Courses

Seminars

RUSS 001-002, 003. Intensive Russian

Students who start in the 001-002 sequence must complete and pass 002 in order to receive credit for 001.
For students who wish to begin Russian in college or did not move beyond an introduction in high school. Designed to impart an active command of the language. Combines the study of grammar with intensive oral practice, work on phonetics, writing, web materials, and readings in literary and expository prose. Conducted primarily in Russian; normally followed by 004 and 011.
1.5 credits.

RUSS 001, Fall 2009. Johnson, Neuendorf.
RUSS 002, Spring 2010. Johnson, Neuendorf.
RUSS 003, Fall 2009. Rojavin, Neuendorf.

RUSS 004. Advanced Intensive Russian

For majors and those interested in reaching advanced levels of proficiency in the language. Advanced conversation, composition, translation, and stylistics. Considerable attention to writing skills, phonetics, and spontaneous speaking. Readings include short stories, poetry, newspapers, and Web sites. Conducted in Russian.
1.5 credits.
Spring 2010. Rojavin, Neuendorf.

RUSS 005A. Advanced Russian

The course includes practice in speaking, understanding, reading and writing Russian through the use of authentic Russian language materials, including film. Students will consolidate previous knowledge of Russian grammar, and will significantly increase their vocabulary and improve their level of coherent language and writing. Students will acquire conscious knowledge of the meanings of the grammatical forms applied to discourse, i.e. to specific verbal situations, based not only on the underlying linguistic phenomena, but also on the content of lingua-cultural situations.
Course offered only on demand.
1 credit.
Fall 2010. Neuendorf.

RUSS 006A. Russian Conversation

This course meets once a week for 1.5 hours. Students will read newspapers, explore the Internet, and watch videos to prepare for conversation and discussion. Each student will design and complete an individual project based on his or her own interests and goals. This course may be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: 004 in current or a previous semester or permission of the instructor.
0.5 credit.
Spring 2010. Neuendorf.

RUSS 008A. Russian Phonetics (Cross-listed as LING 008A)

This course will enable Russian speakers and non-speakers alike to learn to pronounce Russian fluently. Focused work on individual phonemes and the Russian “articulation foundation” will accompany the study of phonetic rules and intonational constructions. We will devote practical attention to issues in both Russian language acquisition and Linguistics; individual assignments will reflect each student’s experience, interests and goals.
0.5 credit.
Spring 2010. Neuendorf.

 

RUSS 011. Introduction to Russian Culture

An interdisciplinary introduction to contemporary Russian culture within a framework of continuing enrichment of vocabulary and developing fluency in speaking and writing Russian. Topics will emphasize high culture and history, with occasional guest presentations by faculty in associated disciplines from Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr. Readings, lectures, papers, and discussions in Russian.
Prerequisite: Russian 004B or the equivalent
Primary distribution course.
1 credit.
Fall 2009. Neuendorf.

RUSS 013. The Russian Novel (Cross-listed as LITR 013R)

The Russian novel represents Russia’s most fundamental contribution to world culture. The course surveys classic authors and experimental works from the 19th and 20th centuries. Students in the course will deepen their understanding of the context for writers including Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. They will gain familiarity with literary movements and genres including romanticism, realism, the psychological novel, the picaresque novel, modernism and the postmodern as they developed in Russia. We will highlight issues including the relationship of Russia to the West, national identity and the complex relationship of literature and politics.
No prerequisite.
Writing Course. 1 credit.
Fall 2008. Pesenson.

 

RUSS 015. East European Prose in Translation (Cross-listed as LITR 015R)

Novels and stories by the most prominent 20th-century writers of this multifaceted and turbulent region. Analysis of individual works and writers to appreciate the religious, linguistic, and historical diversity of Eastern Europe in an era of war, revolution, political dissent, and outstanding cultural and intellectual achievement. Readings, lectures, writing, and discussion in English; qualified students may do some readings in the original language(s). Writing-intensive course limited to 15 students.
Writing Course. 1 credit.
Fall 2009. Forrester.



RUSS 016. History of the Russian Language

An introductory course, studying the origin of the Russian language and its place among the other modern Indo-European and Slavic languages. The uses of philology and linguistics for the ideological and stylistic analysis of literary texts. Satisfies the linguistics requirement for teacher certification.
1 credit.
Not offered 2009-2010.


