RES 100Y Elementary Russian (5 Credits)

The four-skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) introduction to the Russian language with the focus on communicative skills development. Major structural topics include pronunciation and intonation, all six cases, all tenses and verbal aspect. By the end of the course, students are able to sustain conversation on basic topics, write short compositions, read short authentic texts, as well as develop an understanding of Russian culture through watching, discussing and writing on movies, short stories, folk tales and poems. This is a full-year course. Yearlong courses cannot be divided at midyear with credit for the first semester.

Fall, Spring, Annually

RES 126 Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature: Madmen, Conmen and Government Clerks (4 Credits)

Populated with many unique and eccentric characters--from revolutionary socialists to runaway human noses--nineteenth-century Russian literature displays a startling experimentation and innovation that advanced Russia to the vanguard of Western literature. Encompassing poetry, fiction and journalism, this survey explores how authors such as Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov positioned literature at the center of public discourse, as a venue for addressing important philosophical, political, religious and social issues, including gender and class relations; personal and national identity; and the role of the writer in public life. Conducted in English. No previous knowledge of Russian is required. {L}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

RES 127 Manuscripts Don't Burn: Literature and Dissent Under Stalin (4 Credits)

Explores how Russian literary culture responded to the tumult and upheaval of the twentieth century, an epoch encompassing the Bolshevik Revolution, two World Wars, the ascent of Stalin, and the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as unprecedented aesthetic innovations. While spanning key artistic movements of the period (including the avant-garde and other modernist tendencies, Socialist Realism, conceptualism and postmodernism), the survey focuses on Stalinism and its aftermath, considering how Soviet writers developed strategies of dissent and protest in literature. Conducted in English, no previous knowledge of Russian required.

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

RES 140/ REL 140 Putin's Russia: After Communism, After Atheism (4 Credits)

Offered as REL 140 and RES 140. Often portrayed as hostile to the West, Vladimir Putin and the Russia he rules remain little known. Going beyond the headlines, this course examines contemporary Russia and historical events and figures that have shaped Putin-era Russia. The course traces the culture wars that have ensued in this post-communist and post-atheist state, across historical documents, art, film, literature and journalism. Discussions include state power and political opposition; the resurgence of religion and tensions between religion and the secular in the public sphere; debates over the Soviet past, including revolution, war and political terror; human rights; and "traditional values. {H}{L}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 221 Intermediate Russian I (4 Credits)

The first half of a two-semester sequence. Students practice all four language modalities: reading, listening, writing and speaking. The course incorporates a variety of activities that are based on a range of topics, text types and different socio-cultural situations. Authentic texts (poems, short stories, TV programs, films, songs and articles) are used to create the context for reviewing and expanding on grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Prerequisite: RES 100Y or equivalent. {F}

Fall

RES 222 Intermediate Russian II (4 Credits)

The second half of a two-semester sequence. Students continue to practice all four language modalities: reading, listening, writing and speaking. The course incorporates a variety of activities that are based on a range of topics, text types and different socio-cultural situations. Authentic texts (poems, short stories, TV programs, films, songs and articles) are used to create the context for reviewing and expanding on grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Prerequisite: RES 221 or equivalent. {F}

Spring

RES 230 Memory Wars: Culture, Identity and Narrative in Ukraine and Russia (4 Credits)

On February 24, 2022, Russia began the invasion of Ukraine, a neighboring state and a “brotherly nation,” as it is often referred to in Russia. The conflict rapidly unfolds, with crushing economic and political sanctions imposed on Russia, oil prices hitting record highs on international commodity markets, and millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing into Europe. This course attempts to understand the causes and contexts of this conflict and to map the conflicting perspectives on the war expressed by different political commentators. In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will explore the recent and current events by drawing on past research in history, anthropology, sociology, political science, and media studies as well as current media materials. (E) {S}

Spring, Variable

RES 240/ REL 240 Religious Thought and Spirituality in Revolutionary Russia (4 Credits)

Offered as REL 240 and RES 240. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked one of the most brilliant yet destructive periods in Russia’s history. This course explores the religious, spiritual, and philosophical ideas that fueled both a renaissance in the arts and a political revolution, each of which had enormous impact worldwide. Drawing on the visual arts, music, and theater, as well as religious, philosophical, and political writings, the course introduces students to some of the best-known thinkers and cultural innovators in Russia’s late-imperial and Soviet past, as well as in the post-Soviet present. Discussions include: ways to enlightenment; religious faith, materialism, atheism, and science; meanings of history; Freemasonry, theosophy, and the occult; the body, sex, and spirituality; art, human creativity and god-building. {H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 242/ REL 242 The Politics and Culture of Russian Sacred Art (4 Credits)

