Just over a century ago, Russian revolutionaries promised to turn the capitalist world upside down and replace it with a modern socialist order based on the equality and dignity of all working people. Explores socialism in practice between 1917 and 1932, with an emphasis on both the utopian imagination and "lived" experience. Discussions and assignments will draw heavily on visual sources (art, posters, film, photography) to examine the radical transformation of Soviet culture and society. Topics include labor practices, education, family and gender roles, religious culture, science and technology, healthcare, housing and urban planning, and fashion and the arts. No previous knowledge of Russian history is necessary. Note: This course is part of the following field(s) of study: Europe. (Same as: HIST 1013)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2020.

Introduction to the Cyrillic writing system and to the fundamentals of the Russian language. Emphasis on the gradual acquisition of active language skills: speaking, understanding, reading and writing. Students will learn to introduce family members and explain what they do for a living; describe their room, possessions, city, and culinary preferences; discuss their daily activities and travels; talk about their studies and what languages they speak; ask simple questions, voice opinions, make invitations, and engage in basic everyday conversations. Authentic multimedia cultural materials (cartoons, songs, poems, videos) supplement the textbook and serve as a window onto the vibrant reality of Russian culture today. Conversation hour with native speaker.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

Continuation of Russian 1101. Introduction to the case and verbal systems of Russian. Emphasis on the acquisition of language skills through imitation and repetition of basic language patterns and through interactive dialogues. The course includes multimedia (video and audio) materials. Conversation hour with native speaker.

Prerequisites: RUS 1101.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Explores Russian identity, society, culture, and politics during three dramatically different phases of the modern period between Peter the Great and Lenin: the era of empire, autocracy, and serfdom under the tsars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; Russia’s encounter with western ideas and forms of modernity in the late nineteenth century; and the revolutionary transformations of 1905 and 1917, ending in socialist rule under the Bolsheviks. Most readings are drawn from primary texts (novels, letters, memoirs, petitions, and ethnographic accounts); we will also regularly engage with forms of contemporary visual culture (especially painting, photography, and film) Note: This course fulfills the non-Euro requirement for history majors and minors. (Same as: HIST 2108)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2021.

The Russian Revolution ushered in the world's first socialist society. This course explores the origins, evolution, and eventual collapse of the Soviet experiment. Topics include: the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and Civil War; the “building of socialism” under Lenin and Stalin; the origins of the Terror and Gulag system; the Great Patriotic War (WWII); the Soviet Union’s influence in Eastern Europe and the Cold War; the unraveling of the Soviet system under Gorbachev; the challenges of post-Soviet society in the 1990s; and the Soviet past in Russian memory today. By engaging closely with visual and written texts produced by and for the peoples of Russia and the Soviet Union, the course seeks to understand the experience of lived socialism from diverse perspectives. It is designed for all students; no background is necessary. (Same as: HIST 2109)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Introduces students to two giants of Russian literature, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and explores their significance to Russian cultural history and European thought. The course surveys the aesthetic contributions, literary styles, and artistic innovation of both authors through the close reading of their early and mature works. Themes of religion, philosophy, modernity, and art are examined through the complex lens of gender dynamics in nineteenth-century Russian literature. Special emphasis is placed on each novelist’s approach to questions of gender roles, masculinity, femininity, sexuality, prostitution, motherhood, free will, and social and familial duty. Sexual violence, suffering, spirituality, and redemption are further topics of interest. Studied texts include Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground, as well as Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, The Cossacks, and “The Kreutzer Sonata,” among others. Class is conducted in English. . (Same as: GSWS 2217)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

Continuation of Elementary Russian. Emphasis on the continuing acquisition of active language skills: speaking, understanding, reading and writing. Students will improve their facility in speaking and understanding normal conversational Russian and will read increasingly sophisticated texts on a variety of topics. Authentic multimedia cultural materials (cartoons, songs, poems, videos, websites, short stories, newspaper articles) supplement the textbook and serve as a window onto the vibrant reality of Russian culture today. Conversation hour with native speaker.

Prerequisites: RUS 1102.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

Continuation of Russian 2203. Emphasis on developing proficiencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and on vocabulary development. Builds upon the basic grammatical competencies acquired in first-year Russian and completes a thorough introduction to the case and verbal systems of the language. The course includes multimedia (video and audio) materials. Conversation hour with native speaker.

