2014-2015 Catalog

HIST 13900-14000. Introduction to Russian Civilization I-II.

This two-quarter sequence, which meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, provides an interdisciplinary introduction to Russian civilization. The first quarter covers the ninth century to the 1870s; 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.

PLSC 28100. Russian Politics. 100 Units.

One of the major world powers, Russia commands a nuclear arsenal and vast energy reserves. This course will help us to understand Russia’s political development which is inextricable from the country’s history and economy. After reviewing some milestones in Soviet history, we shall focus on the developments since the fall of the ‘evil empire.’ Political institutions, economy, foreign policy, and social change will all receive some attention. (C)

Instructor(s): S. Markus     Terms Offered: Spring

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 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.

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.

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.

Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): 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

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.

Instructor(s): Y. Gorbachov     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

SOSC 29700. Independent Study in the Social Sciences. 100 Units.

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

SOSC 29900. BA Paper in Russian Civilization. 100 Units.

This is a reading and research course for independent study related to BA research and BA paper preparation.

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