Russian Language Courses

RUS 1, 2 Elementary Russian
Basic conversation and communication skills. Fundamentals of pronunciation and grammar. Language laboratory. Two courses. Members of the department

RUS 21, 22 Composition and Conversation
Selected grammar topics. Advanced oral and written drill. Compositions, reports, and discussions based on readings of journalistic and literary periodicals and prose. Prerequisite: Russian 4 or equivalent. Two courses. Members of the department

RUS 99 Internship
Fieldwork at a business, school, government, or community service location that involves substantial use of Russian language (150 hours, full credit; 75 hours, half credit). Weekly journal or project in Russian. Students must arrange faculty advising on campus and professional supervision at the site. May count for the major with prior consent.

RUS 121, 122 Advanced Russian
Classes conducted entirely in Russian, advanced concepts in grammar and stylistics, intensive reading, and discussions. Prerequisite: Russian 22. Gassel

RUS 125 Russia Today: Society and Culture
Language course for advanced students of Russian, including native/near-native speakers, focusing on society and culture in contemporary Russia. Topics include the revival of the culture industry and its role in the creation of a resurgent Russia and a new 21st century, post-soviet, Russian national identity and society. Course materials include literature, film, music, TV, pop culture and pulp fiction, and the internet. Work includes essays, oral reports and an independent research project. All work and materials in Russian.
Prerequisites: RUSS 122 or placement exam and permission of instructor. Gassel

RUS 131 Masterpieces of Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature
Reading and discussion of short masterpieces by major authors of nineteenth-century fiction and poetry: Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. Conducted exclusively in Russian. Prerequisite: Russian 22. Members of the department

RUS 132 Masterpieces of Twentieth-Century Russian Literature
Reading and discussion of short masterpieces by major authors of twentieth-century fiction and poetry: Blok, Akhmatova, Olesha, Bulgakov, Babel, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstaya, and others. Conducted exclusively in Russian. Prerequisite: Russian 22. Members of the department

RUS 60 Classics of Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature
Major Russian writers and literary currents (sentimentalism, romanticism, the Golden Age of realism) and their relation to social, political, and cultural developments. The evolution of Russian prose fiction with attention to important poetic works. Readings include Pushkin, Gogol, Pavlova, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky. No prerequisites. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see Russian 160 below.) Sloane

RUS 61 Russian Literature in Revolution: 1880-1930
Russian literature in a period of political, cultural, and aesthetic revolution; avant-garde movements before the Bolshevik Revolution (symbolists, decadents, futurists, acmeists) and the dynamic literary response in the 1920s to the revolution itself. Readings include Chekhov, Bely, Blok, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Zamyatin, Bulgakov, and others. No prerequisites. Alternate years. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see Russian 161 below.) Carleton

RUS 62 Modern Russian Literature, 1930-Today
Russian literature from the rise of Stalin to the chaos of the contemporary post-Soviet period. Analysis of both socialist-realist and dissident writing. Focus on tensions between ideological-cultural imperatives and artistic freedom through Soviet period as well as in post-modern currents of today. Readings include Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn, Akhmatova, Tolstaya, Platonov. No prerequisites. Alternate years. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see Russian 162 below.) Members of the department

RUS 65 Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky's evolution as a writer and thinker, from his beginnings in socialist utopianism to his emergence as one of Russia's foremost religious philosophers. His exploration of the unconscious, social and moral transgression, revolution, the human condition, and religious truth. Readings include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Brothers Karamazov. Alternate years. No prerequisites. Sloane

RUS 66 Tolstoy
Tolstoy's development as literary master and spiritual force; his life and its counterpoint with the fictional worlds he created. The philosophy of history in War and Peace; morality, social conventions, and sexual roles in Anna Karenina and other works. Tolstoy's spiritual crisis, turn to populism, and the concept of nonresistance to violence. Other readings include Childhood, The Sevastopol Sketches, The Cossacks, and Khadzhi-Murat. Alternate years. No prerequisites. Sloane

