Courses

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.

How did the peasant stove shape culinary culture? Why did Catherine the Great force her subjects to cultivate potatoes? How did the October Revolution change the way Soviet citizens ate? How do culinary traditions play into contemporary nationalist discourse? And who "owns" borshch? In this course we will study key aspects of Russian and Ukrainian history and culture through the lens of culinary history. Includes opportunities for food preparation and sampling. 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.

Maintain your Russian skills, expand your vocabulary, keep up with the news in the Russophone world, and drink tea (with snacks). Topics selected for discussion and sources to be consulted will vary and aim at student interests. This class meets once a week for 70-minute sessions guaranteed to be lively.

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.

Who was Pushkin? Reform-minded liberal, Russian patriot, proud descendant of African nobility, the Russian Shakespeare, all or none of the above? In the eyes of Russians, is he still—was he ever?— “our everything”? A study of Pushkin’s lyric poetry, his novel in verse Eugene Onegin and other works in the context of his contested legacy. Conducted in Russian.

Anton Chekhov stood at the threshold of two eras, bidding farewell to the giants of the nineteenth century — Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy — while opening the door to modern writers such as Kharms, Zoshchenko, Petrushevskaya, and Sorokin, as well as inspiring 21st-century theater and fan-fiction. He laid the foundations for new art forms in the realms of cinematography, animation, and even comics. And the period in which he lived, the counterreforms of Alexander III, has striking parallels with contemporary Russia. In these contexts, we will read — and draw, stage, and watch on screen — selected short stories and the play The Seagull.

The integrative exercise has two parts: 1) an exam based on coursework and the department reading list and 2) an independent research paper or project, designed in consultation with the comps adviser. Credits may be distributed in any fashion over the fall, winter, and spring terms. Russian 400 is a continuing course; no grade will be awarded until all six credits are completed.