Global Arc

This course examines Soviet animation as a specific cultural phenomenon which tells of aesthetic, ideological, social, and psychological issues in the Soviet and post-Soviet countries. Topics to be discussed include Soviet political propaganda; national identity, gender, the influence of Disney cartoons and rock and roll and hippie cultures on the Soviet animation, "new lyricism" and computer animation. Students will continue developing higher-level Russian language skills in order to present and support their opinions, discuss and explain complex matters in detail, provide lengthy and coherent narrations. The course is conducted in Russian.

"Roma (Gypsies) in Eastern Europe" treats Romani history, cultural identity, folklore, music, religion, and representations in literature and film. Roma have been enslaved, targeted for annihilation, and persecuted for centuries. Yet they have repeatedly adapted and adjusted to the circumstances surrounding them, persisting as distinctive ethnic communities while simultaneously contributing to and forming part of the dominant worlds in which they live. This course offers novel perspectives on ethnic minorities and the dynamics of culture in Slavic and East European society.

A study of media informed by the idea of social revolution. We will consider how filmmakers, photographers, artists, and writers engaged with Marxist ideas in the wake of Russia's 1917 Revolution, and how they aimed to shape, influence, and involve new audiences in their political project. We will examine how the development of "new" media (radio, film, documentary) was informed by ideology, and compare/contrast this Soviet media with its Western counterparts. Topics to be addressed include propaganda and agitation; masses, classes, collectivities; ownership of media; and gender and political change.

This course will cover the life and works of one of the most important Russian authors of the twentieth century: Mikhail Bulgakov. Bulgakov's life, works, and legacy offer a novel look the history of Russian literature and the Soviet literary establishment. Over the semester, we will explore Bulgakov's theater, novels, short stories, and the adaptations of his work for the silver screen. We will laugh at the grotesque life of a country doctor ("A Young Doctor's Notebook"), marvel at the effects of science experiments run amok ("The Fatal Eggs"), and fly on broomsticks over Moscow on the way to the Devil's ball (Master and Margarita).

In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment a character says about St. Petersburg: "It's rare to find a place where so many murky, sharp and strange influences have their effect on human soul as in Petersburg." We will read Gogol and Dostoevsky's Petersburg stories, focusing on all kinds of influences the city has on its inhabitants: physical, psychological, emotional, intellectual, and moral. Additionally, we will explore Gogol's literary influence on Dostoevsky. The entire course is conducted in Russian and special emphasis is placed on active use of the language. All readings are in Russian. Prerequisite: RUS 208; for heritage speakers RUS 108

This interdisciplinary course explores Russian culture through Russia's capital: Moscow. We will travel through this cityscape as historical, cultural, and mythological space - from the past to the present day - in literature, history, art, and film. We will investigate the sites of key landmarks through the lens of urban studies, including the Moscow metro and Red Square, in order to excavate the layers of cultural history which underlie contemporary Russian identity. We will contrast and synthesize the cultural landscape, questioning how understanding the Russian city might reveal certain constants in Russian culture across time and space.

This course is a study of the relationship between Western philosophy and Russian literature, specifically the many ways in which abstract philosophical ideas get `translated' into literary works. Russia does not have world famous philosophers. Yet, most Russian writers were avid readers of philosophy and are often considered philosophers in their own right. On what grounds can, for example, Dostoevsky, such a notorious opponent of "reason," be considered a philosopher? Or what happens when Tolstoy meticulously studies Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or falls in love with Schopenhauer? How are these engagements reflected in his fiction?

Introduction to major dramatic works of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, Shvarts, and Vampilov. Readings, discussions, oral and written reports in Russian. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: RUS 207 or instructor's permission.

Born of debates between Westernizers and Slavophiles, Russia's astounding religious-philosophical flowering ran parallel to that in literature, and lived on in Europe and North America in the wake of the Revolution. These thinkers confronted modernity in ways that were both radically innovative, yet firmly grounded in the centuries-old traditions of Eastern Orthodox theology. Topics to be discussed include: personhood, freedom, and evil; iconography and artistic creativity; the transformative power of love; tensions between knowledge and faith; and ethics in a universe in which every person and event is "once-occurrent."

Censorship has been a nearly omnipresent force within Russia for centuries, from the birth of Russian literature to contemporary coverage of the war in Ukraine. This course will analyze the myriad ways in which books and television have been impacted by censorial policy, exploring the history of censorship and searching for its imprint within primary sources. Our core questions include how artists are overwhelmed by censorship; how artists work under censorship; how artists evade censorship; and how artists are influenced by censorship. We will examine movies, literature, podcasts, and academic texts.