Introductory and Survey Courses, Conducted in English
Intermediate and Advanced Seminars, Conducted in English
Intermediate and Advanced Seminars, Conducted in Russian
Courses for Students Who Speak Russian at Home
RUSS001 Elementary Russian I
401 MWF 10 - 11am, TR 9:30 - 10:30am Alley
002 MTWRF 3 - 4pm Oleinichenko
This course develops elementary skills in reading, speaking, understanding and writing the Russian language. We will work with an exciting range of authentic written materials, the Internet, videos and recordings relating to the dynamic scene of Russia today. At the end of the course students will be comfortable with the Russian alphabet and will be able to read simplified literary, ‘commercial’, and other types of texts (signs, menus, short news articles, short stories) and participate in elementary conversations about daily life (who you are, what you do every day, where you are from, likes and dislikes).
RUSS003 Intermediate Russian I
Prior language study required
Prerequisite: RUSS 002 or placement exam
401 MW 11am - 12pm, TR 10:30am - 11:30am Alley
002 MTWR 5 - 6pm Oleinichenko
See "Courses Offered Through CLPS" below for additional times.
This course will develop your ability to use the Russian language in the context of typical everyday situations, including university life, family, shopping, entertainment, etc. Role-playing, skits, short readings from literature and the current press, and video clips will be used to help students improve their language skills and their understanding of Russian culture. At the end of the semester you will be able to read and write short texts about your daily schedule and interests, to understand brief newspaper articles, films and short literary texts, and to express your opinions in Russian. In combination with RUSS 004, this course prepares students to satisfy the language competency requirement.
RUSS311 Advanced Conversation & Composition I
Prior language study required
Prerequisite: RUSS004 or placement exam
TR 12 -1:30pm Alley
This course develops students' skills in speaking and writing about topics in Russian literature, contemporary society, politics, and everyday life. Topics include women, work and family; sexuality; the economic situation; environmental problems; and life values. Materials include selected short stories by 19th and 20th century Russian authors, video-clips of interviews, excerpts from films, and articles from the Russian media. Continued work on grammar and vocabulary building.
RUSS360 Literacy in Russian I
Prior language experience required
MWF 11am -12pm Korshunova
This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to achieve proficiency in the language. Topics will include an intensive introduction to the Russian writing system and grammar, focusing on exciting materials and examples drawn from classic and contemporary Russian culture and social life. Students who complete this course in combination with RUSS361 satisfy the Penn Language Requirement.
RUSS416 Business and Democracy in the New Russia
Prerequisite: RUSS312 or placement exam
TR 1:30 - 3pm Bourlatskaya
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, and is designed to familiarize students with contemporary Russian society, its historical background and its present political and economic structure, and to develop functional proficiency in speaking, writing, reading and listening. The course will focus on a variety of issues central to Russian society since the fall of the Soviet Union, including changing values, political parties and movements, the business climate and businessmen, various nationalities within Russia, women in the family and at work. Course materials will include interviews, articles, essays by leading Russian journalists and statesmen, and contemporary Russian movies.
RUSS467 Classic Russian Literature Today
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of ‘10 and after)
Prerequisite: RUSS361 or comparable language competence.
TR 10:30am - 12 noon Korshunova
This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve their capabilities in formal and professional uses of the Russian language. A study of classic Russian literature in the original. Readings will consist of some of the greatest works of 19th and 20th-century authors, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Bulgakov. Students will examine various forms and genres of literature, learn basic techniques of literary criticism, and explore the way literature is translated into film and other media. An additional focus of the course will be on examining the uses and interpretations of classic literature and elitist culture in contemporary Russian society. Observing the interplay of the "high" and "low" in Russian cultural tradition, students will develop methodology of cultural analysis.
