Current Russian and Eurasian Courses

Previous courses... (fall 2008)

Spring 2009

Spring 2009 Courses Taught In Russian

111s Elementary Russian
Second semester of a yearlong introduction to Russian language and culture. Classroom focus on speaking and reading is supplemented by a video series set in Moscow, frequent written assignments, and weekly conversation with native speakers. Completion of the course will provide students with a strong speaking base and the skills to undertake independent reading.
Does not meet a distribution requirement
E. Cruise
6 credits; enrollment limited to 15; 3 meetings (50 minutes), 2 meetings (75 minutes), and 1 lab

202 Intermediate Russian
Emphasis on command of grammar with attention to conversational topics. Readings include poetry, short stories, and magazine and newspaper articles. Classes are conducted mostly in Russian.
Meets Language requirement; does not meet a distribution requirement
P. Scotto
Prereq. Russian and Eurasian Studies 111 or permission of department; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 15; 3 meetings (75 minutes) plus 1 meeting (50 minutes) to be arranged

Spring 2009 Courses Taught in English

131 Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Eurasia
(Same as Politics 109s) Explores the past and present of the diverse peoples and cultures inhabiting the territory once dominated by the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. How has this region been imagined and mapped? How useful are conventional defenitions of the boundary between "Europe" and "Asia"? What is meant by "Eastern Europe", "Central Europe", and "Eurasia"? Topics to be considered will include the struggle for a usuable past and the emergance of national identity; techniques of imperial rule and colonial domination; formation and dissemination of knowledge about Eurasia; cultural traditions of the region. Designed to help students navigate the world of postsocialist Eurasia.
Meets Multicultural req; meets Social Sciences III-A req.
4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes)
S. Glebov

200 and 300 Level Courses

211s Topics in 20th Century Russian Literature: Doctor Zhivago: A Poet in History
Combining epic sweep with lyrical intensity, Doctor Zhivago is a great writer's look back at a turbulent epoch in his country's history. Set in Russia's revolutionary years, Boris Pasternak's novel is a testament to the survival of life, love, art and the possibility of freedomeven under the most difficult conditions. This course will situate a close reading of Pasternak's novel within the various contexts (biographical, political, literary) relevant to understanding this major, but sometimes mysterious, work of Russian fiction.
Meets Humanities i-A requirement; 2 meetings (75 minutes: meets RES twentieth century literature requirement; r4 credits; enrollment limited to 25)

212 Russia
(History-212s) This cultural history course will examine pivotal archetypes of Russian civilization that reflect Russia's past, demarcate its present and constrict its future. We will achieve that by focusing on some canonic historical monuments of Russia, such as the Kremlin of Moscow and the downtown of St. Petersburg. Starting with the standard representation of these landmarks by the international media, we will explore them in depth by reading conflicting historical narratives and cultural histories and eventually deconstruct their cultural message and value. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the Eastern Orthodox.
Meets Humanities I-B requirement
C. Pleshakov
Prereq. none; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 60

213 Tolstoy's War and Peace
To explain the fundamental conflict in Tolstoy's art, Sir Isaiah Berlin advanced the now famous formula that Tolstoy was a fox (pluralist) struggling to be a hedgehog (monist). Indeed, throughout his life and in his art, Tolstoy sought to shape experience into a single and all-embracing philosophical principle, but he was never able to suppress his extravagant intuition that existence, being contradictory, fragmentary, and ultimately subject to forces beyond human control, defeated attempts at codification. We will read War and Peace in an attempt to understand how that irresolvable conflict fuels Tolstoy's intellectual pursuits and informs his theories on art.
Meets Humanities I-A requirement
E. Cruise
4 credits; 2 meetings (75) minutes

242 Oil and Water Don't Mix: Geopolitics, Energy and the Environment
(Politics 242s) Following the collapse of the USSR and the Gulf War, Central Asia and the Caucasus became new centers of geopolitical rivalry. The new states are a source of energy (oil and gas) for Western powers and a vital transit corridor between Eastern Europe and China. While a new "Great Game" is being fought between Western, Far Eastern, and Middle Eastern powers for control over energy pipelines, the region is threatened by environmental catastrophe and water shortages. Is the new oil industry a source of prosperity or an instrument for exploitation, corruption, and instability? How important are the new states to the West's strategic energy interests?
Meets Social Sciences III-A requirement
S. Jones
4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes)

295, 395 Independent Study
The department
1 to 8 credits

Fall 2008

Fall 2008 Courses Taught In Russian

110f Elementary Russian
First semester of a yearlong introduction to Russian language and culture. Classroom focus on speaking and reading is supplemented by a video series set in Moscow, frequent written assignments, and weekly conversation with native speakers. Completion of the course will provide students with a strong speaking base and the skills to undertake independent reading.Satisfies language requirement when taken together with RES 111s. 6 credits; Enrollment limited to 15.
MWF 9:00 am- 9:50am and 1 lab
E. Cruise