Prerequisites: RUS 2203.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Explores fundamentals of narrative construction through reading short masterworks of Russian literature alongside a variety of creative writing assignments. What makes a story compelling—or, for that matter, what makes it a story at all? This course focuses on the complex machinery producing what John Gardner called the “vivid and continuous dream” of fiction, moving from what a story means to how it means. Our guides in this process will be the Russian writers who helped innovate and fine-tune the modern short story, from Pushkin to Turgenev to Chekhov, and whose legacies continue to hold sway over the form. In response to readings, students write short creative or analytical assignments on the narrative techniques under study. This course is meant for writers and literature students alike; no previous creative writing experience required. All course materials are in English. Note: Fulfills the creative writing concentration requirement for English majors. (Same as: ENGL 2865)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Examines the complex and dynamic relationship between the US and the Soviet Union/Eastern Bloc through the lens of espionage-themed literature and film from the early 20th century to the present day, with a special focus on the Cold War period. Using a comparative approach, the course explores the role of literature and film in shaping ideas and depictions of the threatening "other" and the ramifications of such depictions in the US and Soviet contexts. Major themes of discussion include national and cultural identity, constructed images and stereotypes of the other and enemy in the popular imagination in the States and Eastern Bloc, deviations from such depictions (specifically in the case of double agents), and changing gender roles and prominent women in espionage. Conducted in English. No previous background in Russian or Soviet history required. IP.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

Overview of Russian and Eastern European utopian, dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature and film set in imaginary futures, from the late nineteenth century to the present. In this course, we will examine science fiction as a form of creative thought experiment, allowing writers and readers to consider sweeping questions about our place in a changing world. What does Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, which presaged the rise of twentieth-century totalitarianism, say about social organization? What does Karel Capek’s R.U.R.—a work that gave us the word “robot” from the Czech—say about technological progress? What does Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris and its renowned Soviet film adaptation by Andrei Tarkovsky tell us about what it means to be human? We will explore these and other questions through a mix of analytical and creative assignments. All course readings and other materials in English; no previous experience in the language or region required.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023.

Examines the lived experience of the Soviet Union's underrepresented ethnic groups through film and literature, including works by indigenous Siberian peoples, Central Asians, and Eastern Europeans (specifically in Ukraine and Belarus) from the early 20th century to the present. Using a postcolonial lens, the course investigates how the complex interactions between power, privilege, policy, colonizer, and colonized shaped the experience of Soviet "others" (who did not identify as ethnic Russians) and encourages reflection on difference, diversity, and inclusion in the US and Russian contexts. Themes include the Soviet multiethnic project and its shifting policies on indigenization, affirmative action, and ethnic cleansing, the history of contact and conflict between individual ethnic groups and Russians, changing gender dynamics, and the diverse sociogeographic and experiential reality of being the "other” in the Soviet Union. Conducted in English. No previous background in Russian or Soviet history required.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2022.

Restless corpses, forest demons, and giant talking black cats: Russian and Eastern European storytelling is suffused with the uncanny light of black magic, from popular superstitions to vampires at the modern-day multiplex. In this course, we’ll investigate this abiding interest in the demonic, starting with Slavic folk beliefs and tracing how these traditions were transformed by nineteenth-century writers like Dostoevsky and Gogol in their explorations of the darker recesses of the human heart. We’ll also look at how fictional portrayals of Satan in twentieth-century Soviet works convey the existential terror of life in Stalin’s Moscow and how contemporary horror reflects cultural anxieties around nation and self in the region today. Course themes include fears of otherness and gendered depictions of supernatural evil, the dread of death and the undead, the seductiveness of sin, and the complex mechanisms of redemption.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

Examines the subject of collective memory and reconstructions of the past in post-socialist Eastern European cinema, focusing primarily on Russian-language films. How does this area of the world, with its fraught histories of wars, revolutions and other social upheavals, describe or inscribe the past in recent films, from the historical blockbuster to more intimate contemporary narratives haunted by past events? And how do these films about the darkest episodes of the region’s history shed light on the ways in which we either commemorate or repress historical traumas in our own culture(s) today? Scholarship on nostalgia, cultural taboos, repressed memory, reconciliation, and collective memory will help us to form a complex understanding of how filmmakers not only represent the past in their work, but also recreate it anew on the screen in order to fit the needs of the current moment. (Same as: CINE 2603)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Explores the most dramatic political event of the twentieth century: the collapse of Soviet communism and Russia’s subsequent political development. Begins by examining the Soviet system and the political and social upheaval of the late Soviet period. Proceeds to investigate the challenges of contemporary Russian politics, including the semi-authoritarian regime, the challenges of sustainable economic growth and modernization, the demographic crisis, the loss of superpower status, and the search for a role in international politics. Comparisons made with other countries in the post-Communist region. (Same as: GOV 2410)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2020.