SLAV592 Intermediate Ukrainian I
Offered through Penn Language Center
Prior Language Experience Required
MW 5 - 6:30pm Rudnytzky
SLAV501 Elementary Polish I
Offered through Penn Language Center
MW 6:00 - 8 pm Staff
This course is for students who want to acquire the linguistic skills necessary for communication in everyday situations and that would constitute a solid base for further study of the Polish language. In addition students will become acquainted with various aspects of Polish culture (including Polish films), history and contemporary affairs. Students will learn through classroom exercises based on a modern textbook, completion of individual and group assignments and work with various audio and video materials.
SLAV505 Polish for Heritage Speakers I
Offered through Penn Language Center
MW 4:00 - 5:30pm Staff
The course is addressed to students who have spoken Polish at home and seek to achieve proficiency in the language. Students will acquire skills that range from learning grammar and spelling, and developing vocabulary, to interpretation and analysis of different literary genres. Topics will include: Polish literature - classic and modern, social life, contemporary affairs and films.
STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE TWO SEMESTERS OF THIS COURSE SATISFY THE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
RUSS213 Saints and Devils in Russian Literature and Tradition
All readings and lectures in English
Arts and Letters Sector (All Classes)
Cross-listing: COML213; RELS 218
MW 3:30 - 5pm Verkholantsev
This course is about Russian literature, which is populated with saints and devils, believers and religious rebels, holy men and sinners. In Russia, where people’s frame of mind had been formed by a mix of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and earlier folk beliefs, the quest for faith, spirituality and the meaning of life has invariably been connected with religious matters. How can one find the right path in life? Is humility the way to salvation? Should one live for God or for the people? Does God even exist?
In “Saints and Devils,” we will examine Russian literature concerning the holy and the demonic as representations of good and evil, and we will learn about the historic trends that have filled Russia’s national character with religious and supernatural spirit. In the course of this semester we will talk about ancient cultural traditions, remarkable works of art and the great artists who created them. All readings and films are in English. Our primary focus will be on works by Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Bulgakov.
Introductory and Survey Courses, Conducted in English
RUSS111 Poetrics of Screenplay: the Art of Plotting
All readings and lectures in English
Cross-Cultural Analysis
Cross-listing: COML118, CINE111
MW 3:30 - 5pm Todorov
This course studies scriptwriting in a historical, theoretical and artistic perspective. We discuss the rules of drama and dialogue, character development, stage vs. screen-writing, adaptation of non-dramatic works, remaking of plots, author vs. genre theory of cinema, storytelling in silent and sound films, the evolvement of a script in the production process, script doctoring, as well as screenwriting techniques and tools. Coursework involves both analytical and creative tasks.
RUSS136 Portraits of Russian Society: Art, Fiction, Drama
All readings and lectures in English
Humanities and Social Sciences Sector (New Curriculum Only)
Cross-listing: HIST 047
MW 2 - 3:30pm Verkholantsev
This course covers 19C Russian cultural and social history. Each week-long unit is organized around a single medium-length text (novella, play, memoir) which opens up a single “scene” of social history—birth, death, duel, courtship, tsar, and so on. Each of these main texts is accompanied by a set of supplementary materials—paintings, historical readings, cultural-analytical readings, excerpts from other literary works, etc. The object of the course is to understand the social codes and rituals that informed nineteenth-century Russian life, and to apply this knowledge in interpreting literary texts, other cultural objects, and even historical and social documents (letters, memoranda, etc.). We will attempt to understand social history and literary interpretation as separate disciplines—yet also as disciplines that can inform one another. In short: we will read the social history through the text, and read the text against the social history.
RUSS145 Russian Literature before 1870
All readings and lectures in English
Arts and Letters Sector (All Classes)
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of '10 and after) SYLLABUS
TR 3 - 4:30pm Steiner
Major Russian writers in English translation: Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, early Tolstoy, and early Dostoevsky.
RUSS164 Russian and East European Film from the October Revolution
to World War II
All readings and lectures in English
Cross-listing: CINE164
MW 2 - 3:30pm Todorov
This course presents the Russian contribution to world cinema before WWII - nationalization of the film industry in post revolutionary Russia, the creation of institutions of higher education in filmmaking, film theory, experimentation with the cinematic language, and the social and political reflex of cinema. Major themes and issues involve: the invention of montage, Kuleshov effect, the means of visual propaganda and the cinematic component to the communist cultural revolutions, party ideology and practices of social-engineering, cinematic response to the emergence of the totalitarian state. Great filmmaker and theorist in discussion include Vertov, Kuleshov, Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Medvedkin and others.
