RUSSIAN (RUSS)
194. (MUSC194) Russian Music: Concert Hall to Dance Club. (M) Amico. Russia's history has been one not only of violent wars and turbulent
revolutions, but also one of a vibrant cultural creation.
In this course we will examine Russian music from
an ethnomusicological perspective, in relation to
these historical, social and cultural contexts. Our
studies will take us from the nineteenth century
to the present, and from the elite music of the concert
hall, to the various rural sites of music making,
up to the contemporary urban dance club. Among the
topics to be considered: the relationships between
art music and movements in both literature and the
visual arts; how music supports, subverts or simply "avoids" contributing
to political life; how gender is performed in music;
and how globalization, technological advances, and
piracy change the ways music is created and used.
SM 203. (LAW 967) LEGAL IMAGINATION: CRIMINALS AND JUSTICE ACROSS LITERATURE. (M)Vinitsky. This class will be taught for both SAS and Penn Law School students:
12 students from each side. This seminar will focus
on the legal, moral, religious, social, psychological,
and political dimensions of crime, blame, shame,
and punishment as discussed in great works of literature.
The first part of the course will compare and contrast
visions of justice in Eastern and Western Europe
and emphases on divine versus human justice. The
second part will move to the psychology of the individual
person, the criminal. Part three of the course will
focus on the state institutions of criminal justice.
Readings include Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, Dickens'
Oliver Twist, Tolstoy's Resurrection, Kafka's The
Trial, and especially Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment
and selection from The Brothers Karamazov.
418. Russian Culture and Society Now. (L) Shardakova. Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or placement exam. This course continues
developing students' advanced skills in Russian,
while surveying main social, political and cultural
developments in Russia since 1991. In these two turbulent
decades Russia has undergone colossal changes ranging
from disintegration of the Soviet Empire to the rapid
development of new gastronomical tastes and new trends
in literature and culture. The course will explore
diverse and often conflicting cultural sensibilities
in contemporary Russian fiction, poetry, journalism,
scholarly writing, performance art, as well as in
pop-culture and film. Topics under consideration
will include reassessing Russia's luminous cultural
heritage as well as traumatic periods in Soviet history;
search for identity and the recent drift towards
neo-nationalism; gender issues and the contemporary
focus on fatherlessness; changing attitudes towards
former cultural taboos; dealing with Russia's current
political and cultural dilemmas. The course also incorporates two advanced Russian colloquiums with
guest appearances of Prof. Kevin Platt and Ilya Vinitsky.
Introductory Russian Language (001-004)
001.(RUSS501) Elementary Russian I. (A) Staff. This course develops elementary skills in reading, speaking, understanding
and writing the Russian language. We will work
with an exciting range of authentic written materials,
the Internet, videos and recordings relating
to the dynamic scene of Russia today. At the
end of the course students will be comfortable
with the Russian alphabet and will be able to
read simplified literary, commercial, and other
types of texts (signs, menus, short news articles,
short stories) and participate in elementary conversations about daily life (who you are, what
you do every day, where you are from, likes
and dislikes).
002. (RUSS502) Elementary Russian II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001 or equivalent. Continuation of RUSS001. Further
work developing basic language skills using exciting
authentic materials about life in present-day
Russia. At the conclusion of the course, students
will be prepared to negotiate most basic communication needs in Russia (getting around town, ordering a meal, buying
goods and services, polite conversation about
topics of interest) and to comprehend most texts
and spoken material at a basic level.
003. (RUSS503) Intermediate Russian I. (A) Staff. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001 and 002 or placement exam. This course will
develop your ability to use the Russian language
in the context of typical everyday situations,
including university life, family, shopping,
entertainment, etc. Role-playing, skits, short
readings from literature and the current press,
and video clips will be used to help students
improve their language skills and their understanding
of Russian culture. At the end of the semester
you will be able to read and write short texts
about your daily schedule and interests, to understand brief newspaper articles, films and short literary
texts, and to express your opinions in Russian.
In combination with RUSS 004, this course prepares
students to satisfy the language competency
requirement.
004.(RUSS504) Intermediate Russian II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 003 or placement exam. A continuation of RUSS003.
This course will further develop your ability
to use the Russian language in the context of
everyday situations (including relationships,
travel and geography, leisure activities) and
also through reading and discussion of elementary
facts about Russian history, excerpts from classic
literature and the contemporary press and film
excerpts. At the end of the course you will
be able to negotiate most daily situations,
to comprehend most spoken and written Russian, to state and defend your point of view. Successful completion
of the course prepares students to satisfy the language
competency requirement.
SM 107. Russian Outside the Classroom I. (C) Yakubova. Prerequisite(s): At least four semesters of Russian. The goal of RUSS107 is to provide students of Russian language and students
who spoke Russian at home with formalized opportunities to improve their conversation and comprehension skills
while experiencing various aspects of Russian culture. There will be no weekly assignments or readings, but all students
will be expected to contribute at a level equivalent to their Russian-speaking abilities both in class and on the
newsletter final project. The course consists of attending regular conversation hours in addition to a tea-drinking hour in
the department (F 4-5pm), film viewings, and a single outside cultural event (e.g., a concert of Russian music at the
Kimmel Center).
