DEPARTMENT OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

Elementary Russian 101-1 is the first in a three-quarter sequence designed to introduce students to the Russian language and contemporary Russian culture. In this course, students will continue to develop the fundamentals of speaking, listening, writing, and reading. Emphasis will be placed on practical communication so that students can function at a basic level in several authentic situations by the end of the year.

In this course we will explore some of the sociolinguistic issues in Slavic speaking countries and areas (the Russian Federation, the former Soviet Union, the former Czechoslovakia, etc.) and in Central Europe (specifically, Turkish in Germany). We will look at contemporary issues in Russia and the Ukraine, especially the annexation of the Crimea, anti-gay laws in Russia, and censorship of Pussy Riot. We will explore language policies, minority language rights, language vs. dialect, language planning, language and identity, and language and nationalism.

The primary goal of Intermediate Polish is to expand the student's speaking, reading and writing skills by building on grammar and vocabulary learned during the first year of study. As a complement to the linguistic side of the course, the student will gain a greater familiarity with Polish history and culture through varied means including readings of literary works, articles from contemporary Polish newspapers and movies.

This course is the first part of a three-quarter sequence focusing on communication, cultural understanding, connections of Russian language and culture with other disciplines (such as history and sociology), and comparisons of Russian and American culture and language. It is a combined third- and fourth-year all skills language and culture class.  This course includes topics in grammar, a focus on developing discussion and conversational skills and writing, and readings from a range of contemporary Russian writers. It is taught in Russian and is intended for students who have completed the SLAVIC 302 series and/or the SLAVIC 102 series.

(Co-listed with RTVF 351-0-20)

The goal of this course is to provide students with a firm understanding of the major contributions of Russian film art to world cinema, especially what is often termed Russian, or dialectical, montage, introduced in the early 20th century by Lev Kuleshov and developed by Sergei Eisenstein.  Students will gain knowledge in classic Russian cinematography, as well as in the theatrical “method” of Stanislavsky and “biomechanics” of Meyerhold that were influential in shaping Russian film theory and history.  We will watch major films by Protazanov, Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and Vertov -- and texts – and discuss them in class. 

This course will consider the Russian debates of the early 1860s, about nihilism, materialism, utilitarianism, irrationality, love, God, history, and other “accursed questions.”  We will read Turgenev’ greatest novel, Fathers and Children, and Russia’s most widely read work, Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done?  Dostoevsky responded with Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment.  We will trace these works and related articles.