RUSSIAN

RUSSIAN (RUSS)

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, 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 basic texts (signs, menus, news headlines) 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.

A continuation of RUSS 001. 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 materials 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. 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. Intermediate Russian II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 003 or placement exam.

A continuation of RUSS 003. 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, and to state and defend your point of view. Successful completion of the course satisfies the language competency requirement.

SM 107. Russian Outside the Classroom I. (C) Yakubova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001.

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.

SM 108. Russian Outside the Classroom II. (C) Yakubova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001 and RUSS 107.

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 . 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 tales. We will approach Russian culture by studying how classic fairy tales have been retold in a variety of contexts: folklore, literature, art, music, opera, ballet, film, political propaganda, etc. 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 study of the medieval foundations of Russia's folk tradition. We will then study how the classic works of Russia's great literary and cultural blossoming in the nineteenth century incorporated and enriched these tales and legends. Finally, we will examine how the 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.

The objectives of the course are to: * Develop the ability to understand Russian culture and values * Learn about Russian cultural and social history * Comprehend the structure of Russian fairy tales and fantastic narratives * Examine the diverse roles of the fairy tale in culture, social life, and politics in Russia. * Interpret the functions of fairy tales in psychological terms

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 object of the course is to analyze a series of novels (and a few short stories) about adultery from the late eighteenth through the late nineteenth centuries. At the same time, we will be examining a series of films concerning the same subject matter half of them adaptations of the works that we will read and half original treatments of infidelity. Our reading will teach us about novelistic traditions of the periods in question and about the relationship of Russian literature to the European models to which it responded. Our film viewings will allow us to consider the meaning of adultery today through a different medium of communication, as well as problems of literary adaptation and the status of classic literature in contemporary society.

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, 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 history birth, death, duel, courtship, tsar, and so on. Each of these main texts is accompanied by a set of supplementary materials paintings, 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. We will attempt to understand social history and literary interpretation as separate disciplines yet 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, Pasternak, Babel, Zamyatin, Solzhenitsyn, and others.

165. (CINE265, 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 sovieticos; 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. All readings and lectures in English.

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 the 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, 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 are created for as many reasons as wars are fought: to legitimate armed conflict, to critique brutality, to vilify an enemy, to mobilize popular support, to generate national pride, etc. In this course we will examine representations of war drawn from the literature, film, state propaganda, memoirs, visual art, etc. of Russia, Europe and the United States. We will investigate these images of conflict in the context of the history of military technology, social life, and communications media over the last two centuries. Students will write two papers, take part in a group presentation, and take a final exam.

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 genres -- the 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.

The problem of madness has preoccupied Russian minds since the very beginning of Russia's troubled history. This subject has been dealt with repeatedly in medieval vitae and modern stories, plays, paintings, films, and operas, as well as medical, political and philosophical essays. This issue has been treated by a number of brilliant Russian authors and artists not only as a medical or psychological matter, but also as a metaphysical one, touching the deepest levels of human consciousness, encompassing problems of suffering, imagination, history, sex, social and world order, evil, retribution, death, and the after-life. Therefore it is illuminating for a deeper understanding of Russian culture to examine how major Russian authors have depicted madness and madmen in their works, how these works reflected the authors' psychological, aesthetic and ideological views, as well as historical and cultural processes in Russia.

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 mid- 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 Tolstoy's artistic stimuli, favorite devices, and narrative strategies. The second, "Tolstoy at War," explores the author's provocative visions of gender, sex, art, social institutions, death, and religion. The emphasis is placed here on the role of a written word in Tolstoy's search for truth and power. The third and the largest section is a close reading of Tolstoy's 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.

Despite the title, Russian 213 is not simply about saints and devils in Russian culture. Our primary goal is to trace cultural continuity and understand the dependence of the 19th and 20th century Russian literature and art on cultural paradigms and categories of pre-modern Russia. In Russia, where culture and conscience had been nourished by Eastern Orthodoxy and Indo-European paganism, the 19th-century search for spirituality was invariably connected with Orthodoxy and religious pursuits. The interest in Russian history kindled a fascination with medieval Russian literary and artistic productions. Writers and artists turned for inspiration to medieval themes and genres. In "Saints and Devils," we will examine the literary images of the holy and the demonic in works from various periods and we will learn about the historic trends that have filled Russia's national character with religious and supernatural spirit. All readings and films are in English and include such authors as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Leskov, Bulgakov, and Nabokov, as well as films by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein.