RUSS 017. First-Year Seminar: Love and Sex in Russian Literature (Cross-listed as LITR 017R)

Best known for political priorities and philosophical depth, Russian literature has also devoted many works to the eternal concern, love, and sex. We will read significant and provocative works from traditional folk tales through the 20th century to discuss their construction of these most "natural" impulses - and how they imagine the relationship of human attraction to politics and philosophy.
1 credit.
Writing Course
Spring 2011


RUSS 021. Dostoevsky (in translation) (Cross-listed as LITR 021R)

Writer, gambler, publicist, and visionary Fedor Dostoevsky is one of the great writers of the modern age. His work influenced Nietzsche, Freud, Woolf, and others and continues to exert a profound influence on thought in our own society to the present. Dostoevsky confronts the “accursed questions” of truth, justice, and free will set against the darkest examples of human suffering: murder, suicide, poverty, addiction, and obsession. Students will consider artistic, philosophical, and social questions through texts from throughout Dostoevsky’s career. Students with knowledge of Russian may read some or all of the works in the original.
1 credit.
Spring 2010. Johnson.


RUSS 024. Russian and East European Cinema (Cross-listed as LITR 024R)

This course will introduce students to cinema from the “other Europe.” We will begin with influential Soviet avant-garde cinema and survey the traditions that developed subsequently with selections from Russian, Polish, Caucasian, Czech, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Yugoslav cinema. Screenings will include films by Eisenstein and Tarkovsky, Wajda, Kusturica, and Paradzhanov, among others. Students will hone critical skills in filmic analysis while considering the particular cultural, national and political forces shaping the work of filmmakers in this “other Europe” from the early twentieth to the early twenty-first century.
No prerequisite.
1 credit.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 025. The Poet and Power(Cross-listed as LITR 025R)

This course will explore Russian literature in its cultural and historical contexts. In Russia, a poet has always been a voice, a herald of freedom or non-conformism, if not an envoy of the regime. The poet is also a philosopher and a thinker. Students will read Russian literary texts from the early 18th century through the beginning of the 21st century. The circle will begin with Lomonosov, whose poetry glorified the Tsarinas. We will continue with censored works by Pushkin, Griboedov, Chaadaev, Gogol, Akhmatova, Chukovskaya, Solzhenitsyn and others who underwent political or social censure from the Russian or Soviet state. The circle comes to an end with postmodernist Pelevin, who was neither harassed nor arrested for his prose—we will face a new phenomenon for Russia, where during the last decade literature exists independently from power, in a parallel world. We will also read excerpts from Russian thinkers whose philosophical and literary works shaped the role of the poet: Chaadaev’s First Philosophical Letter, Belinsky’s Letter to Gogol, Dostoyevsky’s Grand Inquisitor, Solovyov’s What is Russia? These texts raised and discussed in particular the problems of Christianity, Russia’s uniqueness and her place in the world, and Russian identity.
1 credit.
Fall 2009. Rojavin.

RUSS 026. Russian and East European Science Fiction (Cross-listed as LITR 026R)

Science fiction enjoyed surprisingly high status in Russia and Eastern Europe, attracting such prominent mainstream writers as Karel ?apek, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Evgenii Zamiatin. In the post-Stalinist years of stagnation, science fiction provided a refuge from stultifying official Socialist Realism for authors like Stanis?aw Lem and the Strugatsky brothers. This course will concentrate on 20th century science fiction (translated from Czech, Polish, Russian and Serbian) with a glance at earlier influences and attention to more recent works, as well as to Western parallels and contrasts.
No prerequisites.
1 credit.
Spring 2011. Forrester.

RUSS 033. Terror in Russia: Method, Madness, and Murder (Cross-listed as LITR 033R)

In the nineteenth century the Russian Empire saw a rise of political terrorism sponsored by leftist and anarchist political factions plus a new legal system with juries likely to acquit. After a central role in the 1917 Revolution, political terror underwent further transformation in the twentieth century, turned against Soviet citizens under Stalin and erupting on both sides of the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. Poetry, prose, film and journalism.

