Fall 2025 • Winter 2026 • Spring 2026

Fall 2025term list

  • RUSS 101: Elementary Russian

    For students with no previous training in or minimal knowledge of Russian. Simultaneous development of skills in speaking, reading, aural comprehension, writing. Students with prior instruction or who speak Russian at home should consult the department for placement information. Class meets five days a week. Prerequisites:

    Not open to students whose previous Russian language experience exceeds the requirements of RUSS 101.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2025 · Anna Dotlibova, Victoria Thorstensson

  • RUSS 204: Intermediate Russian

    Continued four-skill development using texts and resources from a variety of sources. Emphasis on communicative skills. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 103 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 204 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Fall 2025 · Victoria Thorstensson

  • RUSS 342: Post-Soviet Film

    This course focuses on the question of collective identity in post-Soviet cinema. Topics include the marginalization of “the other,” whether disabled, gay, hipster, migrant or elderly; the breaking down of the boundary between civil society and the criminal world; and the transformation of former “brothers” into outsiders. In light of current events in Ukraine, particular emphasis will be placed on films dealing with war. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 205 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Fall 2025 · Anna Dotlibova

  • RUSS 400: Integrative Exercise

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student is a Russian major AND has Senior Priority.

     S/NC; No Exploration; offered Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 · Juliane Schicker, Laura Goering

Winter 2026term list

  • RUSS 102: Elementary Russian

    Continues Russian 101. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 101 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 102 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Winter 2026 · Anna Dotlibova, Victoria Thorstensson

  • RUSS 205: Russian in Cultural Contexts

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 204 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, No Exploration; offered Winter 2026 · Anna Dotlibova

  • RUSS 239: The Warped Soul of Putin’s Russia

    What is Russia’s problem? Why is the country famous for its great “soul” and culture waging a bloody war and becoming increasingly anti-Western? This course explores the cultural mythology that characterizes the state of contemporary Russian society and its “soul,” using critical approaches from trauma and memory studies, as well as theories of ressentiment and nostalgia. Authors to be studied include ideologues of Putin’s Russia (Surkov, Prilepin), its critics (Sorokin), and other writers, artists, and filmmakers who reflect, define, question, and challenge the direction in which country is moving and give it a cultural diagnosis. In English. 6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis, CX, Cultural/Literature; offered Winter 2026 · Victoria Thorstensson

  • RUSS 301: Tea and the News

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 205 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     2 credits; S/CR/NC; IS, International Studies, No Exploration; offered Winter 2026 · Anna Dotlibova

  • RUSS 400: Integrative Exercise

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student is a Russian major AND has Senior Priority.

     S/NC; No Exploration; offered Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 · Juliane Schicker, Laura Goering

Spring 2026term list

  • RUSS 103: Elementary Russian

    Concludes introductory method of Russian 101-102. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 102 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 103 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Spring 2026 · Victoria Thorstensson

  • RUSS 336: Who’s Pushkin? Whose Pushkin?

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 205 with a grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2026 · Laura Goering

  • RUSS 400: Integrative Exercise

    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.

     Prerequisites:

    Student is a Russian major AND has Senior Priority.

     S/NC; No Exploration; offered Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 · Juliane Schicker, Laura Goering