Offered as REL 242 and RES 242. As devotional objects, political symbols and art commodities, Russia’s sacred art--the icon--has been revered as sacred, vilified as reactionary, embraced as rebellious, destroyed as dangerous and sold as masterpieces. Engaging the fields of religion, material culture, visual anthropology and ritual studies, this course examines the life and language of this art form and its role in shaping and remembering Russia’s turbulent history. Topics include the production and reception of images; diverse meanings and functions of sacred imagery; visuality and spirituality; secularization and commodification; the icon, avant-garde art, and film; controversial images and protest culture. No prerequisites. Open to first-year students. {A}{H}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

RES 264/ WLT 264 Dostoevsky (4 Credits)

Offered as RES 264 and WLT 264. Focuses on close reading of the major novels, short fiction and journalism of Dostoevsky, one of the greatest writers in modern literature. Combining penetrating psychological insight with the excitement of crime fiction, Dostoevsky’s works explore profound political, philosophical and religious issues, in a Russia populated by students and civil servants, saints and revolutionaries, writers and madmen. In a close reading of his fiction and nonfiction, the class traces the development of Dostoevsky’s style and ideas, considering how these texts engage with issues specific to nineteenth-century Russia, as well as the broader traditions of European literature and intellectual history. In translation. {L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 273/ WLT 273 Cosmic Cold War: Russian and Western Science Fiction in Political Context (4 Credits)

Offered as RES 273 and WLT 273. How did the "final frontier" of space become a "front" in the Cold War? As the US and USSR competed in the Space Race, science fiction reflected political discourses in literature, film, visual art and popular culture. This course explores Russian and Western science fiction in the contexts of twentieth-century geopolitics and artistic modernism (and postmodernism), examining works by Bogdanov, Kubrick, Tarkovsky, Butler, Haraway, Pelevin and others. The survey considers science fiction’s utopian content and political function, as well as critical and dystopian modes of the genre. No prerequisites or knowledge of Russian required; first-year students are welcome to enroll. Enrollment limited to 40. {A}{H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 275 Avant-Garde as Lifestyle: Cinema and Socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (4 Credits)

Explores the avant-garde film traditions of Eastern and Central Europe, including works from the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The course focuses on how avant-garde filmmakers engaged with the socialist project in the USSR and Eastern Bloc, and its call for new forms, sites and life practices. The course investigates how avant-garde cinema represents everyday life amidst the public and private spaces of socialism. In approaching the relationship between cinema and space, students consider examples of architecture (Constructivist, Functionalist, Brutalist), as well as theoretical writings by and about the avant-garde. Conducted in English, no prerequisites. {A}{H}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 300lt Seminar: Advanced Topics in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies- Lev Tolstoy and the Narrative Shape of History (4 Credits)

The fiction of Tolstoy is unrivaled in its psychological insight, lyrical beauty and epic scope, prompting Russian author Isaac Babel to claim that when he read Tolstoy, he felt as if the world was writing itself. This course examines works spanning Tolstoy’s literary career, from his early writings to his late stories and essays, including War and Peace, his monumental account of the Napoleonic Wars. Analysis of Tolstoy’s fiction focuses on the relationship between history and literary form, and the way Tolstoy’s narrative technique, illuminated by Russian Formalist literary theory, enriched his representation of human agency and subjectivity. Priority given to RES majors. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission required. {A}{H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

RES 331 Advanced Russian (4 Credits)

This course aims at expansion of students' vocabulary and improvement of reading, writing and speaking skills. The course is intended for students who have completed at least four semesters of Russian or the equivalent. Heritage learners of Russian (those who speak the language) also benefit from the course. With a strong emphasis on integrating vocabulary in context, this course aims to help students advance their lexicon and grammar, increase fluency and overcome speaking inhibitions. The class reads and discusses a variety of texts in the original Russian including articles, short stories and poems. Prerequisite: RES 222 or equivalent. Instructor permission required. {F}

Fall

RES 332 Advanced Russian (4 Credits)

A continuation of RES 331. Prerequisite: RES 331 or equivalent. {F}

Spring

RES 400 Special Studies (1-4 Credits)

Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring

RES 430D Honors Thesis (4 Credits)

Honors Project. 4 credits if taken as a fall semester course, 8 if taken as a yearlong course. Department permission required.

Fall, Spring