Global Arc

A consideration of Dostoevsky's major works with particular emphasis upon their relation to the political, social, religious, and literary currents of his time. Knowledge of Russian not required. One three-hour seminar.

An examination of Nabokov's major accomplishments as a Russian/American novelist in the context of the Russian literary tradition and the cultural climate of emigration. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

An introduction to major Russian poets from Pushkin to the present. No prior knowledge of Russian literature is assumed. The focus of the course will be on close readings of individual poems, but the intention is, by generalization, to reach an understanding of the development of Russian literature as a whole. Readings in Russian, with discussion in English, and an optional hour for discussion in Russian. Prerequisites: RUS 207 (may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute seminars.

Inspired by utopian ideas of equality and universal brotherhood, communism was conceived as an alternative to capitalism's crises. This attempt to build a new world was costly and brutal: equality was quickly transformed into uniformity; brotherhood morphed into the Big Brother. The course provides an in-depth review of these oscillations between utopian motivations and oppressive practices. It will present central players of Soviet Utopia: from Lenin to Malevich; from Stalin to Eisenstein. Major political texts, key cultural documents and films of the period help us trace the emergence and disappearance of commumist modernity.

On the basis of life and work of several prominent Jewish figures, the course will address history, art and politics of 20th century East-Central Europe. The reading list will include, chronologically, Franz Kafka, Rosa Luxemburg, Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Michael Sebastian, Paul Celan, Marek Edelman, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Ilya Ehrenburg, Joseph Brodsky and American intellectual Susan Sontag. The classes will combine the texts of the authors themselves and about them. Hannah Arendt's texts will be running throught the first half of the semester.

Taking as its foundation modern Church Slavonic, whose grammar and orthography will be studied in detail, this course will look back to the development of Old Church Slavonic as the first Slavic literary language, and, further, to Proto-Slavic. As we describe the development of Church Slavonic, we will also consider the historical development of the various Slavic languages, with special emphasis on Russian, and the influence of Church Slavonic forms on literary Russian. We will also touch on such aspects of Eastern Orthodox culture as liturgy, iconography, and music.

Vladimir Putin has confounded world leaders and defied their assumptions as they tried to figure him out, only to misjudge him time and again. In 2022, against all predictions the authoritarian leader started Europe's bloodiest war since WWII. While looking at Putin's rise to power (and his impending fall), we will also seek during this course to go beneath politics and policy to look at how human beings experience state power within the cultural phenomena including visual arts, literature, cinema, TV, Internet, popular music, and photography.

In this course, envisioned as both a language and literature course, we will explore Anton Chekhov's humor, Mikhail Zoshchenko's satire, and Fazil Iskander's irony, which will give us a glimpse into daily life in 19th century Russia and Soviet Union. The entire course will be conducted in Russian. Special emphasis will be placed on active use of language and expansion of vocabulary.