Courses

In 1864 Fyodor Dostoevsky created an unnamed character whose response to his own alienation was to retreat to a life under the floorboards, where he mused on the imperfectability of human society and the nature of free will. A century later, African-American writer Ralph Ellison, author of the novel Invisible Man, called Dostoevsky his “literary ancestor.” In this course we will study Notes from Underground in its original cultural context and then turn to how the book was adapted, contested, and reinterpreted by Dostoevsky’s literary descendants around the world, each in their own way investigating what it means to be human.

Students will study Russian in the context of contemporary life and culture of the Russophoneworld. In this course, they will continue developing their proficiency in conversation, listening comprehension, and writing, as well improving their grammatical skills by studying topics in Russian syntax, morphology, verbal aspect and verbal governance. The course draws on a variety of sources for reading and discussion, including contemporary literature, the periodic press, film, and music.

This course aims at vocabulary expansion and the assimilation and activation of everyday conversational structures and speech etiquette at the same time it develops familiarity with more complex principles of Russian grammar. This course is conducted by members of Kazakh National University's Philological Faculty and supervised by the program director.

This course is taken in combination with Russian 207. Emphasis will be placed on socially relevant topics. This course is conducted by members of Kazakh National University's Philological Faculty and supervised by the program director.

In this course we will study how contemporary Kazakhstani post-colonial identity is expressed and negotiated in the works of Russophone prose and poetry, as well as in film, theater, contemporary art, and urban space. Other topics will include the changing role of the Russian language in Central Asia, linguistic, gender and cultural hybridity, trauma and (post)memory, cultural, ecological and gender activism. Taught in English.

This course will offer readings and discussions of Russian-language materials and short speaking and writing assignments. Students taking RUSS 207, 209, 307, and 309 are required to enroll in this supplement to RUSS 228. Taught in Russian.

In the 1930s Mikhail Bulgakov penned a novel that brought the devil and his sidekicks—including a giant talking cat—to Stalinist Moscow. Part political satire, part love story, part meditation on good and evil, The Master and Margarita has perplexed and delighted readers across the globe for almost a century. In this course we will study the novel in its literary, geographical, and political context, before tracing its path from a banned underground manuscript in the Soviet Union to its most recent incarnation as a 2024 film that drew ovations in Russian theaters and vilification from the Putin regime for its American director. Taught in English.

In their short prose masterpieces, just as in their famous novels, Russian writers showed formal excellence and bold insights into the big questions of life and death: What kind of life is worth living? What is true compassion and love? What is to be done about evil? We will read short stories by some of the greatest Russian writers, including Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, Bunin, Nabokov, and Petrushevskaya, in the context of Russian culture and history. In English translation. No knowledge of Russian language or history is required.

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s last novel, The Brothers Karamazov, is many things: a riveting murder mystery, a probing philosophical treatise, one of the best known novels in world literature, and a complex book worth reading and discussing with serious readers of diverse backgrounds. We will familiarize ourselves with the historical and philosophical context in which it was written, while grappling with the fundamental questions it raises: What does it mean to act morally? Why do humans so often act against their own best interest? How do we reconcile a world of chaos and suffering with the notion of a benevolent god? Conducted entirely in English.

Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Lev Tolstoy challenges readers to confront some of the most confounding questions of human existence: How can we reconcile the notion of free will with the seemingly ineluctable forces of history? Is individual moral action possible in war? How can we live a meaningful life in the face of inevitable death? And what might lie after death? In this course we read War and Peace in its cultural and historical context, while also considering how it continues to be relevant to our lives today. Conducted in English. No knowledge of Russian literature or history required.

This course combines advanced work in Russian grammar, especially morphology and syntax, and fundamentals in composition, with conversational Russian. Expected preparation: Six credits of Russian at the 300 level.

This course aims at skill development in speaking and oral presentation as well as in limited forms of composition. It is taken in combination with Russian 307 and conducted by members of Kazakh National University Philological Faculty and supervised by the program director. Expected preparation: 6 credits of Russian at the 300 level.

Beginning in the 1910’s, Russian and then the Soviet Union was home to some of the most creative and innovative animated films in the world. In this course we will examine selected animated shorts in the context of Russian history and culture. Topics to be considered include the roots of animated film in the folk tale, the role of cartoons in educating the model Soviet child, the language of Soviet colonial discourse, and the ways in which post-Soviet animated films perpetuated or subverted past traditions.

Students will study the history of Russian-speaking immigration to America through readings and discussions of cultural texts which situate it at the intersection of history, memory, and life story narratives. They will listen to Russian-language oral histories and research archival materials that present personal life stories against the background of traumatic experiences of recent history: in the context of historical events and transformations, such as wars, revolutions, repressions, the Soviet era, and its collapse. We will also collaborate with a local community partner to record and preserve the oral history of Russian-speaking Minnesotans. Students will learn basic interviewing skills, and practice transcribing and translating oral texts. Taught in Russian.