SM 108. Russian Outside the Classroom II. (C) Yakubova. Prerequisite(s): At least four semesters of Russian, and RUSS107. This is a half-credit course that consists of a variety of fun and entertaining
non-classroom Russian language activities. Students who have taken at least one semester of Russian will take part in:
1. Russian lunch and dinner table; 2. Russian Tea and conversation, featuring cartoons, poetry readings, music listening,
news broadcast, games, cooking lessons, and informal visits by guests; 3. The Russian Film Series; 4. field
trips to Russian cultural events in the area (symphony, drama, film, etc.); 5. other Russian Program events.
Introductory/Survey Russian Courses (010 - 199)
L/R 048. (HIST048) The Rise and Fall of the Russian Empire, 1552-1917. (C) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Nathans. How and why did Russia become the center of the world's largest
empire, a single state encompassing eleven time zones
and over a hundred ethnic groups? To answer this
question, we will explore the rise of a distinct
political culture beginning in medieval Muscovy,
its transformation under the impact of a prolonged
encounter with European civilization, and the various
attempts to re-form Russia from above and below prior
to the Revolution of 1917. Main themes include the
facade vs. the reality of central authority, the
intersection of foreign and domestic issues, the
development of a radical intelligentsia, and the
tension between empire and nation.
L/R 049. (HIST049) The Soviet Century, 1917-1991. (B) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Nathans. Out of an obscure, backward
empire, the Soviet Union emerged to become the great
political laboratory of the twentieth century. This
course will trace the roots of the world's first
socialist society and its attempts to recast human
relations and human nature itself. Topics include
the origins of the Revolution of 1917, the role of
ideology in state policy and everyday life, the Soviet
Union as the center of world communism, the challenge
of ethnic diversity, and the reasons for the USSR's
sudden implosion in 1991. Focusing on politics, society,
culture, and their interaction, we will examine the
rulers (from Lenin to Gorbachev) as well as the ruled
(peasants, workers, and intellectuals; Russians and
non-Russians). The course will feature discussions
of selected texts, including primary sources in translation.
100. (FOLK107) Once Upon a Fairytale: Introduction to Russian Culture. (M) Verkholantsev. The course provides an introduction to Russian culture and society
through the prism of fairy tale narratives. We will
approach Russian culture by studying how classic
tales have been retold in a variety of contexts:
folklore, literature, art, music, opera, ballet,
film, political propaganda, etc. The appeal of fairy
tales is universal. Do they seduce our imagination
through magic and the pleasure of escapism, or do
they fulfill some important social function, reflecting
the national psyche and giving it shape? Are they
an escape from reality or a fundamental part of it?
The course also provides a general introduction to
the study of folklore, fairy tales and mythology
from a variety of theoretical and comparative perspectives.
We will begin with the study of the classic Russian
fairy tales and the examination of the religious
background of Russian culture. We will then study
how the Russian classic authors in the nineteenth
century incorporated and enriched these tales and
legends. Finally, we will learn how the genre of
fairy tale was used in the twentieth century, both
by the Soviet authorities in their efforts to educate
the masses, and by critical and dissident voices
who turned these "innocent" stories into
tools for disguised criticism and satire. Like Russians,
we will "read between the lines" of a thought-provoking
history of fairy tales, fantastic stories, legends and myths as we will learn about cultural
and social values of the society that created them.
125. (CINE125, COML127, GSOC125) The Adultery Novel In and Out of Russia. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Platt. All readings and lectures in English. The course examines
a series of 19C and 20C novels (and a few short stories)
about adultery, film adaptations of several of these
novels, and several original adultery films in their
own right. Our reading will teach us about novelistic
traditions of the period in question, about the relationship
of Russian literature to the European models to which
it responded, as well as about adaptation and the
implications of filmic vs. literary representation.
Course readings may include: Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons,
Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina,
Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being,
and other works. Films may include: Frears' Dangerous
Liaisons, Vadim's Dangerous Liaisons, Nichols' The
Graduate, Mikhalkov's Dark Eyes, and others. Students
will apply various critical approaches in order to
place adultery into its aesthetic, social and cultural
context, including: sociological descriptions of
modernity, Marxist examinations of family as a social
and economic institution, Freudian/ Psychoanalytic
interpretations of family life and transgressive
sexuality, and Feminist work on the construction
of gender.
In our coursework we will apply various critical approaches in order to place
adultery into its social and cultural context, including:
sociological descriptions of modernity, Marxist examinations
of family as a social and economic institution, Freudian/
Psychoanalytic interpretations of family life and
transgresssive sexuality, Feminist work on the construction
of gender. In general, we will see the ways in which
human identity is tied to gender roles, and the complex
relationship tying these matters of the libido and
the family to larger issues of social organization.
SM 130. Russian Ghost Stories. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Vinitsky. All readings and lectures in English. In this course, we will read and discuss
ghost stories written by some of the most well-known
Russian writers. The goal of the course is threefold:
to familiarize the students with brilliant and thrilling
texts which represent various periods of Russian
literature; to examine the artistic features of ghost
stories and to explore their ideological implications.