201 Intermediate Russian
Emphasis on command of grammar with attention to conversational topics. Readings include poetry, short stories, and magazine and newspaper articles. Classes are conducted mostly in Russian.Satisfies Language requirement; does not satisfy a distribution requirement.
Prereq. Russian and Eurasian Studies 111 or permission of department; 4 credits; enrollment limited to 15
MWF 8:35am- 9:50am + lab
P. Scotto

221 Texts and Contexts: Introduction to Nineteenth Century Russian Literature
Through focus on a specific theme or idea, we will study a variety of texts and set them into the cultural context that marks them as distinctly Russian. Texts will be selected from a broad range of genres and sources. Topics will be designed to accommodate student interests. Readings, discussions, short oral and written reports. Taught in Russian.
From "Lady into Lassie" to "Lady with the Dog": A study of the nineteenth-century prose and poetry of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov.Satisfies Humanities I-A requirement. 4 credits; TBA
TuTh 11:00 AM- 12:15 PM
295fs, 395fs Independent Study 1 to 8 credits

Courses Taught in English

First-Year Seminars

151f(01) Crown Jewels of Russian Culture
(Speaking-intensive course; taught in English) We will study masterworks of Russian civilization from a broad range of periods and types. These works of art, architecture, and literature define the essential moments in the formation of the idea of Russian culture. Topics will include: medieval churches and icons; Saint Petersburg: The Venice of the North; Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky; the Romanov court jeweler Faberge; a film by Eisenstein; Tchaikovsky's ballet; and last, but not least, modern Russian dancers suchas Nureyev and Baryshnikov.
Satisfies Humanities I-A requirement. 4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes); enrollment limited to 15.
MW11:00am-12:15pm
C. Pleshakov

151f(02) Anton Chekhov: The Major Plays
(Writing-intensive course; taught in English) A study of Chekhov's major plays (Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard) in the context of his short stories, farces and letters. Focus on the singular traits of a Chekhov play: the dependence of character on ensemble; the startling effects of grotesque and absurdist humor; and the pervasive deflation of dramatic climax in favor of destabilizing trivia and laconicism. Analysis of notable productions of Chekhov's plays, including Stanislavsky's Seagull (1896), the Chichester Festival's Uncle Vanya (1963), and Louis Malle's Vanya on 42 Street (1994). Students will keep journals and participate in short staged readings.
Satisfies Humanities I-A requirement. 4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes); enrollment limited to 15.
MWF 10 am-10:50 am
E. Cruise

200 and 300 Level Courses

210 Great Books: The Literature of 19th-Century Russia
In no other culture has literature occupied the central role it enjoyed in nineteenth-century Russia. Political, social, and historical constraints propelled Russian writers into the roles of witness, prophet, and sage. We will focus on the Russian novel as a reaction to western European forms of narrative and consider the recurring pattern of the strong heroine and the weak hero. Authors will include: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov.
Satisfies Humanities I-A requirement. 4 credits; enrollment limited to 25.
Taught in English
P. Scotto
TuTh 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

240 Russian Politics
(Same as Politics 209f) Russia was transformed by communist revolution into a global superpower that challenged the dominant ideologies of liberalism and nationalism. It became a powerful alternative to capitalism. In 1991, this imperial state collapsed and underwent an economic, political, and cultural revolution. What explains the Soviet Union's success for 70 years and its demise in 1991? What sort of country is Russia as it enters the twenty-first century? Is it a democracy? How has Russia's transformation affected ordinary people and Russia's relationship to the West?
Satisfies Humanities I-A requirement. 4 credits; TBA
TuTh 11:00 AM- 12:15 PM
295fs, 395fs Independent Study 1 to 8 credits

350 Revolutions
(Taught in English, Same as Politics 264s) Since its creation at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Soviet Union dominated the minds of Western foreign policymakers. None of the West’s policies in the Middle East, the Third World, Europe, or China after World War II can be understood without an understanding of Soviet foreign policy. We will examine the development of Soviet foreign policy since 1917 and the role played by Russia and the former Soviet republics in the far more complex “New World Order” we live in today. How have the expansion of the European Union, the tragedy of 9/11, and the war against terrorism influenced Russia’s relations with the West?
Satisfies Humanities III-A requirement. 4 credits; 2 meetings (75 minutes).
Tu 1:15 -4:05 PM
S. Jones

295, 395 Independent Study
The department
1 to 8 credits