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 lecture, 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 literary and cultural history of Medieval Russia from its origins to the eighteenth century, a period which laid the foundation for the emergence of the Russian Empire. Three modern-day nation-states - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - share and dispute the cultural heritage of Medieval Rus', and their political relationships even today revolve around questions of national and cultural identity. The course takes a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to the evolution of the main cultural paradigms of Russian Orthodoxy viewed vis-_-vis a broader European context. Students will explore the worldview of medieval Orthodox Slavs by delving into such topics as religion, spirituality, art, literature, education, music, ritual and popular culture.

The legacy of the Middle Ages has a continuing cultural influence in modern Russia. This legacy is still referenced, often allegorically, in contemporary social and cultural discourse as the society attempts to reconstruct and reinterpret its history. The study of the medieval cultural and political history explains many aspects of modern Russian society, and, in particular, the roots of its imperial political mentality and its spirituality. Those interested in the intellectual and cultural history of Russia, and Eastern Europe in general, will find that this course greatly enhances their understanding of the region and its people.

All readings and films are in English.

260. (HIST413) Conformity & Dissent: USSR. (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 to conformity and dissent take under a revolutionary regime? This course will explore these issues in 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 communism's 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 the fictional, drama and cinematic representation of the 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 Pugachov; the notorious Rasputin, his uncanny powers, sex-appeal, and court machinations; Lenin and the October Revolution; images of war; the times of construction and the 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 national identities and ethnic conflicts, the economic situation, science and education, environmental problems, and life values. Materials range from selected short stories by 19th and 20th century Russian authors to articles from the Russian media, video-clips of interviews, and excerpts from films. Continued work on grammar and vocabulary building.

312. (RUSS512) Russian Conversation and Composition II. (B) Shardakova. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 311.

A continuation of RUSS 311. This course develops students' skills in speaking and writing about topics in Russian literature, contemporary society, politics, and everyday life. Topics include national identities and ethnic conflicts, the economic situation, science and education, environmental problems, and life values. Materials range from selected short stories by 19th and 20th century Russian authors to articles from the Russian media, video-clips of interviews, and excerpts from films. Continued work on grammar and vocabulary building.

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 and emigre culture and social life. Students who complete this course in combination with RUSS 361 satisfy the language requirement in Russian. Students should have completed no more than three years of formal schooling in Russian, or the equivalent. Students who have attended Russian school for more than three years may be permitted to enroll with the instructor's permission.

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.

RUSS 361 is for students who have (i) successfully completed RUSS 360, (ii) speak Russian more or less fluently and have some basic reading and writing skills, or (iii) spent no more than six years in Russian school and wish to improve their reading and writing skills.

A continuation of RUSS 360. Fulfills the language competency 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 Derzhavin, Tyutchev, Blok, Fet, Mayakovsky, 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 combines an advanced work on Russian language with study of some of the fundamental movements, works and figures of nineteenth-century Russian literature and culture. Works studied will include poetry and short prose by some of the acknowledged masters of Russian literature (Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Pavlova, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov), as well as painting and sculpture of the period. Work on Russian will be devoted to composition, advanced grammar, matters of style, and increased proficiency in spoken Russian. The course is primarily intended for students who speak no Russian at home.

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.

A continuation of Russian 412. This course will continue to develop advanced language skills in Russian, turning attention to the study of the major movements, figures and works of twentieth-century Russian literature and culture. Works studied will include poetry, prose and film by well-known Russian masters: Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Eisenstein, Zoshchenko, Zamaitin, Tvardovsky, and others. Language development will focus on advanced composition and expansion of vocabulary and expressive capability in spoken Russian. The course is primarily intended for students who speak no Russian at home.