RUSS189 Soviet and Post-Soviet Economy
All readings and lectures in English
Cross-listing: PPE 062
TR 9:00 - 10:30am Vekker
The course will cover the development and operation of the Soviet centrally planned economy--one of the grandest social experiments of the 20th century. We will review the mechanisms of plan creation, the push for the collectivization and further development of Soviet agriculture, the role of the Soviet educational system and the performance of labor markets (including forced labor camps--GULags). We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet system and the causes of its collapse. Privatization, called by some "piratization," will be one of the central issues in our consideration of the transition from central planning to a market economy in the early 1990s. Even though our main focus will be on the Soviet economy and post-Soviet transition, we will occasionally look back in time to the tsarist era and even further back to find evidence to help explain Soviet/Russian economic development.
RUSS196 Russian Short Story
All readings and lectures in English
Offered through CLPS
M 5:30 - 8:30pm Todorov
This course studies the development of 19th and 20th century Russian literature through one of its most distinct and highly recognized genres—the short story. The readings include great masters of fiction such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, and others. The course presents the best works of short fiction and situates them in a literary process that contributes to the history of a larger cultural-political context. Students will learn about the historical formation, poetic virtue, and thematic characteristics of major narrative modes such as romanticism, utopia, realism, modernism, socialist realism, and post-modernism. We critique the strategic use of various devices of literary representation such as irony, absurd, satire, grotesque, anec¬dote, etc. Some of the main topics and issues include: culture of the duel; the role of chance; the riddle of death; anatomy of madness; imprisonment and survival; the pathologies of St. Petersburg; terror and homo sovieticus.
Intermediate and Advanced Seminars, Conducted in English
RUSS201 Dostoevsky
All readings and lectures in English
Benjamin Franklin Seminar
TR 1:30 - 3pm Vinitsky
This course explores the ways Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) portrays the "inner world(s)" of his characters. Dostoevsky's psychological method will be considered against the historical, ideological, and literary contexts of middle to late nineteenth-century Russia. The course consists of three parts — External World (the contexts of Dostoevsky), "Inside" Dostoevsky's World (the author's technique and ideas) and The World of Text (close reading of “Crime and Punishment” and “The Brothers Karamazov”). Students will write three essays on various aspects of Dostoevsky's "spiritual realism."
RUSS213 Saints and Devils in Russian Literature and Tradition
All readings and lectures in English
Arts and Letters Sector (All Classes)
Cross-listing: COML213; RELS 218 FRESHMAN SEMINAR
MW 3:30 - 5pm Verkholantsev
This course is about Russian literature, which is populated with saints and devils, believers and religious rebels, holy men and sinners. In Russia, where people’s frame of mind had been formed by a mix of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and earlier folk beliefs, the quest for faith, spirituality and the meaning of life has invariably been connected with religious matters. How can one find the right path in life? Is humility the way to salvation? Should one live for God or for the people? Does God even exist?
In “Saints and Devils,” we will examine Russian literature concerning the holy and the demonic as representations of good and evil, and we will learn about the historic trends that have filled Russia’s national character with religious and supernatural spirit. In the course of this semester we will talk about ancient cultural traditions, remarkable works of art and the great artists who created them. All readings and films are in English. Our primary focus will be on works by Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Bulgakov.
