Course Description
Introduction to Russian Culture at Swarthmore College
is a primary distribution course in which students
examine developments in Russian culture that have
occurred throughout the past millenium. An interdisciplinary
approach incorporates visiting lectures from tri-college
faculty in relevant disciplines such as Anthropology,
Architecture, Economics, Folklore, History, Literature,
Music and Sociology. An optional fourth-hour attachment
(for an additional 0.5 credits) supplements the course
for Russian majors or minors, with readings and discussions
in Russian.
Course Goals
The major goals of this course are:
z
to
make students aware of the various disciplines
whose scope of inquiry includes Russian culture
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z
to
examine the treatment of Russian culture in
each of those disciplines, identifying the methods
and principles they employ, drawing on the expertise
of visiting lecturers who are specialists in
their fields
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to
expose students to the scholarship that is produced
in each of those disciplines by having them
read articles published in the journals that
are the major vehicles of scholarly inquiry
in those disciplines
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z
to
help students study and practice the craft of
writing reviews and articles that would be suitable
for publication in academic journals
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to
introduce students to major developments in
the history of Russian culture through a mainly
historical approach
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Course Materials
Required texts (available in the campus bookstore):
Billington,
James. The icon and the axe: an interpretive
history of Russian culture. Vintage Books (a
Division of Random House): New York, 1970.
Thompson, John. Russia and the Soviet Union:
an historical introduction from the Kievan state
to the present, 4th ed. Westview Press: Oxford,
1998.
Articles and excerpts from other publications will
be assigned throughout the semester; these will be
put on reserve in a binder in McCabe Library.
Grades
Components of the final grade will be weighted as
follows:
20%
Article Reviews (1 - 2 pages)
30% Papers (8 - 10 pages)
15% Other Assignments
20% Final Exam
15% Attendance and Class Participation
Please
note: late papers and other assigned homework will
not be accepted. Extensions will be granted only upon
consultation with the Dean's Office.
Article Reviews and Papers
You will write a series of reviews (worth 20% of your
final grade) of articles on Russian culture published
in journals of various disciplines. These reviews,
1 to 2 pages in length, will consist of two paragraphs:
in the first you will summarize the ideas presented
in the article, and in the second you will evaluate
the quality of the article. In the course of evaluating
the article you will consider the soundness of the
author's logic, the relevance of his examples, the
persuasiveness of his arguments, the importance of
his conclusions, and the clarity, precision, and power
of his writing style. You will also write two papers
of 8 to 10 pages in length (worth 30% of your final
grade) on an aspect of Russian culture. Possible topics
will be discussed as the semester gets underway.
Other Assignments
Other tasks (worth 15% of your final grade) will be
assigned in the course of the semester; for example,
students will be asked to search for sources of information
about Russia and Russian culture on campus (e.g. journals,
books and databases, professors, students who have
come here from Russia) and on the web (e.g. sites
for the Hermitage, The Moscow Times, and the American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies).
Final Exam
The final exam (worth 20% of your final grade) will
be a scheduled exam. Its content will be based upon
the work we do throughout the semester and will be
set as the course draws to a close. The final will
probably consist of three parts: 1) writing a short
review of an excerpt from a journal article on an
aspect of Russian culture; 2) answering questions
about the approaches of various disciplines to the
study of Russian culture; and 3) writing short essays
about developments in Russian culture that have taken
place over the last millenium.
Attendance and Class Participation
The overall quality of any college course is directly
related to the degree to which students engage themselves
in the subject matter. For this reason, your presence
and active participation in class (worth 15% of your
final grade) are required. If attendance becomes a
problem, your final grade may go down one step (e.g.
B to B-) for every 3 unexcused absences. On the other
hand, opportunities may arise for extra credit in
this area in the form of small projects, performances,
and presentations. (These opportunities, however,
will not ameliorate the consequences of unexcused
absences; they will not make up for you missing class.)
About My Comments on Your Article
Reviews
In commenting on your papers, I use straight brackets
[ ] around your typed text to suggest that you consider
eliminating what is inside the brackets, either because
it is redundant, unnecessary, or somewhat confusing.
I write brief suggestions for linguistic changes above
your text. I often follow my own suggestions with
question marks that mean, "how about this? is
this what you meant? what do you think? can you find
something better?" leaving the ball in your court,
so to speak.
I tend to write quite a bit on short papers. As a
student, I have sometimes resented my teachers writing
all over my papers in what seemed to me an arrogant
and disrespectful scrawl. I want you to know that
I approach your papers with tremendous respect, and
that when I do write a lot, I am not attempting to
assert my authority by picking apart what you've done!
I simply have a lot of comments, and want to write
them in close proximity to the relevant text.
If my comments are unclear, please see me. If you
disagree with my comments or suggestions or the grade
I've assigned, please see me. I must make the final
call, but I'm willing to consider what you have to
say.
When you make revisions, I do not insist that you
take my suggestions. Your grade ultimately depends
on your ability to make your paper strong, and if
you can do so using means different from those I suggest,
I'm all for it. In the end, you must stand by what
you believe to be good writing, and I must do the
same in grading.
About Grades on Your Article Reviews
As of 10/26/01, you have written reviews on three
of six articles that will be assigned this semester.
We discussed academic writing in detail at the beginning
of the course, analyzing my own writing samples and
Elizabeth Allen's review of Vladimir Golstein's book.
We also discussed the first papers you wrote in a
forum that allowed you to remain anonymous if you
wished. Now I am giving you detailed, individualized
feedback on the first three writing assignments.
You may rewrite any or all of the first three papers,
and I will be happy to regrade them. The rewrites
will be due on Thursday, November 8 at the
beginning of class. That should give you ample time
to discuss them with me, privately, should you want
to. Please let me know by this Tuesday, October
30 if you would like to set up a meeting; otherwise,
we may not be able to schedule a meeting in time for
the deadline. The last three assignments of this type
will not be eligible for regrading.
Revisions in the Syllabus as of
10/26/01
According to the class syllabus, your remaining major
written assignments had previously included three
article reviews, two 5 - 7 page papers, a final project,
and a final exam.
I have revised the syllabus by eliminating the final
project and extending the length of the two major
papers to 8 - 10 pages. Therefore, your remaining
major written assignments now include three article
reviews, two 8 - 10 page papers, and a final exam.
Since you will be doing a good deal of research and
writing throughout the rest of the semester, reading
assignments will be less than usual, though not eliminated
entirely.
Article
Review Due Dates
Thursday,
November 1:
Susan Reid's "Socialist Realism in the Stalinist
Terror: The Industry of Art Exhibition, 1935-41"
Thursday, November 8:
Ellen Carnaghan's "Thinking About Democracy:
Interview with Russian Citizens"
Tuesday, November 20:
Catherine Schuler's "Materialism, Metaphysics
and Theatrical Truth: Glikeriia Fedotova and Polina
Strepetova"
You can get them all out of the way immediately, if
you want; I've put the rest of the articles out for
you in the box outside my office.
Paper
Due Dates
The first 8 - 10 page paper has two due dates:
Tuesday, November 13 at the beginning of class:
First Draft
Tuesday, November 27 at the beginning of class:
Final Draft
The second 8 - 10 page paper also has two due dates:
Tuesday, December 11 (the last day of classes)
at the beginning of class: First Draft
***change below, as stated in class***
Wednesday, December 19 (NOT the last day of exams)
at NOON, my office: Final Draft
Final
Exam
Our final is scheduled for Thursday, December 20
from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Kohlberg 334.