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 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. This course is conducted in Russian and intended for students who do not speak Russian at home but have completed at least six semesters (or the equivalent) of Russian. Course materials will ibclude 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. The 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 Bunin, Brusov, Sologub, Remizov, Kuprin, L. Andreev, Garshin, Pilnyak, Babel, Platonov, Zamyatin, Olesha, and Kharms.

SM 419. Russian Song and Folklore. (M) Verkholantsev. This course is taught 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 song and folklore for advanced students of Russian. 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 (byliny, chastushki, choir song, Cossack song), romances (gypsy romance, urban romance, cabaret, literary romance), Soviet and patriotic songs (war, pioneer and revolutionary song), Anti-Soviet songs (song of the White Guard, prison and gulag song), Russian/Soviet anthems, bard songs, songs for cinema, children's songs, Soviet and Russian Rock and Pop. Classes will be practically oriented and will center around presentations and discussions conducted in Russian, and weekly writing assignments. Musical talent is not a requirement for this course.

420. Contemporary Russia Through Film. (C) Taught in Russian.

Film is arguably the most powerful medium for reflecting changes in modern society. This course will examine Russian'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)

426. (CINE365) Chekhov: Stage & Screen. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Zubarev.

"What's so funny, Mr. Chekhov?" This question is often asked by critics and directors who still are puzzled with Chekhov's 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 Chekhov's plays as comedies. In addition to reading Checkhov's works, Russian and western productions and film adaptations of Chekhov's 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 Chekhov's works.

SM 430. (CINE365) Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Film. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov.

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.

Be a winner -- manage all your situations and don't let pure chance 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 the supernatural. Screenings will include Tarkovsky's Mirror and Zeffirelli's and Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet. For those wishing to bring their own interpretations of fate and chance to the stage, literary and theatrical analyses will culminate in the opportunity to direct and perform excerpts from literary works in class. Don't miss this chance to choose your fate!

434. Media and Terrorism. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Todorov.

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 the 19th 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, escetic aura, and stratagem of mystification, underground mentality, and martyrdom.

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.

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. All lectures and course work is in English.

The pedagogical goal of this course is to promote and cultivate critical view and analytical skills that will enable the students to deal with different modes of politicizing art and creativity. Students are prompted to compare major ideologies and techniques in the cultural production of the revolution. They are expected to learn and be able to deal with a large body of historical-factual as well as creative-interpreted information. There are two tests whose purpose is to measure students specific knowledge about the works we study and the issues we discuss. The final paper is expected to be argumentative and demonstrate students' capability to conduct independent research, critique dominant preconceptions, and politically contextualize cinema and art. MLA students (CGS Master in Liberal Arts) are expected to write a longer paper and present the thesis in class.

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.

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 Russian society. This course is primarily intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and who have already gained intermediate to advanced competency in written Russian.

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.

Russian 461 introduces the major movements and figures of twentieth-century Rusian 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.

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 (Chaliapin's Flee) to Shostakovich s music (The Nose). This class is designed for Russian heritage learners and will be conducted in Russian.

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.

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 and an advanced study of the Russian language for students who speak Russian at home and wish to improve their langauge proficiency to the academic level. 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 (byliny, chastushki, plachi, choir song, Cossack song), romances (gypsy romance, urban romance, literary romance), Soviet and patriotic songs (war, pioneer and revolutionary song), Anti-Soviet songs (song of the White Guard, prison and gulag song, "blatnye pesni"), Russian/Soviet anthems, bard songs ("avtorskaia pesnia"), film and theater songs, children's songs, Soviet and Russian Rock and Pop. Classes will be practically oriented and will center around presentations and discussions conducted in Russian, and weekly writing assignments.

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 will be of interest to Russian-speaking students with intermediate to advanced language competence who seek to read and study classic Russian literature in the original, and improve their language skills to an academic level. Readings will consist of some of the greatest works of the 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.

Russian 468 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.

In this course we will undertake a fascinating journey to the Dreamland of Ru ssian 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 economical theories. Topics for discussion will include Russian fairy tales and legends, religious prophesies and communist projects, history and imagination, technological and patriarchal utopias. This course is taught in Russian.

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 on the material of 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.