1 credit.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 041. War and Peace in Russian Literature and Culture (Cross-listed as LITR 041R)

This exciting new course explores Russian literary and cinematic responses to the ravages of war and revolution, heroic and bloody conflicts that repeatedly devastated the country throughout its tumultuous history. We will read a variety of texts dealing with wars in the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic invasion, the Revolution of 1917, the Civil War, World War II and the present-day conflict in Chechnya, and explore how individual writers portrayed the calamity of war and its devastating effect on people’s lives, while expressing hope for ever-elusive peace and prosperity. Works to be read include Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Bulgakov’s White Guard, Grossman’s Life and Fate, Babel’s Red Cavalry, and Akhmatova’s Poem Without a Hero. Films to be screened include Alexander Nevsky, Battleship Potemkin, Ballad of a Soldier, My Name is Ivan, and Prisoner of the Mountains. All readings and discussion will be in English. All films will be screened with English subtitles.
1 credit.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 045. Poetry in Translation/Translating Poetry (Cross-listed as LITR 045R)

This course will study the history, practice, and politics of poetic translation from antiquity to the present, including work from Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Irish, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian, Sanskrit, and Spanish. The course has a strong practical component: All students will work on translations of their own throughout the semester (from languages they know or by working with native speakers or literal versions), and the final project may include a portfolio of translations. Especially suitable for students interested in comparative literature or creative writing.
1 credit.
Not offered 2009-2010.

 

RUSS 047. Russian Fairy Tales (Cross-listed as LITR 047R)

Folk beliefs are a colorful and enduring part of Russian culture. This course introduces a wide selection of Russian fairy tales in their esthetic, historical, social and psychological context. We will trace the continuing influence of fairy tales and folk beliefs in literature, music, visual arts, and film. The course also provides a general introduction to study and interpretation of folklore and fairy tales, approaching Russian tales against the background of the Western fairytale tradition (the Grimms, Perrault, Disney, etc.). No fluency in Russian is required, though students with adequate language preparation may do some reading in the original.

1 credit.
Spring 2010. Johnson.

RUSS 067. Jews in Russia: Culture, Film, Literature (Cross-listed as LITR 067R)

As the Russian Empire expanded over time, it absorbed territories with large Jewish populations. Jews have played crucial roles in Russian and Soviet history and culture, be it as political radicals and revolutionaries, as moral thinkers and philosophers, or as some of the world's best poets, artists, and film directors. This new interdisciplinary course has no prerequisites.
1 credit.
Fall 2010. Rojavin.

RUSS 070. Translation Workshop (Cross-listed as LING 070 and LITR 070R)

This workshop in literary translation will concentrate on both translation theory and practice, working in poetry, prose, and drama as well as editing. Students will participate in an associated series of bilingual readings and will produce a substantial portfolio of work. Students taking the course will write a final paper supported by a smaller portfolio of translations. No prerequisites exist, but excellent knowledge of a language other than English (equivalent to a 004B course at Swarthmore or higher) is highly recommended or, failing that, access to at least one very patient speaker of a foreign language.
1 credit.
Fall 2011.

RUSS 075. Comedy, Satire, Humor (Cross-listed as LITR 075R)

Laughter is one of the basic human experiences, but in different theories and manifestations it can mean aggression, festivity, freedom, a release of nervous tension, or complicity. This new course will concentrate on some of the funniest literature from the Russian tradition, be it light-hearted or scathing, fantastic or down-to-earth. Besides the pleasures of laughter, we will explore what you need to know to get the joke and what this humor means.
1 credit.
Spring 2010. Rojavin.


RUSS 091. Special Topics

For senior course majors. Study of individual authors, selected themes, or critical problems.
1 credit.
Spring 2009. Staff.

RUSS 093. Directed Reading

 

RUSS 101. Tolstoy

Novelist, Christian philosopher, pacifist, and educator, the monumental Lev Tolstoy’s thought inspired communities of “Tolstoyans” and influenced Gandhi. Toltoy’s treatment of moral and historical issues in literature continues to move readers to our day. Students in this course will examine Tolstoy’s idea and art in the harmonious Russian style of the original.
2 credits.
Not offered 2008-2009.

RUSS 102. Russian Short Story

Counterpoint to the sprawling Russian novel, the short story in Russia possesses a long and distinguished pedigree. Russian writers have used the genre to create polished and brilliant gems demonstrating the possibilities of character development, voice, plot, and the right exposition of ideas in prose. This seminar will explore a selection of examples from the likes of Pushkin, Chekhov, Zoshchenko, Bulgakov, Nabokov, and others.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 103. Pushkin and Lermontov

This course will acquaint students with two of the seminal figures of 19th-century Russian literature, Aleksandr Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, looking at their criticism, dramatic works, poetry and prose, as well as their cultural and literary context.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 104. Dostoevsky

