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

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

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

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

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

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

A continuation of RES 331. Prerequisite: RES 331 or equivalent.

Offered as WLT 203 and ENG 203. Chrétien de Troyes’s Yvain; Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra; Cervantes’ Don Quixote; Lafayette’s The Princesse of Clèves; Goethe’s Faust; Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Lecture and discussion. Students interested in comparative literature and/or the foundations of Western literature and wanting a writing-intensive course should take WLT 203/ENG 203, WLT 202/ENG 202 or both. Enrollment limited to 20.

An introduction to major developments and interactions among people in Europe and Asia before modernity. The Silk Roads, long distance networks that allowed people, goods, technology, religious beliefs and other ideas to travel between China, India and Rome/Mediterranean, and the many points in between, developed against the backdrop of the rise and fall of steppe nomadic empires in Inner Asia. We examine these as interrelated phenomena that shaped Eurasian encounters to the rise of the world-conquering Mongols and the journey of Marco Polo. Topics include: horses, Silk and Steppe routes, Scythians and Huns, Han China and Rome, Byzantium, Buddhism, Christianity and other universal religions, Arabs and the rise of Islam, Turks, Mongol Empire, and medieval European trade, geography and travel.

The emergence, expansion and maintenance of the Russian Empire to 1929. The dynamics of pan-imperial institutions and processes (imperial dynasty, peasantry, nobility, intelligentsia, revolutionary movement), as well as the development of the multitude of nations and ethnic groups conquered by or included into the empire. Focus on how the multinational Russian empire dealt with pressures of modernization (nationalist challenges in particular), internal instability and external threats.

Explores the relationship between East European Jewish history and post-Holocaust and post-Communist memory through the prism of Yiddishland, the dream of a transnational homeland defined by language and culture rather than borders. The seminar includes a course field trip to Poland over March break. Enrollment limited to 15. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.

Required study abroad w/professor in Poland/Lithuania over March Break. Permission Required/Registration by Waitlist. During Add/Drop, Waiver Required.

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

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

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

Offered as WLT 203 and ENG 203. Chrétien de Troyes’s Yvain; Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra; Cervantes’ Don Quixote; Lafayette’s The Princesse of Clèves; Goethe’s Faust; Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Lecture and discussion. Students interested in comparative literature and/or the foundations of Western literature and wanting a writing-intensive course should take WLT 203/ENG 203, WLT 202/ENG 202 or both. Enrollment limited to 20.

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