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Major Concentration Russian (36 credits)

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Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures     Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Program Requirements

The Major Concentration in Russian gives students a foundation in the language, literature, and culture of Russia from the 19th century to the present. It incorporates a balance of instruction in the Russian language, the opportunity to read selected texts in the original language, and to explore Russian language and culture through translated texts.

By arrangement with the Department and subject to University approval, transfer credits will be accepted from Department-approved exchange/immersion programs.

Complementary Courses (36 credits)

36 credits selected from the following specifications:

Group A: Russian Language (18 credits)

Students entering this program with previous knowledge of or exposure to Russian may, with permission of the Department, replace this group with selections from Group B or Group C.

18 credits selected from the following courses or their equivalent:

  • RUSS 210 Elementary Russian Language 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Reading, grammar, translation, oral practice.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Goire, Francisco; Ivanova, Maria; Kadyrbekova, Zora (Fall)

    • Fall

  • RUSS 211 Elementary Russian Language 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Russian Language; continuation of RUSS 210.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Choubine, Nikolai; Ivanova, Maria; Vinokurov, Gleb (Winter)

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 210 or equivalent

  • RUSS 215 Elementary Russian Language Intensive 1 (6 credits) *

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : An intensive introduction to the Russian language which covers the first year of the normal level, i.e. RUSS 210/RUSS 211 in one semester. The basic grammatical structures are covered.

    Terms: Winter 2018, Summer 2018

    Instructors: Ivanova, Maria (Winter) Ivanova, Maria; Kadyrbekova, Zora (Summer)

    • Fall

    • Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken RUSS 210, RUSS 211 or equivalent

  • RUSS 300 Russian for Heritage Speakers 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : For native speakers of Russian who have not had full academic instruction in the language. Focus on grammatical structure and syntax, the formalities of written Russian and appreciation of the language's stylistic diversity. Multi- media approach including excerpts from literary works, current newspapers, television news broadcasts, films and cartoons.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

  • RUSS 301 Russian for Heritage Speakers 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : For native speakers of Russian who have not had full academic instruction in the language. Focus on complex grammatical structures, syntax, and stylistically differentiated uses of vocabulary in written and spoken Russian. Multi-media approach including excerpts from literary works, current newspapers, Internet sources, and films.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Winter

    • Given in Russian

    • Prerequisites: RUSS 300 or permission of the instructor

    • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken Russ 210,211,215,310,311 and 316

  • RUSS 310 Intermediate Russian Language 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Reading, translation, conversation.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Zdun, Izabela; Ivanova, Maria (Fall)

  • RUSS 311 Intermediate Russian Language 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Reading, translation, conversation.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Ivanova, Maria (Winter)

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 310 or equivalent

    • Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken RUSS 316

  • RUSS 316 Intermediate Russian Language Intensive 2 (6 credits) **

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Continuing the Intensive program of RUSS 215 this course covers the second year of the normal level, i.e. RUSS 310/RUSS 311, in one semester. The basic grammatical structures are covered.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Ivanova, Maria (Fall)

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 215 or equivalent

    • Restriction: Requires departmental approval

    • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RUSS 310, RUSS 311 or are taking RUSS 311

  • RUSS 327 Reading Russian Poetry (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Introduction to Russia's major poets and bards of the 19th and 20th centuries. Selected works from Pushkin to Brodsky and 20th century bards will be read in Russian.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 316 or equivalent, or permission of the department.

    • Texts to be read in the original Russian, analysis and discussion to be conducted in English and/or Russian.

  • RUSS 328 Readings in Russian (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : A general introduction to Russian prose, poetry and drama in the 19th Century. Selected texts will be read in the original and discussed.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Parts, Lyudmila (Winter)

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 316 or equivalent, or permission of the Department.

    • Texts to be read in the original Russian; analysis and discussion to be conducted in English and/or Russian.

  • RUSS 400 Advanced Russian Language 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Advanced practical Russian grammar and composition. May include reading a variety of texts and media from classical to contemporary (literature, newspapers, TV, film, etc.).

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Ivanova, Maria (Fall)

    • Fall

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 310 and RUSS 311 or equivalent or permission of the Department

    • Given in Russian

  • RUSS 401 Advanced Russian Language 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Advanced practical Russian grammar and composition. May include reading a variety of texts and media from classical to contemporary (literature, newspapers, TV, film, etc.).