Students will read the works of this compelling visionary in the original Russian. The course will survey key works from Dostoevsky’s oeuvre, examining Dostoevsky’s use of language and his literary style. Dostoevsky’s art and ideas will be discussed in the context of major critical works by Mikhail Bakhtin and others.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 105. Literature of the Soviet Period

This course treats the literature associated with one of the most remarkable social experiments in human history. Students will examine the relation of literature to ideology and social reality based on a selection of works reflecting the avant-garde experimentation of the 1920s, the official doctrine of Socialist Realism, underground and émigré literature, and/or literature addressing the historical situation and the legacy of Stalinism.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 106. Russian Drama

2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 107. Russian Lyric Poetry

2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 108. Russian Modernism

The period spanning roughly 1890-1925 is often referred to as the Silver Age of Russian literature. This course will survey the rich achievements of Russian culture in the fin-de-siècle, with opportunities to study particular topics more deeply according to students’ interests and preferences.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 109. Chekhov

Readings from Chekhov’s dramatic works and stories, with attention to the rich body of scholarship on the author in Russian and in English.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 110. Bulgakov

Doctor, dramatist and dissident, Mikhail Bulgakov is one of the most significant prose authors of the Soviet period. His writings embody scrupulous honesty, recognition of moral complexity, deeply thoughtful awareness of political, religious and philosophical traditions, and the life affirming force of humor. We will read from his short stories, feuilletons and dramatic works, ending the semester with his masterpiece, Master i Margarita, arguably the most fun novel of the 20th century.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 111. Tsvetaeva and Mayakovsky

Poetic, dramatic and prose works of the “hysterical poets,” Marina Tsvetaeva and Vladimir Mayakovsky, two of the greatest Russian writers of the 20th century. Focus on their volcanic poetic development, interactions, and creative responses to gender, decadence, revolution, civil war, emigration, Soviet repression and suicides.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 112. Akhmatova & Mandelstam

Several great Russian 20th-century poets led the group called “Acmeists” for their emphasis on verbal clarity, specificity of imagery, and attitude of “nostalgia for world culture.” Nikolai Gumilev was shot in 1921 for supposed participation in a monarchist plot. Osip Mandel’shtam spent years in “internal exile” for overly honest writing and died in a camp in 1938. Anna Akhmatova, perhaps the most translated Russian poet into English, witnessed all the horrors of Stalinism but survived to mentor a new generation of poets in the 1960s. The course will concentrate on these three poets, with attention to their literary and cultural context.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 114. Folklore in Russian Literature

Folklore is both an enormous field of human culture and a rich source of literary plots, genres, ideas and materials for writers, scholars, and theorists of all directions. In this course we will read works of Russian literature in which folklore plays a significant role, as well as exploring several of the areas of Russian folklore that have most influenced literature.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.

RUSS 115. The Many Faces of the Russian Literary Anecdote

This course will explore the nature and evolution of the Russian anecdote that originated in ancient times in Old Rus and Byzantium. From Ivan the Terrible through Peter the Great, the anecdote, like other oral genres, persisted in spite of governmental censorship. The heyday of the Russian literary anecdote came in the first half of the nineteenth century. We will read anecdotes and stories from chronicles and diaries of contemporaries of the Russian tsars, plus short stories of Gogol, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy that were based on real facts transformed into anecdotes. We will come full circle to the chronicles of Soviet and post-Soviet times by Dovlatov and Veller about the realities of serving in the Red Army and the curious life on Nevsky Prospekt, the main street of St. Petersburg.
2 credits.
Not offered 2009–2010.

 

RUSS 116. The Petersburg Myth in Russian Culture

This course will examine the importance of St. Petersburg in Russian history, society, and culture. It will investigate ways in which themes and developments that are crucial for an understanding of Russia as a whole have been played over the course of the city's vibrant, and often turbulent, 300-year existence. Themes to be covered include discourse of East versus West in defining Russian national identity (St. Petersburg as Russia's "Window onto Europe," St. Petersburg's rivalry with Moscow); reform and modernization in Russian history (St. Petersburg as "the most abstract and intentional city on earth" [Dostoevsky]); death and suffering in Russian history (St. Petersburg as an "apocalyptic city" doomed to pay for its murderous origins); and the relationship between center and periphery in the Russian and Soviet context (St. Petersburg as a "cosmopolitan province," St. Petersburg as contemporary Russia's "cultural capital").
2 credits.
Not offered 2009-2010.