For most of the last two and a half centuries, Russia and America have served as mirror images to each other—frenemies or dark twins that used the image of the other country for domestic political purposes. The main content of this course is the study of Russian-American encounters, not merely as diplomatic relations, but as a complex interplay of political imagination, technological transfers, ideological rivalry, and military alliances. We will examine the role of slavery and serfdom and their abolition, continental expansions, Russian emigration, and American technologies in the construction of the American view of Russia and Russian attitudes towards the U.S. We will address cycles of relations from world war military alliances to Cold War enmity and bring the story to the end of the Cold War and its consequences for the current relationship between the two societies. Open to all students. (Same as: HIST 2422)

The Arctic looms in our political imagination as the region most directly affected by a changing global climate that threatens the displacement of northern communities and cultures. It is also a site of fierce competition for state control and economic development. This course investigates the Arctic as a political space that encapsulates elements of comparative politics and international relations. It examines cross-national variation in policies toward Arctic regions in states such as the United States, Canada, Russia, Iceland, and Norway. It also explores dynamic international engagement around the Arctic by state officials, corporations, indigenous communities, and activists. The course will address governance issues such as indigenous rights, economic development and natural resource exploitation, environmental issues and climate change, the potential militarization of the region, international law, and the role of the Arctic Council. (Same as: GOV 2577, ENVS 2377)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2021.

Building on the language skills developed in the Intermediate Russian I and II sequence, this course allows students to move beyond everyday language use to develop advanced lexical, grammatical and cultural knowledge on a variety of topics relevant to Russian speakers today. Within the context of a four-skills approach to language acquisition (writing, speaking, listening, reading), students engage with a wide variety of course materials in the target language, including Russian mass media, film, music, and literature. Individual units focus on specific issues or problems in modern Russian society, such as politics, art, health, identity and belonging, youth culture, economic development, technology and society. By the end of the course, students will be able to summarize and analyze different viewpoints on complex issues and articulate their own arguments both orally and in written Russian, from formulating clear theses to providing logical reasoning and evidence for their ideas.

Prerequisites: RUS 2204.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

Continuation of Advanced Russian Language and Society I. This course allows students to move beyond everyday language use to develop advanced lexical, grammatical and cultural knowledge on a variety of topics relevant to Russian speakers today. Within the context of a four-skills approach to language acquisition (writing, speaking, listening, reading), students engage with a wide variety of course materials in the target language, including Russian mass media, film, music, and literature. Individual units focus on specific issues or problems in modern Russian society, such as politics, art, health, identity and belonging, youth culture, economic development, technology and society. By the end of the course, students will be able to summarize and analyze different viewpoints on complex issues and articulate their own arguments both orally and in written Russian, from formulating clear theses to providing logical reasoning and evidence for their ideas.

Prerequisites: RUS 3005.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Russia has experienced a number of staggering transformations since the close of the nineteenth century, and these dramatic upheavals are mirrored in its national literature. This course will serve as an introduction to the evolution of Russian literature from the turn of the twentieth century, through the Revolution and the Soviet decades, to the contemporary post-Soviet period. Students will read and analyze important works of poetry and short prose from this era of radical change and experimentation, paying attention to the texts' social and cultural context, the specifics of their construction as works of verbal art, and the nuances conveyed by their creators' linguistic choices. All primary texts, discussions, and presentations will be in Russian, as will the majority of writing assignments. Emphasis on vocabulary development, stylistics, and the ability to articulate sophisticated arguments in both oral and written Russian.

Prerequisites: RUS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2020.

St. Petersburg looms large in Russian history, from its creation as Russia’s “window to the West” and its role in World War II to its post-Soviet incarnation as cultural antipode to Moscow. This course focuses on the rich assemblage of myth and literature around what Dostoevsky called "the most artificial city in the world." How did Petersburg’s creation as a planned city shape its physical space and make it a ready metaphor for European rationality? How do we square this with literary Petersburg—a realm of ghosts, madmen and doubles? We’ll read foundational Petersburg texts by Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky and trace how they inspired later authors like Blok, Akhmatova, and Tolstaya. We’ll also look at visual representations of Petersburg, from fine art to tourist brochures and contemporary films. All materials and assignments in Russian. Emphasis on reading complex texts, vocabulary development, and ability to articulate arguments in spoken and written Russian.

Prerequisites: RUS 3406.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Spring 2021.

Explores growing political, economic, and cultural diversity within the post-communist region after the enforced homogeneity of the Communist era. Considers the essential features of Communism and asks why these systems collapsed, before examining more recent developments. What are the factors promoting growing variation in the region? Why have some post-communist states joined the European Union, while others appear mired in authoritarianism? Do the institutional and cultural legacies of Communism influence contemporary politics? More than twenty years after the collapse of Communist regimes in East Central Europe and the Soviet Union, is “post-communism” still a useful concept for social scientists? Examines contemporary scholarship on the sources of change and continuity in the region and offers students the opportunity to undertake individual research projects (Same as: GOV 3510)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.