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Ivanova, Maria (Winter)

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 400 or equivalent

    • Given in Russian

  • RUSS 415 Advanced Russian Language Intensive 1 (6 credits) ***

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Continuing the Intensive program of RUSS 215 and RUSS 316, students will complete their study of the fundamental structure of modern literary Russian, including the morphology and syntax of the nominal and verbal systems.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

  • RUSS 416 Advanced Russian Language Intensive 2 (6 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Continuing the Intensive program of RUSS 215/RUSS 316, students will complete their study of the fundamental structure of modern literary Russian, including the morphology and syntax of the nominal and verbal systems. Besides developing an oral facility in the language, this course introduces the student to the study of literature by analysing literary texts of prerevolutionary and Soviet Russia to see the use and verbal systems, syntax, stylistic levels, historical changes.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 415

    • Requires departmental approval

  • RUSS 452 Advanced Russian Language and Syntax 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Prose composition, translation, essay writing. An introduction to Russian stylistics.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 415 and RUSS 416 or equivalent or permission of the department

  • RUSS 453 Advanced Russian Language and Syntax 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Prose composition, translation, essay writing. An introduction to Russian stylistics.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Schwartz, Daniel (Fall)

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: RUSS 452 or equivalent

*RUSS 215 is not open to students who have taken RUSS 210 or RUSS 211.
**RUSS 316 is not open to students who have taken RUSS 310 or RUSS 311.
***RUSS 415 is not open to students who have taken RUSS 400 or RUSS 401.

Group B (9 credits)

9 credits selected from the following courses or their equivalent:

  • RUSS 217 Russia's Eternal Questions (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Exploration of cultural archetypes defining continuity and change from Peter the Great to the present; the Russian national identity, double-faith, Western and Slovophile influences, Mother Russia, superfluous men and the Eternal Feminine, anarchism, the avant-garde, Stalinism. Recurring themes traced in literature, art, film, music, pop culture and the applied arts.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Beraha, Laura A (Winter)

    • Fall

    • Given in English

    • Restriction: Permission of the instructor

  • RUSS 218 Russian Literature and Revolution (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : The dramatic developments in Russian literature of the 20th century, from revolution, through conformity, to the ironies and anxieties of the post-Soviet era. Comrades, iconoclasts, absurdists, proletarians and aesthetes; the Gulag, the literary café, the music of the spheres, the crumbling Russian village; the reforging of humanity and the rediscovery of tradition.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Fall or Winter

    • Prerequisite: None, but some background in Russian 20C history is helpful

    • Given in English

  • RUSS 223 Russian 19th Century: Literary Giants 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : The Golden Age of Russian literature: from Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol to the first works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. This course traces the rise of a coherent literary tradition in Russia, exploring authors’ relationships to the burgeoning tradition and to their historical and cultural context.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Berman, Anna (Fall)

    • Fall

    • Given in English

  • RUSS 224 Russian 19th Century: Literary Giants 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : This course explores the masterpieces of late nineteenth-century Russian literature. From psychological realism and the novel of ideas to the rise of the great short story; Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Leskov, and Chekhov.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Berman, Anna (Winter)

    • Winter

    • Given in English

  • RUSS 229 Introduction to Russian Folklore (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : An introduction to Russian folklore and folk belief: "dual-faith," traditional mentality, fairy tales, calendar rituals, folk songs, witches, healers and house spirits. The course will explore classic approaches to folklore studies as well as the influence of folk culture on Russian "high art."

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Taught in English

Group C (9 credits)

9 credits selected from the following courses or their equivalent:

  • RUSS 213 Introduction to Soviet Film (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : This course aims to familiarize undergraduates with the topics, figures, and concerns of Soviet film history. Students will watch and analyze films by Soviet directors including Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Parajanov, Kira Muratova, Larisa Shepitko, and many others in the context of their historical periods, movements, and writings. Students will learn to analyze images and cinematic techniques, as well as assess their historical, ideological, and cultural significance.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Offered in English.

  • RUSS 330 Chekhov without Borders (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Chekhov’s short stories and plays. The genre of the short story and its relationship to realist, modernist, and postmodernist aesthetics. Chekhov’s influence in Russia and abroad.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Parts, Lyudmila (Fall)

    • Fall

    • Course will be given in English.

  • RUSS 337 Vladimir Nabokov (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Cross sampling of short stories and major novels by Vladimir Nabokov; his life-long love affair with language and "aesthetic bliss"; his flouting of convention from Russia's Silver Age to post-McCarthy America. Lolita in and beyond the Russian context.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Beraha, Laura A (Winter)

    • Given in English.

  • RUSS 340 Russian Short Story (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Russian stories that encompass the major aesthetic and thematic concerns of the short story genre. Recurrent themes of language's power and limits, of childhood and old age, of art and sexuality, and of cultural, individual, and artistic memory.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

  • RUSS 357 Leo Tolstoy (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : An in-depth exploration of the literature and thought of Leo Tolstoy. This course will cover his major works of fiction as well as non-fiction essays, diary entries, and letters, with the majority of the semester devoted to his great masterpiece, War and Peace.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Berman, Anna (Fall)

  • RUSS 358 Fyodor Dostoevsky (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : An in-depth study of the writing and thought of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Through reading Dostoevsky's major novels as well as some of his short fiction and journalism in the context of his times, this course will explore Dostoevsky's contributions to literature and philosophy.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Taught in English

  • RUSS 365 Supernatural and Absurd in Russian Literature (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Themes of absurd, bizarre, surreal, supernatural, and fantastic in works by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Kharms, Bulgakov, Petrushevskaia, Pelevin, and others. Focus on the Russian literary imagination and the historical and political conflicts which haunt it. Theories of the gothic, fantastic, and absurd.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Parts, Lyudmila (Winter)

  • RUSS 381 Russia's Utopia Complex (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : From Zamiatin's We (1921), and Dostoevskii's "Grand Inquisitor" (1880), an examination of the Russian creation of and imprint on the dystopian genre. From prototypes in Russian romanticism and folklore, to dissident masterpieces of the Stalinist era, to sci-fi as rediscovered in the post-Soviet experience. Literature, film, and beyond.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Offered in English.