With attention to relevant scholarship (Freud, Todorov,
Derrida, Greenblatt), we will pose questions about
the role of the storyteller in ghost stories, and
about horror and the fantastic. We will also ponder
gender and class, controversy over sense and sensation,
spiritual significance and major changes in attitudes
toward the supernatural. We will consider the concept
of the apparition as a peculiar cultural myth, which
tells us about the "dark side" of the Russian
literary imagination and about the historical and
political conflicts which have haunted Russian minds
in previous centuries.
Reading will include literary works by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev,
Chekhov, and Bulgakov, as well as works by some lesser,
yet extremely interesting, authors. We will also
read excerpts from major treatises regarding spiritualism,
including Swedenborg, Kant, Arthur Conan Doyle, and
Mme Blavatsky. The course consists of 28 sessions
("nights") and includes film presentations
and horrifying slides.
136. (HIST047) Portraits of Russian Society: Art, Fiction, Drama. (M) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Platt. No prior language experience required. This course covers 19C Russian cultural and social history. Each week-long unit
is organized around a single medium- length text (novella, play, memoir) which opens up a single scene of social
historybirth, death, duel, courtship, tsar, and so on. Each of these main texts is accompanied by a set of supplementary materialspaintings,
historical readings, cultural-analytical readings, excerpts from other literary works, etc. The object
of the course is to understand the social codes and rituals that informed nineteenth-century Russian life, and to apply
this knowledge in interpreting literary texts, other cultural objects, and even historical and social documents (letters,
memoranda, etc.). We will attempt to understand social history and literary interpretation as separate disciplinesyet
also as disciplines that can inform one another. In short: we will read the social history through the text, and read
the text against the social history.
145. Russian Literature to the 1870s. (A) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Steiner. Major Russian writers in English translation: Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, early
Tolstoy, and early Dostoevsky.
155. Russian Literature after 1870s. (B) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Steiner. Major Russian writers in English translation: Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pasternak, Babel,
Solzhenitsyn, and others.
165. (CINE165, SLAV165) Russian and East European Film. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov. The purpose of this course is to present
the Russian and East European contribution to world
cinema in terms of film theory, experimentation with
the cinematic language, and social and political
reflex. We discuss major themes and issues such as:
the invention of montage, the means of visual propaganda
and the cinematic component to the communist cultural
revolutions, party ideology and practices of social
engineering, cinematic response to the emergence
of the totalitarian state in Russia and its subsequent
installation in Eastern Europe after World War II;
repression, resistance and conformity under such
a system; legal and illegal desires; the nature of
the authoritarian personality, the mind and the body
of homo sovieticus; sexual and political transgression;
treason and disgrace; public degradation and individual redemption; the profane and the sublime ends of human
suffering and humiliation; the unmasking of the official "truth" as
a general lie.
190. Terrorism: Russian Origins and 21st Century Methods. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov. This course studies the emergence of
organized terrorism in nineteenth-century Russia.
It examines the philosophy of the terrorist struggle
through its methods, causes, various codes, and manifestoes
that defined its nature for the times to come. We
critique intellectual movements such as nihilism,
anarchism, and populism that inspired terrorism defining
the political violence and disorder as beneficial
acts. The issue of policing terrorism becomes central
when we study a police experiment to infiltrate,
delegitimize and ultimately neutralize terrorist
networks in late imperial Russia. The discussions
draw on the ideology and political efficacy of the
conspiratorial mode of operation, terrorist tactics
such as assassination and hostage-taking, the cell
structure of the groups and underground incognito
of the strikers, their maniacal self-denial, revolutionary
asceticism, underground mentality, faceless omnipotence,
and other attributes-intensifiers of its mystique.
We analyze the technology and phenomenology of terror
that generate asymmetrical disorganizing threats
to any organized form of government and reveal the
terrorist act as a sublime end as well as a lever
for achieving practical causes. Our study traces
the rapid proliferation of terrorism in the twentieth
century and its impact on the public life in Western
Europe.
The discussions draw on the ideology and political efficacy of the conspiratorial
mode of operation, terrorist tactics such as assassination
and hostage-taking, the cell structure of the groups
and underground incognito of the strikers, their
maniacal self-denial, revoluntionary asceticism,
underground mentality, faceless omnipotence, and
other attributes-intensifiers of its mystique. We
analyze the technology and phenomenology of terror
that generate symmetrical disorganizing threats to
any organized form of government and reveal the terrorist
act as a sublime end as well as a lever for achieving
practical causes. Our study traces the rapid proliferation
of terrorism in the twentieth century and its impact
on the public life in Western Europe, the Balkans,
and America.
193. (COML150, HIST149) War & Representation. (M) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Platt. Representations of war have been created for as many reasons
as wars are fought: to legitimate conflict, to celebrate
military glory, to critique brutality, to vilify
an enemy, to mobilize popular support, to generate
national pride, etc. In this course we will examine
a series of representations of war drawn from the
literature, film, state propa^ganda, memoirs, visual
art, etc. of Russia, Europe and the United States
of the twen^tieth century. The course will be conducted
largely as a seminar. However, I will also give occasional
lectures on specified topics (especially, on the
historical groundwork necessary to understand our
largely literary readings). A common place of critical
dis^cussions of war concerns the impossibility of
the adequate representa^tion of exper^ience that
in many ways defies understanding or even recall.