RUSS220 From the Other Shore: Russia and the West
All readings and lectures in English
Humanities and Social Sciences Sector (New Curriculum Only)
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of '10 and after)
Cross-listing: HIST 220; COML220
MW 12 - 1:30pm Vinitsky
This course will explore the representations of the West in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century Russian literature and philosophy. We will consider the Russian visions of various events and aspects of Western political and social life — Revolutions, educational system, public executions, resorts, etc. — within the context of Russian intellectual history. We will examine how images of the West reflect Russia's own cultural concerns, anticipations, and biases, as well as aesthetic preoccupations and interests of Russian writers. The discussion will include literary works by Karamzin, Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leskov, and Tolstoy, as well as non-fictional documents, such as travelers' letters, diaries, and historiosophical treatises of Russian Freemasons, Romantic and Positivist thinkers, and Russian social philosophers of the late Nineteenth century. A basic knowledge of nineteenth-century European history is desirable. The class will consist of lectures, discussion, short writing assignments, and two in-class tests.
Intermediate and Advanced Seminars, Conducted in Russian
RUSS416 Business and Democracy in the New Russia
Prerequisite: RUSS312 or placement exam
TR 1:30 - 3pm Bourlatskaya
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, and is designed to familiarize students with contemporary Russian society, its historical background and its present political and economic structure, and to develop functional proficiency in speaking, writing, reading and listening. The course will focus on a variety of issues central to Russian society since the fall of the Soviet Union, including changing values, political parties and movements, the business climate and businessmen, various nationalities within Russia, women in the family and at work. Course materials will include interviews, articles, essays by leading Russian journalists and statesmen, and contemporary Russian movies.
RUSS426 Chekhov on Stage and Screen
All readings and lectures in English
Cross-listing: CINE365
Offered through CLPS
T 5:30 - 8:30pm Zubarev
Forms a part of the CLPS Masters in Liberal Arts Program. “What’s so funny, Mr. Chekhov?” This question is often asked by critics and directors who still are puzzled with Chekhov’s definition of his four major plays as comedies. Traditionally, all of them are staged and directed as dramas, melodramas, or tragedies. Should we cry or should we laugh at Chekhovian characters who commit suicide, or are killed, or simply cannot move to a better place of living? Is the laughable synonymous to comedy and the comic? Should any fatal outcome be considered tragic? All these and other questions will be discussed during the course. The course is intended to provide the participants with a concept of dramatic genre that will assist them in approaching Chekhov’s plays as comedies. In addition to reading Chekhov’s works, Russian and western productions and film adaptations of Chekhov’s works will be screened. Among them are, Vanya on 42nd Street with Andre Gregory, and Four Funny Families. Those who are interested will be welcome to perform and/or direct excerpts from Chekhov’s works.
RUSS467 Classic Russian Literature Today
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of ‘10 and after)
Prerequisite: RUSS361 or comparable language competence.
TR 10:30am - 12 noon Korshunova
This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve their capabilities in formal and professional uses of the Russian language. A study of classic Russian literature in the original. Readings will consist of some of the greatest works of 19th and 20th-century authors, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Bulgakov. Students will examine various forms and genres of literature, learn basic techniques of literary criticism, and explore the way literature is translated into film and other media. An additional focus of the course will be on examining the uses and interpretations of classic literature and elitist culture in contemporary Russian society. Observing the interplay of the "high" and "low" in Russian cultural tradition, students will develop methodology of cultural analysis.
RUSS506 Pushkin (formerly RUSS402)
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of '10 and After)
Literatures of the World
Prerequisite: RUSS312, RUSS361 or comparable language competence. This course is open to all advanced students of Russian, including students who speak Russian at home.
TR 12 - 1:30pm Steiner
The writer's lyrics, narrative poems, and drama.
Courses for Students Who Speak Russian at Home
RUSS360 Literacy in Russian I
Prior language experience required
MWF 11am -12pm Korshunova
This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to achieve proficiency in the language. Topics will include an intensive introduction to the Russian writing system and grammar, focusing on exciting materials and examples drawn from classic and contemporary Russian culture and social life. Students who complete this course in combination with RUSS361 satisfy the Penn Language Requirement.
RUSS467 Classic Russian Literature Today
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of ‘10 and after)
Prerequisite: RUSS361 or comparable language competence.