RUS 70 Women in Russian Literature and Culture
Examination of how social, economic, and political institutions in Russia shaped the roles women could play to fulfill their literary, artistic, and spiritual aspirations; how women strove to transcend these prescribed norms. Illustrations from Russian folklore, poetry, fiction, painting, and film--including works by male authors (Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy), female poets (Pavlova, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Odoevtseva), prosaists (Kollontai, Tolstaya, Tokareeva), women painters (Goncharova, Serebriakova) and filmmakers (Shepitko, Muratova). No prerequisites. (May be taken at the 100 level with consent; see Russian 170 below.) Sloane

RUS 72 Contemporary Russian Culture
An exploration of Russian culture through literature, film, the media, and the arts from the era of "stagnation" to glasnost, perestroika, and the post-Soviet period. The destruction and reconstruction of cultural and political canons and myths: the Stalinist legacy and reevaluation of Soviet history; the revival of religion and nationalism; social dislocation: the problems of youth, the generation gap, and women's issues; the breaking of taboos and the dark side of freedom--violence, crime, pornography, and neofascism; the liberalization and commercialization of art. All readings and films are in English. No prerequisites. Carleton

RUS 73 The Bible in Russian Literature. (Cross-listed as Comparative Religion 73.)
Appropriation of biblical motifs, characters, and themes for moral, political, and artistic purposes. Emphasis on the varying images of Jesus (teacher, sage, revolutionary) and the devil (tempter, teacher, Promethean); Genesis, Job, and the writer as spiritual visionary and prophet. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Solzhentisyn, Gogol, Zamiatin, Bulgakov, and others. Supplemented by selected readings from the Bible. No prerequisites. Carleton

RUS 80 Russian Film: Art, Politics, and Society
Survey of film classics by Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Vertov, Tarkovsky, and others, tracing the parallels between the history of film and the history of the new Soviet state and society. Lenin and film as propaganda; the experimental twenties; cinema verit? (kinopravda); Socialist Realism; the Great Patriotic War; the "thaw"; 1960s to present: conservatives vs. liberals; unbanned films, and the new cinema of glasnost and perestroika. Films with English subtitles. No prerequisites. Spring. Johnson

RUS 114 Satire and Absurdist Literature
Comparative investigation of the modes, intentions, and reception of satiric and absurdist writing in the twentieth century. Includes other Slavic literatures, particularly Czech. Focus on the writer as political voice and public conscience. Priority given to development of critical skills in talking, reading, and writing about controversial texts in a variety of sociopolitical contexts. Seminar format. No prerequisites. Carleton

RUS 115 Stalinism
Examination of Stalinism as a cultural phenomenon in the Soviet Union through an array of primary sources: fiction, diaries, memoirs, art, film, mass media, letters, and party documents. Key issues include the cult of Stalin, the purges and terror, everyday life, and the state of the arts. Emphasis on how the system modeled itself to increase appeal, reach, and power; and the diverse responses of the people. Special attention devoted to the expression of ideology in culture and the lived experience of the average person. No prerequisites. Seminar format. Carleton

RUS 160 Classics of Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature
(See Russian 60 for course description.) Additional readings in Russian and extra class meetings.

RUS 161 Russian Literature in Revolution: 1880-1930
(See Russian 61 for course description.) Additional readings in Russian and extra class meetings.

RUS 162 Modern Russian Literature, 1930-Today
(See Russian 62 for course description.) Additional readings in Russian and extra class meetings.

RUS 170 Women in Russian Literature and Culture
(See Russian 70 for course description.) Additional readings in Russian and extra class meetings.

RUS 91, 92 Special Topics
Courses on selected themes and authors given in English.  Members of the department
Please see CIV 91 Film and Nation: Russia & Central Asia offered under World Civilization.

RUS 93, 94 Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study of an approved topic. Variable credit. Members of the department

RUS 191, 192 Special Topics
Study of selected authors, themes, genres, or literary movements given in Russian. Seminar or lecture/discussion format. Members of the department

RUS 193, 194 Advanced Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study of an approved topic conducted in Russian. Variable credit. Members of the department

RUS 198, 199 Senior Honors Thesis
See Thesis Honors Program for details.

For additional courses, please visit our page on Modern Languages, World Literature, and World Civilization >

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