Courses

Upcoming Slavic Department Courses

(Spring 2025)

Literature & Culture

Every semester we offer a selection of courses on the literature and culture of the region taught in both Russian and English. Most of our literature & culture courses meet the HALC or Diversity Global core requirements.

RUSS 1116: Russia A-Z II

Profs. Lioudmila Fedorova, George Mihaychuk, Olga Meerson, et al.
Thursday 2:00–2:50 PM
Course Taught in English

This one-credit course surveys major topics in Russian culture from its beginnings to the present. It acquaints students with various issues and fields of inquiry in Russian language, literature, and culture and provides background for further study. It is an introductory course for interested students with little or no background in these subject areas. The course will be team-taught by members of the Department of Slavic Languages and will be primarily in lecture format. In the final three classes of the semester, a professor will be reporting on his or her individual research. All lectures and readings are in English. (No prerequisites. Students need not have taken Russia A to Z I.) (1 credit)

RUSS 4381: Russian and East European Film

Prof. Iwona Sadowska
MW 2:00–3:15 PM
Course Taught in English

This course studies cinematic traditions of Russia and Eastern Europe. It explores the cultural, historical, and social contexts that have shaped these regions’ distinctive cinematic narratives. Students will analyze iconic films, directors, and movements, gaining insights into the diverse techniques and storytelling styles. No knowledge of Russian required. (3 credits; DIVG, HALC)

RUSS 4462: Chekhov: Truth & Consciousness

Prof. George Mihaychuk
M/W 5:00–6:15 PM
Course Taught in English

Anton Chekhov addressed a number of fundamental questions: how does our subjective consciousness grasp the world? what certainty do we have about what we hold to be true? how can one be an authentic self? His approach and the stylistic devices he developed so radically departed from the literary norms of his time that critics and readers were often baffled. In his stories and dramas characters engage but don’t seem to arrive at any resolution. And his plays of non-action were among the first to break with the principles of drama set forth since the time of Aristotle. This course will examine what answers Chekhov provides and how he can be considered a Modernist author not only in terms of what he has to say but also how he says it. (3 credits; HALC)

RUSS 4483: The Grammar of Poetry

Prof. Olga Meerson
Tu/Th 12:30–1:45 PM
Course Taught in Russian

In Russian culture, poetic quotes and associations provide basic units of meaning. In order to access that level of the culture, one first needs to revise one’s own system of cultural codes, in view of the cultural codes one approaches. Some of these associations are more personal: others, more universal for Russians. The phenomenon from which they result, broadly speaking, is intertextuality; in each poem, one hears others that have formed, entered, or “caused” it. The aim of the course is to bring out this type of intertextuality, to comprehend the poetic otherness of the other. The approach will be thematic and comparative, not chronological and will consider poems by Pushkin, Lermontov, Blok, Khlebnikov, Maiakovskij, Mandelstam, Pasternak, Akhmatova, and others.  (3 credits; HALC)

Polish

• PLSH 1001: First-Level Polish II (3 credits)
  • MWF 12:00–12:50 PM – Iwona Sadowska
• PLSH 1501: Second-Level Polish II (3 credits)
  • MWF 9:00–9:50 AM – Iwona Sadowska

Russian

• RUSS 1011: First-Level Russian I (6 credits)
  • MTWRF 1:00 PM + F 2:00 PM – Lioudmila Fedorova & Anna Pechnikova
    
• RUSS 1012: First-Level Russian II (6 credits)
  • MTWRF 11:00 AM + F 12:00 PM – Jill Neuendorf & Anna Pechnikova
  • MTWRF 3:00 PM + F 2:00 PM – George Mihaychuk & Svetlana Moser
    
• RUSS 1511: Second-Level Russian I (6 credits)
  • MTWRF 9:00 AM + F 10:00 PM – Jill Neuendorf & Anna Pechnikova
    
• RUSS 1512: Second-Level Russian II (6 credits)
  • MTWRF 12:00 PM + F 1:00 PM – Elena Boudovskaia & Jill Neuendorf
  • MTWRF 2:00 PM + F 3:00 PM – Elena Boudovskaia & Svetlana Moser
    
• RUSS 3001: Third-Level Russian I (3 credits)
  • TR 2:00–3:15 PM – Olga Meerson
    
• RUSS 3003: Russia(n) in Context (3 credits)
  • MW 3:30–4:45 PM – Anna Pechnikova
    (A continuation of RUSS 3002). This course focuses on developing students’ oral and reading proficiency and intercultural competence. It incorporates a review of grammar covered in the first two levels. A variety of materials, including selections from Russian literature and the contemporary press, as well as films and TV broadcasts, will be employed to introduce topics of discussion and enhance students’ ability to converse on daily topics and debate cultural, political and social issues in Russian life today.
    
• RUSS 4006: Russian Through Culture (3 credits)
  • TR 3:30–4:45 PM – Jill Neuendorf
    This course develops students’ Russian language skills by reading, watching, analyzing, and discussing authentic cultural documents. We will read great (short) works of literature in the original Russian, watch classic Russian and Soviet films, and analyze contemporary culture and historical movements. Students will not only sharpen their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in Russian, they will also engage with a broad survey of important Russian culture. They will develop the intercultural sensitivity and understanding they need for careers or further study in the Russophone world.
    
• RUSS 4194: Sixth-Level Russian (3 credits)
  • MW 5:00­–6:15 PM – Elena Boudovskaia
    Designed for graduate students in CERES and MSFS who will be using Russian in their professional lives, this course aims to enhance participants’ command of the language in both the oral and written forms. The course will focus on the preparation, delivery and discussion of oral presentations and written essays on topics related to students’ professional interests. Topics will range from international relations, politics and economics to Russian literature and popular culture.

Ukrainian

• UKRN 1001: Beginning Ukrainian II (3 credits)
  • MWF 11:00–11:50 AM – Elena Boudovskaia

Past and Future Slavic Department Courses

The Slavic Department offers a wide range of courses on an occasional and rotating basis. Browse the following categories to get a sense of what courses we have offered in the past and what we will offer again sometime soon.