    • Prerequisite(s): A 200-level course in literature or culture, in Russian or in the European or Asian traditions.

  • RUSS 382 Russian Opera (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : This course traces the development of the Russian opera tradition from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1950s. It explores opera's role in Russia's quest for national identity and its place in musical, literary, and political life, as well as responses to European opera trends. No knowledge of music theory required.

    Terms: Winter 2018

    Instructors: Berman, Anna (Winter)

    • Taught in English.

  • RUSS 385 Russian Drama: from Pushkin to Chekhov (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Masterpieces of the Russian stage in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the emergence of a uniquely Russian dramatic sensitivity against prevailing European trends; the literary word in a public, political and/or avant-garde forum.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Fall

    • At least 2 courses in literature and/or cultural studies.

  • RUSS 390 Special Topics in Russian (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Exploration of a significant author, trend, theme or theory in modern Russian culture, including but not limited to the interface between literary works, the graphic and performing arts, ideology and national identity.

    Terms: Fall 2017, Winter 2018

    Instructors: Beraha, Laura A (Fall) Schwartz, Daniel (Winter)

    • Fall

  • RUSS 395 Soviet Cinema: Art and Politics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : This course explores the relationship between art and politics in the cinema of the Soviet Union. Students taking this course will gain a familiarity with the films and writings of Soviet directors. They will also learn the basics of formal, textual, and historical film analysis.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

  • RUSS 427 Russian Fin de Siècle (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Russian poetry, prose, drama, book design and the visual arts from the Silver Age to WWI, from Chekhov to Blok and Belyi. The crisis of realism, decadence, symbolism, and its waning traced through the eternal feminine, the devil, the city, poetry as pure creation, and millennial crisis. Not open to students who have taken or are taking RUSS 465.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Course offered in English.

    • Prerequisite(s): At least 2 courses (6 credits) in literature and/or cultural studies.

    • Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RUSS 465.

  • RUSS 428 Russian Avantgarde (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Russian poetry, prose, drama, the manifesto, street festivals and the explosion of experiment in the visual arts from WW1 to 1930. The avant-garde anticipates, transcends, responds and then succumbs to revolution.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Prerequisite(s): At least 2 courses (6 credits) in literature and/or cultural studies.

    • Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RUSS 466.

  • RUSS 430 High Stalinist Culture 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Novels, films, art, architecture, pageantry, rhetoric and routine of the Stalinist 1930s-40s, including socialist realism as an aesthetic doctrine, utopian blueprint, target of parody, amalgam of a submerged avant-garde and state-controlled pop culture, precursor of the postmodernist simulacrum, self-proclaimed international style and/or uniquely Russian 20th-century project.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

    • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RUSS 510

    • Given in English

  • RUSS 440 Russia and Its Others (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : In-depth historical approach to cultural construction of Russian national identity and to the concept of the Other as a condition of self-representation: East, West, America, class enemies, dissidents, ethnic and sexual minorities, etc. Introduction to theoretical tools for approaching issues of national identity, alterity, (post)colonialism, exoticism, and orientalism. Not open to students who have taken RUSS 475 in 201301.

    Terms: Fall 2017

    Instructors: Parts, Lyudmila (Fall)

    • Prerequisite(s): At least 2 literature/cultural studies courses at the 200 or 300 level; or permission of the Department.

    • Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RUSS 475 in 201301.

  • RUSS 454 Narratives of Desire (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : An exploration of desire as it was narrativized in Russian literature 1860-1900. The course draws on comparative examples from European literature as well as various theoretical approaches for conceptualizing love and desire.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Prerequisite(s): At least two literature courses at the 200 or 300 level or permission of the department.

  • RUSS 470 Individual Reading Course (3 credits) *

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Supervised reading under the direction of a member of staff.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Fall

    • Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

  • RUSS 475 Special Topics in Russ Culture (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Examination of a significant author, trend, theme or theory in modern Russian culture, including but not limited to the interface between literary works, the graphic and performing arts, ideology and national identity.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Winter

    • Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

  • RUSS 500 Special Topics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    Russian (Arts) : Focus on a critical theme, author or work, as determined by the current research interests of faculty and visiting faculty.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

    • Given in English

    • Prerequisite: Permission of Department

* Students must submit project proposals to their departmental adviser by March 15th or November 15th of the preceding term for individual reading and independent research courses.

Faculty of Arts—2017-2018 (last updated Aug. 23, 2017) (disclaimer)
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