Russian Courses Fall 2008

RUSS 101: Elementary Russian I

Section 000 Lunk MW 9:35-10:25 and TT 10:00-11:15 Limit15
Section 001 Proskurina MW 11:45-12:35 and TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15
Section 002 Proskurina MW 12:50-1:40 and TT 1:00-2:15 Limit 15
4 credit hours

Content: Russia is the largest country in the world. From the standpoint of usage, Russian ranks with English and Chinese as one of the three major world languages. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, new and exciting job opportunities for students who know Russian have appeared. Elementary Russian is designed to introduce students to the Russian language and to the rich culture of Russia. The course focuses upon contemporary Russian and the development of speaking, listening, and writing. The course instruction utilizes multimedia resources, including Russian television.

Text:
Nachalo, 2nd Edition

Particulars: Course requirements include chapter quizzes, midterm and final exams. Both oral and written testing is done.

RUSS 201: Intermediate Russian Conversation and Reading

Section 000 Lunk MW 11:45-12:35 and TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15
4 credit hours

Content: Intermediate Russian is designed to develop proficiency in conversational and written usage of Russian. Although implementation of new grammar is essential, the main focus is on Russian as a living means of communication.

Text:
V Puti: Russian Grammar in Context, Olga Kagan, Frank Miller, 2005

Particulars: Unit quizzes, mid-term, and final exam.

RUSS 271WR: Masterpieces of 19th Century Literature in Translation
Section 000 Glazov-Corrigan TT 2:30-3:45 Limit 15
4 credit hours

Content: Nineteenth-century Russia produced some of the most original and exciting writers of all time, including Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. Grappling with the contradictions of tsarist rule, Russian writers offer special insight into the enigmas of their own country as well as those of the human condition more broadly. Their works explore questions about national and personal identity, the nature of power, the meaning of life, and relationships between art and politics. The course is multimedia in approach (film, music, art), and it examines the brilliant legacy of well-known Russian writers as well as some less known in the West.

Text: TBA

Particulars: TBA

RUSS 313R: Advanced Oral and Written Communication I

Section 000 Proskurina MW 2:00-2:50 and TT 2:30-3:45 Limit 15
4 credit hours

Content: This course advances skills in reading, speaking, understanding, and writing Russian, with materials from nineteenth-century culture. Readings include short fiction by A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, F. Dosteoevsky, L. tolstory, a. Chekhov. Conducted in Russian, with writing assignments and occational grammar and translation exercises.

Particulars: TBA

RUSS 360WR: Dostoevsky in English Translation
Section 000 Epstein TT 5:45-7:00 Limit 10
Same as CPLT 389WR Limit 5

Content: Of all Russian writers Dostoevsky had the most serious impact on the world culture. He widened horizons of artistic imagination and human thought. In this class four major works of fiction by Dostoevsky will be discussed. Dostoevsky will be approached as a creator of a genre of polyphonic novel and a predecessor of modern intellectual trends such as Jungian theory of psychological archetypes and existentialism. Interpretations of Dostoevsky's work by Berdiaev, Vyacheslav Ivanov, and Bakhtin will amplify reading experience and outline topic for discussion.

Particulars: The course will be taught in English. Final paper.

Required Texts: TBA

RUSS 550: Bakhtin and His Circles: Dialogues Across the Disciplines
Section 000 Epstein/Reed Thursday 1:00-4:00 Limit
Same as CPLT 752 Limit 5
Same as ENG 789 Limit
Same as ILA 790 Limit

Content: This seminar will study the major writings of the 20th c. Russian thinker Mikhail Bakhtin, placing them in dialogue with writings of others--those on whom he drew most deeply and those on whom he has been most influential. In some cases, as with his close associates in the 1920s, Voloshinov and Medvedev, or with the Russian Formalists, these "circles" are historically immediate. In other cases, as with Bakhtin's studies of Dostoevsky and Rabelais, or his influence on Western cultural studies and Russian postmodernism, they are culturally mediated. The course will focus on the most innovative and cross-disciplinary aspects of Bakhtin's work, including his theories of dialogue, authorship, metalinguistics, and philosophical anthropology, as well as on his own dialogical engagements with Marxism and Existentialism.

RUSS 495A: Honors Program In Russian

Section 00P (Permission Only) Faculty

RUSS 496R: Russian Language Internship

Section 00P (Permission Only) Faculty

RUSS 497R: Individual Directed Reading

Section 00P (Permission Only) Faculty

RUSS 797R: Directed Studies in Russian Language or Culture

Section 00P (Permission Only) Faculty

For additional offerings please see REES Course Offerings (Russian and East European Studies)

Last updated August 19, 2008