In this con^nection, we will be developing a vocabulary
of aesthetic and psychological terms relevant to
the task of reflecting the impossibilities of life
and death in wartime. The goal of the course is to
acquire knowledge of literary and cultural history
in social and historical context, and to acquire
critical skills for analysis of rhetorical and visual
representations.
196. Russian Short Story. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Todorov. This course studies the development of 19th
and 20th century Russian literature through one of
its most distinct and highly recognized genresthe
short story. The readings include great masters of
fiction such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy,
Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, and others. The course presents
the best works of short fiction and situates them
in a literary process that contributes to the history
of a larger cultural-political context. Students
will learn about the historical formation, poetic
virtue, and thematic characteristics of major narrative
modes such as romanticism, utopia, realism, modernism,
socialist realism, and post-modernism. We critique
the strategic use of various devices of literary
representation such as irony, absurd, satire, grotesque,
anecdote, etc. Some of the main topics and issues include: culture of the duel; the role of chance; the riddle
of death; anatomy of madness; imprisonment and survival;
the pathologies of St. Petersburg; terror and homo
sovieticus.
197. (COML197) Madness and Madmen in Russian Culture. (M) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Vinitsky. All readings and lectures in English. This course will explore the theme of madness in Russian literature and arts
from the medieval period through the October Revolution of 1917. The discussion will include formative masterpieces
by Russian writers (Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Bulgakov), painters (Repin, Vrubel, Filonov),
composers (Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky), and film-directors (Protazanov, Eisenstein), as
well as non-fictional documents such as Russian medical, judicial, political, and philosophical treatises and essays
on madness.
Intermediate/Seminar Courses (200 - 299)
SM 201. Dostoevsky and His Legacy. (A) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Vinitsky. This course explores the ways Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) portrays the "inner
world(s)" of his characters. Dostoevsky's psychological method will be considered against the historical,
ideological, and literary contexts of middle to late nineteenth-century Russia. The course consists of three parts
External World (the contexts of Dostoevsky), "Inside" Dostoevsky's World (the author's technique and
ideas) and The World of Text (close reading of Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov). Students will write three
essays on various aspects of Dostoevsky's "spiritual realism."
SM 202. Tolstoy. (B) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Vinitsky. This course consists of three parts. The first, How to read Tolstoy? deals with
Tolstoys artistic stimuli, favorite devices, and narrative strategies. The second, Tolstoy at War, explores the
authors provocative visions of war, gender, sex, art, social institutions, death, and religion. The emphasis is placed here
on the role of a written word in Tolstoys search for truth and power. The third and the largest section is a close reading
of Tolstoys masterwork The War and Peace (1863-68) a quintessence of both his artistic method and philosophical
insights.
SM 213. (COML213, RELS218) Saints and Devils in Russian Literature. (M) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Verkholantsev. This course is about Russian literature, which is populated
with saints and devils, believers and religious rebels,
holy men and sinners. In Russia, where peoples frame
of mind had been formed by a mix of Eastern Orthodox
Christianity and earlier pagan beliefs, the quest
for faith, spirituality and the meaning of life has
invariably been connected with religious matters.
How can one find the right path in life? Is humility
the way to salvation? Should one live for God or
for the people? Does God even exist? In Saints and
Devils, we will examine Russian literature concerning
the holy and the demonic as representations of good
and evil, and we will learn about the historic trends
that have filled Russias national character with
religious and supernatural spirit.
Nikolai Gogol will teach us how to triumph over the devil. In Alexander Pushkins
poetry and Anton Chekhovs stories we will contemplate
Russias ambivalent ideal of womanhood: as a poetic
Madonna or as a sinful agent of the devil. Immersed
in the world of Dostoevskys The Brothers Karamazov,
we will follow the characters in their search of
truth, belief and active love for people. Leo Tolstoy,
who founded his own religion, will teach us his philosophical
and moral lessons. Finally, Mikhail Bulgakov will
tell us his fantastic and devilish story of the Master
and Pontius Pilate and we will see for ourselves
that A man will receive his deserts in accordance
with his beliefs.
SM 220. (COML220, HIST220) Russia and the West: Russian Thinkers, Prophets, and
Writers on European and American History and Culture.
(C) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Vinitsky.
All readings and lectures in English. This course will explore the representations of the West in eighteenth- and
nineteenth- century Russian literature and philosophy.
We will consider the Russian visions of various events
and aspects of Western political and social life
Revolutions, educational system, public executions,
resorts, etc. within the context of Russian intellectual
history. We will examine how images of the West reflect
Russia's own cultural concerns, anticipations, and
biases, as well as aesthetic preoccupations and interests
of Russian writers. The discussion will include literary
works by Karamzin, Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leskov,
and Tolstoy, as well as non-fictional documents,
such as travelers' letters, diaries, and historiosophical
treatises of Russian Freemasons, Romantic and Positivist
thinkers, and Russian social philosophers of the
late Nineteenth century. A basic knowledge of nineteenth-century
European history is desirable. The class will consist
of lectures, discussion, short writing assignments,
and two in-class tests.
234. (COML235, HIST219, SLAV517) Medieval Russia: Origins of Russian Cultural Identity.
