intensive section offered.

Instructor(s): L. Steiner     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 35600

RUSS 25700. Russian Literature from Modernism to Post-Modernism. 100 Units.

Given the importance of the written word in Russian culture, it is no surprise that writers were full-blooded participants in Russia's tumultuous recent history, which has lurched from war to war, and from revolution to revolution. The change of political regimes has only been outpaced by the change of aesthetic regimes, from realism to symbolism, and then from socialist realism to post-modernism. We sample the major writers, texts, and literary doctrines, paying close attention to the way they responded and contributed to historical events. This course counts as the third part of the survey of Russian literature. Texts in English.

Instructor(s): W. Nickell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HUMA 24100,RUSS 35700

RUSS 26105. Solzhenitsyn. 100 Units.

Nobel Laureate in Literature in 1970, Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) is best known as an advocate for human rights in the Soviet Union, from which he was expelled in 1974. As with Tolstoy a century before, Solzhenitsyn’s vast moral authority rested upon the reputation he gained as a novelist in the early 1960s. We will read his novels One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Cancer Ward as innovative and complex fictions in the tradition of the Russian novel. We will then read the first volume of his monumental Archipelago GULAG, which he called “an experiment in literary investigation,” to see how he brought his artistic talents to bear on the hidden and traumatic history of repression under Stalin. At the center of the course will be the tensions in Solzhenitsyn’s work between fiction and history, individual and society, modernity and tradition, humanism and ideology.

Instructor(s): R. Bird     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 26105

RUSS 26205. Soviet Everyday Life. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): W. Nickell     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 36205

RUSS 26206. Jewish Writers in Russian Literature. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): W. Nickell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 36206

RUSS 26207. The Transnational Subject: Jewish Writers and Russian Lit. 100 Units.

Examines the alternative subjectivities assigned and adopted in narratives and criticism of Jewish writers in the Russian tradition. Authors include Dostoevsky, Solovyov, Kovner, Babel, Bagritsky, Grossman and Ehrenburg.

Instructor(s): Nickell William      Terms Offered: Spring

RUSS 29603. Защита Лужина 100 Units.

 A close reading of Nabokov's third novel, Защита Лужина (1930, The Defense or The Luzhin Defense). The class is styled as a seminar/reading course. Required for the class are weekly response papers (in English or Russian) and class participation. Secondary readings and works include Nabokov's self translation of the novel, his writings on literature and chess, and the 2000 film adaptation The Luzhin Defence (dir. by Marleen Goris).

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Winter

RUSS 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

RUSS 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literature with consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.

SOSL 26610. The Brighter Side of the Balkans. 100 Units.

 Laughter is universal but its causes are culturally determined. A joke in one culture can be a shaggy dog story in another. The figure of the trickster occurs in many places and times and under many guises. Stereotypes can be revelatory about those who deploy them. At the same time, humor can be both an outlet and a danger. There is a special word in Russian for those sentenced to prison for telling political jokes. This course focuses on Balkan humor, which, like the Balkans itself, is located in a space where "Western Europe", "Eastern Europe" "Central Europe" "The Mediterranean", "The Levant", and the "Near/Middle East" intersect in various ways (linguistically and culturally), compete for dominance or resist domination, and ultimately create a unique--albeit fuzzily bounded--subject of study.

In this course, we examine the poetics of laughter in the Balkans. In order to do so, we introduce humor as both cultural and transnational. We unpack the multiple layers of cultural meaning in the logic of “Balkan humor.” We also examine the functions and mechanisms of laughter, both in terms of cultural specificity and general practice and theories of humor. Thus, the study of Balkan humor will help us elucidate the “Balkan” and the “World,” and will provide insight not only into cultural mores and social relations, but into the very notion of “funny.” Our own laughter in class will be the best measure of our success – both cultural and intellectual.

Instructor(s): V. Friedman, A. Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring

SOSL 26800. Balkan Folklore. 100 Units.

This course is an overview of Balkan folklore from ethnographic, anthropological, historical/political, and performative perspectives. We become acquainted with folk tales, lyric and epic songs, music, and dance. The work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord, who developed their theory of oral composition through work among epic singers in the Balkans, helps us understand folk tradition as a dynamic process. We also consider the function of different folklore genres in the imagining and maintenance of community and the socialization of the individual. We also experience this living tradition first hand through our visit to the classes and rehearsals of the Chicago-based ensemble "Balkanske igre."

Instructor(s): A. Ilieva     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 23301,CMLT 33301,NEHC 20568,NEHC 30568,SOSL 36800

SOSL 27200-27300. Returning the Gaze: The Balkans and Western Europe; The Burden of History: A Nation and Its Lost Paradise.

The Other Within the Self: Identity in Balkan Literature and Film. This two-course sequence examines discursive practices in a number of literary and cinematic works from the South East corner of Europe through which identities in the region become defined by two distinct others: the “barbaric, demonic” Ottoman and the “civilized” Western European.

SOSL 27601. Gender in the Balkans: Wounded Men, Sworn Virgins and Eternal Mothers. 100 Units.

Through some of the best literary and cinematic works from Southeastern Europe, we will consider the questions of socialization into gendered modes of being – the demands, comforts, pleasures and frustrations that individuals experience while trying to embody and negotiate social categories. We will examine how masculinity and femininity are constituted in the traditional family model, the socialist paradigm, and during post-socialist transitions. We will also contemplate how gender categories are experienced through other forms of identity–the national and socialist especially–as well as how gender is used to symbolize and animate these other identities.

The course assumes no prior knowledge of the history of Southeastern Europe, literature or gender theory. All readings in English translation.�

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOSL 37601,CMLT 23902,CMLT 33902,GNSE 27607

SOSL 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

SOSL 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literature with consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.