TR 10:30am - 12 noon Korshunova
This course is intended for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve their capabilities in formal and professional uses of the Russian language. A study of classic Russian literature in the original. Readings will consist of some of the greatest works of 19th and 20th-century authors, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Bulgakov. Students will examine various forms and genres of literature, learn basic techniques of literary criticism, and explore the way literature is translated into film and other media. An additional focus of the course will be on examining the uses and interpretations of classic literature and elitist culture in contemporary Russian society. Observing the interplay of the "high" and "low" in Russian cultural tradition, students will develop methodology of cultural analysis.
RUSS506 Pushkin (formerly RUSS402)
Cross-Cultural Analysis (Class of '10 and After)
Literatures of the World
Prerequisite: RUSS312, RUSS361 or comparable language competence. This course is open to all advanced students of Russian, including students who speak Russian at home.
TR 12 - 1:30pm Steiner
The writer's lyrics, narrative poems, and drama.
RUSS785 Russian Avant-Garde: Text, Image, Object, Action
R 3 - 5pm Poggi/Platt
RUSS001 Elementary Russian I
Non-CLPS Students need permission from CLPS
MW 6:30 - 9pm Oleinichenko
This course develops elementary skills in reading, speaking, understanding and writing the Russian language. We will work with an exciting range of authentic written materials, the Internet, videos and recordings relating to the dynamic scene of Russia today. At the end of the course students will be comfortable with the Russian alphabet and will be able to read simplified literary, ‘commercial’, and other types of texts (signs, menus, short news articles, short stories) and participate in elementary conversations about daily life (who you are, what you do every day, where you are from, likes and dislikes).
RUSS003 Intermediate Russian I
Prior language study required
Prerequisite: RUSS 002 or placement exam
Non-CLPS Students need permission from CLPS
TR 5 - 7pm Oleinichenko
This course will develop your ability to use the Russian language in the context of typical everyday situations, including university life, family, shopping, entertainment, etc. Role-playing, skits, short readings from literature and the current press, and video clips will be used to help students improve their language skills and their understanding of Russian culture. At the end of the semester you will be able to read and write short texts about your daily schedule and interests, to understand brief newspaper articles, films and short literary texts, and to express your opinions in Russian. In combination with RUSS 004, this course prepares students to satisfy the language competency requirement.
RUSS196 Russian Short Story
All readings and lectures in English
Offered through CLPS
M 5:30 - 8:30pm Todorov
This course studies the development of 19th and 20th century Russian literature through one of its most distinct and highly recognized genres—the short story. The readings include great masters of fiction such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, and others. The course presents the best works of short fiction and situates them in a literary process that contributes to the history of a larger cultural-political context. Students will learn about the historical formation, poetic virtue, and thematic characteristics of major narrative modes such as romanticism, utopia, realism, modernism, socialist realism, and post-modernism. We critique the strategic use of various devices of literary representation such as irony, absurd, satire, grotesque, anec¬dote, etc. Some of the main topics and issues include: culture of the duel; the role of chance; the riddle of death; anatomy of madness; imprisonment and survival; the pathologies of St. Petersburg; terror and homo sovieticus.
RUSS426 Chekhov on Stage and Screen
All readings and lectures in English
Cross-listing: CINE365
Offered through CLPS
T 5:30 - 8:30pm Zubarev
Forms a part of the CLPS Masters in Liberal Arts Program. “What’s so funny, Mr. Chekhov?” This question is often asked by critics and directors who still are puzzled with Chekhov’s definition of his four major plays as comedies. Traditionally, all of them are staged and directed as dramas, melodramas, or tragedies. Should we cry or should we laugh at Chekhovian characters who commit suicide, or are killed, or simply cannot move to a better place of living? Is the laughable synonymous to comedy and the comic? Should any fatal outcome be considered tragic? All these and other questions will be discussed during the course. The course is intended to provide the participants with a concept of dramatic genre that will assist them in approaching Chekhov’s plays as comedies. In addition to reading Chekhov’s works, Russian and western productions and film adaptations of Chekhov’s works will be screened. Among them are, Vanya on 42nd Street with Andre Gregory, and Four Funny Families. Those who are interested will be welcome to perform and/or direct excerpts from Chekhov’s works.