(M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Verkholantsev. This course offers an overview of
the cultural history of Rus' from its origins to
the eighteenth century, a period which laid the foundation
for the Russian Empire. The course takes an interdisciplinary
approach to the evolution of the main cultural paradigms
of Russian Orthodoxy viewed in a broader European
context. Although this course is historical in content,
it is also about modern Russia. The legacy of Medieval
Rus' is still referenced, often allegorically, in
contemporary social and cultural discourse as the
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian societies attempt
to reconstruct and reinterpret their histories. In
this course, students learn that the study of the
medieval cultural and political history explains
many aspects of modern Russian society, its culture
and mentality.
All readings and films are in English.
SM 260. (HIST413) USSR AFTER STALIN. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Platt & Nathans. How are human behaviors and attitudes shaped in a
socialist society? What forms do conformity and dissent
take under a revolutionary regime? This course will
explore the cultural history of the Soviet Union
from the end of the Second World War to the collapse
of communism in 1991. We will investigate a variety
of strategies of resistance to state power as well
as the sources of communisms enduring legitimacy
for millions of Soviet citizens. Above all, we will
be concerned with the power of the word and image
in Soviet public and private life. Assigned texts
will include memoirs, manifestos, underground and
officially approved fiction & poetry, films,
works of art, and secondary literature.
275. (CINE265) Russian History in Film. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov. This course draws on fictional, dramatic and cinematic representations
of Russian history based on Russian as well as non-Russian
sources and interpretations. The analysis targets
major modes of imagining, such as narrating, showing
and reenacting historical events, personae and epochs
justified by different, historically mutating ideological
postulates and forms of national self-consciousness.
Common stereotypes of picturing Russia from "foreign" perspectives
draw special attention. The discussion involves the
following themes and outstanding figures: the mighty
autocrats Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and
Catherine the Great; the tragic ruler Boris Godunov;
the brazen rebel and royal impostor Pugachev; the
notorious Rasputin, his uncanny powers, sex-appeal,
and court machinations; Lenin and the October Revolution;
images of war; times of construction and times of
collapse of the Soviet Colossus.
299. Independent Study. (C) Staff.
Advanced Russian Language Courses
311. (RUSS511) Russian Conversation and Composition. (A) Shardakova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 004 or placement exam. This course develops students' skills in speaking and writing about topics in
Russian literature, contemporary society, politics, and everyday life. Topics include women, work and family; sexuality;
the economic situation; environmental problems; and life values. Materials include selected short stories by 19th
and 20th century Russian authors, video- clips of interviews, excerpts from films, and articles from the Russian media.
Continued work on grammar and vocabulary building.
312. (RUSS512) Russian Conversation and Composition II. (B) Shardakova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311. Primary emphasis on speaking, writing, and listening. Development of advanced
conversational skills needed to carry a discussion or to deliver a complex narrative. This course will be based on
a wide variety of topics from everyday life to the discussion of political and cultural events. Russian culture and history
surveyed briefly. Materials include Russian TV broadcast, newspapers, Internet, selected short stories by contemporary
Russian writers. Offered each spring.
360.Literacy in Russian for Russian Speakers I. (C) Korshunova. Previous language experience required. This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek
to achieve proficiency in the language. Topics will include an intensive introduction to the Russian writing system
and grammar, focusing on exciting materials and examples drawn from classic and contemporary Russian culture and
social life. Students who complete this course in combination with RUSS361 satisfy the Penn Language Requirement.
361. Literacy in Russian for Russian Speakers II. (B) Korshunova. Prerequisite(s): Prerequisites: Russian 360 or at least three and
no more than six years of Russian formal schooling,
or instructor's permission. This course is a
continuation of RUSS360. In some cases, students
who did not take RUSS360 but have basic reading
and writing skills may be permitted to enroll
with the instructor's permission. Students who
complete RUSS361 with a passing grade will satisfy
the Penn Language Requirement.
399. Supervised Work. (C)
Hours and credits on an individual basis.
Advanced Courses (400 to 425) in History, Literature and Culture. Taught in
Russian.
SM 401. (COLL224, COML401) Russian Poetics. (A) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Steiner. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311. This course is taught in Russian. Introduction to the analysis of poetic texts, based on the works of Batyushkov,
Lermontov, Tyutchev, Fet, Mandelshtam, and others.
SM 402. (COLL224, COML402) Pushkin. (B) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Steiner. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311. This course is taught in Russian. The writer's lyrics, narrative poems, and drama.
412. Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature and Culture: Romantics and Realists.
(M) Verkholantsev. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311 or placement exam. Conducted in Russian. This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, and combines
advanced study of the Russian language with an examination of the fundamental literary movements and figures
of nineteenth-century Russian literature and culture. Course materials include prosaic and poetic texts by
Pushkin, Gogol', Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, as well as films and art. Language work will be devoted to
writing, syntactical and stylistic analysis, vocabulary, academic speech, and listening comprehension.
413. Twentieth-Century Russian Literature, Film and Culture: Utopia, Revolution
and Dissent. (M)Staff. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311 or placement exam. This course is taught in
Russian. This course continues developing students'
advanced skills in Russian, and introduces students
to major movements and figures of twentieth-century
Russian literature and culture. We will read the
works of modern Russian writers, and watch and discuss
feature films. The course will introduce the first
Soviet films and works of the poets of the Silver
Age and beginning of the Soviet era as well as the
works from later periods up to the Perestroika and
Glasnost periods (the late 1980s).
SM 416. Business and Democracy in the New Russia. (M) Bourlatskaya. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 312, 314 or placement exam. This course is taught in Russian. This course continues developing
students' advanced skills in Russian, and is designed
to familiarize students with contemporary Russian
society, its historical background and its present
political and economic structure, and to develop
functional proficiency in speaking, writing, reading
and listening. The course will focus on a variety
of issues central to Russian society since the fall
of the Soviet Union, including changing values, political
parties and movements, the business climate and businessmen,
various nationalities within Russia, women in the
family and at work. Course materials will include
interviews, articles, essays by leading Russian journalists
and statesmen, and contemporary Russian movies.
417. Modernism: Literature, Music and Visual Art. (J) Shardakova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS311 or placement exam. This course is taught in Russian. This course continues developing students'
advanced skills in Russian, while closely studying
a representative selection of texts from the modernist
period. The course will explore central issues of
the period, such as the relationship between literature
and revolution, reconceptualizations of society,
history and the self. Of particular interest will
be authors' experimentation in form and language
in order to present afresh the experience of life.
Textual study is combined with a general overview
of the period, including reference to parallel trends
in the visual arts, architecture and music, as well
as contemporary intellectual movements. Principal
writers studied will include Belyi, Sologub, Remizov,
Andreev, Artsybashev, Gorky, Zamiatin, Pilnyak, Platonov,
Zoshchenko, Babel, Olesha, and Kharms.
SM 419. Russian Song and Folklore. (M) Verkholantsev. This course is taught in Russian. This course continues developing
students' advanced skills in Russian. Song and, in
particular, folk song is an essential and exciting
component of Russian culture and social life, and
an important language learning tool. The course offers
a general introduction to the history of Russian
folklore, song and musical culture. Students will
explore the historical trajectory of Russian song
and its various genres (from folk to the modern Estrada),
examine the poetic and literary principles of song,
discuss its aesthetic properties, and analyze the
educational, community-building and ideological roles
of song in Russian society.
420. Contemporary Russia Through Film. (C) Taught in Russian. This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian and offers
intensive study of Russian film, arguably the most powerful medium for reflecting changes in modern society.
This course will examine Russia's transition to democracy and market economy through the eyes of its most creative
and controversial cinematographers. The course will focus on the often agonizing process of changing values and
attitudes as the country moves from Soviet to Post-Soviet society. Russian films with English subtitles will be supplemented
by readings from contemporary
Russian media sources. The course provides an excellent visual introduction
to the problems of contemporary Russia society.
Advanced Courses Taught in English (426 -449)
SM 426. (CINE365) Chekhov: Stage & Screen. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Zubarev. Forms a part of the CGS Masters in Liberal Arts Program. Whats
so funny, Mr. Chekhov? This question is often asked
by critics and directors who still are puzzled with
Chekhovs definition of his four major plays as comedies.
Traditionally, all of them are staged and directed
as dramas, melodramas, or tragedies. Should we cry
or should we laugh at Chekhovian characters who commit
suicide, or are killed, or simply cannot move to
a better place of living? Is the laughable synonymous
to comedy and the comic? Should any fatal outcome
be considered tragic? All these and other questions
will be discussed during the course. The course is
intended to provide the participants with a concept
of dramatic genre that will assist them in approaching
Chekhovs plays as comedies. In addition to reading
Chekhovs works, Russian and western productions and
film adaptations of Chekhovs works will be screened.
Among them are, Vanya on 42nd Street with Andre Gregory,
and Four Funny Families. Those who are interested
will be welcome to perform and/or direct excerpts
from Chekhovs works.
SM 430. (CINE365) Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Film. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov. Forms a part of the CGS Masters in
Liberal Arts Program. This course studies the cinematic
representation of civil wars, ethnic conflicts, nationalistic
doctrines, and genocidal policies. The focus is on
the violent developments that took place in Russia
and on the Balkans after the collapse of the Soviet
Bloc and were conditioned by the new geopolitical
dynamics that the fall of communism had already created.
We study media broadcasts, documentaries, feature
films representing the Eastern, as well as the Western
perspective. The films include masterpieces such
as "Time of the Gypsies", "Underground", "Prisoner
of the Mountains", "Before the Rain", "Behind
Enemy Lines", and others.
SM 432. (CINE365, COML196) Fate & Chance in Literature and Film. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Zubarev. All readings and lectures
in English. Forms a part of the CGS Masters in Liberal
Arts Program. Be a winner manage all your situations
and dont let a pure chance to govern your life! With
a chain of literary characters as a vivid illustration,
you will explore a mysterious world of fate and chance
and learn about various interpretations of the forces
ruling human life. Slavic and Greek mythology, as
well as folklore and modern literary works of Russian
and Western writers and cinematographers will assist
you in your journey to the world of supernatural.
Screenings will include Zeffirellis and Luhrmans
Romeo and Juliet. In Fate and Chance in Literature
and Film, we will explore these two interrelated
concepts in comparative perspective over a broad
historical range. Analysis will be informed by classical
and contemporary theoretical tools (from Aristotle
to Upenns own Prof. Aron Kastenelinboigen). Our investigations
will lead ultimately to analytical insight into major
works of the Western literary, dramatic and filmic
canon.
434. Media and Terrorism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Todorov. Forms a part of the CGS Masters in Liberal
Arts Program. This course draws on fictional, cinematic
and mass-media representation of terrorism based
on Russian as well as Western examples. We study
how the magnitude of the political impact of terrorism
relates to the historically changing means of production
of its striking iconology. The course exposes students
to major modes of imagining, narrating, showing,
reenacting terrorism and forging its mystique. We
examine the emergence of organized terrorism in nineteenth-century
Russia as an original political-cultural phenomenon.
We trace its rapid expansion and influence on the
public life in the West, and on the Balkans. Historical,
political, and aesthetic approaches converge in a
discussion of several case studies related to intellectual
and spiritual movements such as nihilism, anarchism,
populism, religious fundamentalism, and others. The
public appearance of the terrorist activism and its
major attributes are viewed as powerful intensifiers
of its political effect: self-denial, ascetic aura,
and stratagem of mystification, underground mentality,
and martyrdom. The pedagogical goal of this course
is to promote and cultivate critical view and analytical
skills that will enable students to deal with different historical as well as cultural modes of (self-)representation
of terrorism. Students are expected to learn and
be able to deal with a large body of historical-factual
and creative-interpreted information.
436. (CINE365) The Russian Avant-Garde: Film, Art and Theater of the Russian Revolution.
(M)Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov. Forms a part of the CGS Masters in Liberal Arts Program. This course examines
cutting edge trends and artistic experimentation in Russian film, theater, visual arts, and architecture in the
context of the October Revolution (1917). Themes include: inventing the Kino-eye; reflexology, bio-mechanics and performance
theory; staging the revolution; proletarian culture and sexuality; social engineering of the new man; bodies
and machines; cosmism, rocketry and the emergence of the Soviet outer-space doctrine; city planning and constructivist
design of the new social condensers; Lenin's mummy
and the communist psyche; the Mausoleum and symbolic
system of the Red Square.
Courses in Literature, Culture, and History for Russian Speakers (450 - 499)
460. Post-Soviet Russia in Film. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Bourlatskaya. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 361 or equivalent competence. Taught in
Russian. This course is intended for students who
have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve their
capabilities in formal and professional uses of the
Russian language. Film is arguably the most powerful
medium for reflecting changes in modern society.
This course will examine Russia's transition to democracy
and market economy through the eyes of its most creative
and controversial cinematographers. The course will
focus on the often agonizing process of changing
values and attitudes as the country moves from Soviet
to Post-Soviet society. Russian films with English
subtitles will be supplemented by readings from contemporary
Russian media sources. The course provides an excellent
visual introduction to the problems of contemporary
Russia society.
SM 461. 20th Century Russian Literature: Fiction and Reality. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
staff. Classes will be conducted entirely in Russian.
This advanced Russian-language course is intended
primarily for students who have spoken Russian at
home and who have gained competency in written Russian. This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek
to improve their capabilities in formal and professional
uses of the Russian language. Russian 461 introduces
the major movements and figures of twentieth-century
Russian literature and culture, works of modern Russian
writers, and feature films. In studying the poetry
of Mayakovsky, Block, and Pasternak, students will
become familiar with the important literary movements
of the Silver Age. The reality of the Soviet era
will be examined in the works of Zamyatin, Babel,
and Zoshchenko. There will be a brief survey of the
development of Soviet cinema, including films of
Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, and Mikhalkov. Literary trends
in the later Soviet period will be seen in war stories,
prison-camp literature, village prose, and the writings
of female authors of that time.
SM 464. Russian Humor. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Korshunova. Prerequisite(s): Russian 360 or at least five years of Russian formal schooling,
or consent of instructor. This course is intended
for students who have spoken Russian at home and
seek to improve their capabilities in formal and
professional uses of the Russian language. One of
the most fascinating and most difficult things for
a student of foreign culture is to understand national
humor, as it is presented in various stories and
films, jokes and shows. To an extent, humor is a
gateway to national mentality. In the present course
we will examine Russian cultural history, from the
sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries, through
the vehicle of Russian humor. How does Russian humor
depend on religion and history? What was considered
funny in various cultural trends? What are the peculiarities
of Russian humorist tradition? Students will be familiarized
with different Russian theories of humor (Bakhtin,
Likhachev, Panchenko, Tynianov, etc.) and, of course,
with a variety of works by Russian kings of humor
Pushkin and Gogol, Chekhov and Zoshchenko, Bulgakov
and Ilf and Petrov, Erofeev and Kibirov, etc. Class
lectures will be supplemented by frequent video and
musical presentations ranging from contemporary cartoons
to high comedies and from comic songs (Chaliapins
The Flea) to the music of Shostakovich (The Nose).
465. History of Russian Song: Singing in the Snow. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Verkholantsev. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 361 or equivalent competence.
This course is intended for students who have spoken
Russian at home and seek to improve their capabilities
in formal and professional uses of the Russian language.
Song is an essential and exciting component of Russian
culture and social life, and an important language
learning tool. The course offers a general introduction
to the history of Russian song. Students will explore
the historical trajectory of Russian song and its
various genres (from folk to the modern Estrada),
examine the poetic and literary principles of song,
discuss its aesthetic properties, and analyze the
educational, community-building and ideological roles
of song in Russian society. Among the wide-ranging
topics and genres that we will discuss and work with
are lyrics of folk songs, romances, Soviet and patriotic
songs, Anti-Soviet songs, Russian/Soviet anthems,
bard song, film and theater songs, childrens songs,
Soviet and Russian Rock and Pop.
467. Classic Russian Literature Today. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Verkholantsev. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 361 or equivalent competence. This course
is intended for students who have spoken Russian
at home and seek to improve their capabilities in
formal and professional uses of the Russian language.
A study of classic Russian literature in the original.
Readings will consist of some of the greatest works
of 19th and 20th-century authors, such as Pushkin,
Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Bulgakov. Students
will examine various forms and genres of literature,
learn basic techniques of literary criticism, and
explore the way literature is translated into film
and other media. An additional focus of the course
will be on examining the uses and interpretations
of classic literature and elitist culture in contemporary
Russian society. Observing the interplay of the "high" and "low" in Russian
cultural tradition, students will develop methodology
of cultural analysis.
468. Post-Soviet Russian Society: People, Business, Democracy. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Bourlatskaya. This course is intended for students
who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve
their capabilities in formal and professional uses
of the Russian language. It offers an introduction
to contemporary Russian society, its historical background
and its present political and economic structure.
The course will focus on the political, economic
and sociological developments in Russia from Perestroika
(late 1980s) to Putin. The course will discuss the
society's changing values, older and younger generations,
political parties and movements, elections, the business
community and its relations with the government,
common perceptions of Westerners and Western society,
and the role of women in the family and at work.
Emphasis will be placed on the examination, interpretation
and explanation of peoples behavior and their perception
of democracy and reforms, facilitating comparison
of Western and Russian social experience. Classes will be conducted entirely in Russian. This advanced Russian-language
course is intended primarily for students who have
spoken Russian at home and who have gained competency
in written Russian.
SM 469. Russian Utopia in Literature, Film, and Politics. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Korshunova. Prerequisite(s): Russian 360 or at least
five years of Russian formal schooling, or consent
of the instructor. This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek
to improve their capabilities in formal and professional
uses of the Russian language. In this course we will
undertake a fascinating journey to the Dreamland
of Russian culture. Students will read and discuss
Russian utopian imagination as presented in a variety
of literary texts, paintings, musical works, films,
as well as philosophical texts and economic theories.
Topics for discussion will include Russian fairy
tales and legends, religious prophesies and communist
projects, history and imagination, technological
and patriarchal utopias.
Graduate Courses
SM 508. Advanced Russian for Business. (M) Bourlatskaya. Prerequisite(s): At least one RUSS400-level course. This advanced
language course focuses on developing effective oral
and written communication skills for working in a
Russian-speaking business environment. Students will
discuss major aspects of Russian business today and
learn about various Russian companies using material
from the current Russian business press. In addition,
students will be engaged in a number of creative
projects, such as business negotiation simulations,
and simulation of creating a company in Russia.
SM 544. (COML541) Haunted House: Russian Realism in European Context. (M) Vinitsky. In this class we will examine works of major Russian Realist writers,
painters, and composers considering them within Western
ideological contexts of the 1850-1880s: positivism,
materialism, behaviorism, spiritualism, etc. We will
focus on Russian Realists ideological and aesthetic
struggle against Romantic values and on an unpredicted
result of this struggle -- a final spectralization
of social and political realities they claimed to
mirror in their works. Paradoxically, Russian Realism
contributed to the creation of the image of Russia
as a house haunted by numerous apparitions: nihilism
and revolution, afflicted peasants and perfidious
Jews, secret societies and religious sects. The spectropoetics
(Derrida) of Russian Realism will be examined through
works of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Leskov, Chekhov,
as well as paintings by Ilya Repin and operas by
Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky. Requirements include
one oral presentation, mid-term theoretical survey
essay, and a final paper. Relevant theories include
M.H. Abrams, Brookes, Levine, Greenblatt, Castle,
and Derrida.
In this class we will examine works of major Russian Realist writers, painters,
and composers considering them within Western ideological
contexts of the 1850-1880s: positivism, materialism,
behaviorism, spiritualism, etc. We will focus on
Russian Realists ideological and aesthetic struggle
against Romantic values and on an unpredicted result
of this struggle -- a final spectralization of social
and political realities they claimed to mirror in
their works. Paradoxically, Russian Realism contributed
to the creation of the image of Russia as a house
haunted by numerous apparitions: nihilism and revolution,
afflicted peasants and perfidious Jews, secret societies
and religious sects. The spectropoetics (Derrida)
of Russian Realism will be examined through works
of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Leskov, Chekhov,
as well as paintings by Ilya Repin and operas by
Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky. Requirements include
one oral presentation, mid-term theoretical survey
essay, and a final paper. Relevant theories include
M.H. Abrams, Brookes, Levine, Greenblatt, Castle,
and Derrida. |