SLAVIC LANGUAGES

(AS) {SLAV}
123. (PSCI267) Russia and Eastern Europe in International Affairs. (M) Orenstein.
Russia and the European Union (EU) are engaged in a battle for influence in Eastern Europe. EU
foreign policy towards its Eastern neighbors is based on economic integration and the carrot of
membership. With the application of this powerful incentive, Central and Southeastern European
countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Croatia have progressed rapidly towards
integration with the EU (and NATO). Yet, given Russia's opposition to the further enlargement,
membership is off the table for the large semi-Western powers such as Russia itself and Turkey and
the smaller countries inhabiting an emerging buffer zone between Russia and the EU, such as
Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Belarus. These in-between countries find themselves
subject to intense competition for influence between Eastern and Western powers. In this context, EU
countries must balance their energy dependence on Russia and need for new markets and
geopolitical stability with concern for human rights, democratic governance, and self-determination.
What are the trade-offs implicit in the foreign policies of Russia, EU member states, and Eastern
Europe? What are the best policy approaches? What are the main opportunities and obstacles?
195. (COML100, ENGL100) History as Culture. Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Platt.
The object of the course is to investigate what happens when historical events and personages are
represented in cultural life. We will study plays, novels, paintings, film and television-as well as a bit of
history-taking us from Shakespeare to Downton Abbey. Auxillary readings in theory and method will
allow us to grapple with the deeper questions of our readings: How and why do modern societies care
about the past? What is the difference between a historical novel and a work of historiography? Do
different kinds of writing offer different forms of truth about human events? As we will learn, the
representation of history has a history of its own, which we can trace from the renaissance up to the
present day.Readings will include works by: Shakespeare, Scott, Tolstoy, Hughes, Eisenstein,
Marquez, Eco and others. In the course of the semester, students will gain competence in the
interpretation of literary texts from a variety of cultures and periods, and also improve their analytical
writing skills.
217. (PSCI217) RUSSIAN POLITICS. (B)
SM 222. (COML217, NELC222) Imagining Asia: Russia and the East. Staff.
This course examines the important role of the East in Russian literature and nationalism. Focusing
specifically on the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, and Turkey, this course will analyze how Russian
writers connected the East to Russian identity, and how their approaches implicate different artistic
periods (Romanticism, Realism, Socialist Realism, Post-Modernism) and different political
atmospheres (Tsarist Russia, Soviet Union, Post-Soviet).
Students will also ascertain how Russian literature on the East has affected and influenced
literature and political movements produced in the East. In particular, students will analyze how Soviet
Central Asian writers, Iranian Socialists, and contemporary Turkish writers were influenced by Russian
literature and Soviet ideology. Ultimately, this course examines the impact of Russias cultural and
political history in 20th century Central Asia and the Middle East. Readings will include works by:
Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Platonov, Chingiz Aitmatov, Sadek Hedayat, Orhan Pamuk,
and others.
All readings in English.

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(AS) {SLAV}
SM 250. (CINE250) Tarkovsky's Passions. (M) Platt.
Andrei Tarkovsky is universally acknowledged to be the greatest Soviet filmmaker of the last half of the
twentieth century. In Kurosawas assessment following Tarkovskys death in the late 1980s, he had no
equal among film directors alive now. In Ingmar Bergmans words, Tarkovskys work was a miracle. His
films are beautiful, intellectually challenging, and spiritually profound. They range from Ivans
Childhood, an exploration of wartime experience through the eyes of a child; to Solaris, a philosophical
essay in the form of a science-fiction thriller; to Andrei Rublev, an investigation of the power of art and
spirituality. In this course, we will study Tarkovskys films and life, with attention both to his formal and
artistic accomplishments, his thought and writings concerning art and film, and the cultural and
political contexts of his work.
SM 261. (COML255) Russian Thinkers. (M) Vinitsky.
This class focuses on the complex relations between philosophy, history, and art in Russia and offers
discussions of works of major Russian authors (such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Khlebnikov), religious
and political thinkers (Chaadaev, Herzen, Berdiaev, Lenin, Bogdanov), avant-garde artists (Filonov,
Malevich), and composers (Skriabin) who created and tested in their lives their own, sometimes very
peculiar and radical, worldviews. We will consider these worldviews against a broad cultural
background and will reenact them in class in the form of philosophical mini-dramas. The only
prerequisite for this course is intellectual curiosity and willingness to embrace diverse, brave and often
very weird ideas.
SM 444. (COML541, RUSS544) Russ Realism in Eur Cntx. (M)
SM 455. The Living & the Dead: The Great Patriotic War in Russ Cultural Imagination.
Korshunova.Prerequisite(s): Prior language experience required.
This course is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45. Students will
explore the cultural myth of the war, created in the 1960-80s. The materials will include literary texts,
documentaries, photographs, and films. We will focus on three major themes of this myth: 1. moral
strength and courage;2.respect for Russia's military past; and 3. the rise of national consciousness.
SM 471. Moscow: Cultural History. 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. An extraordinary diverse city,
Moscow has acquired a number of names, referring both to its size and role in the national history:
The Third Rome, The Whitestone One, The First Throne, The Forty Forties, The Hero City, and even
The Big Village. In this course, students will examine the cultural history of the great city from 1147 to
the present. The "itinerary" for this imaginary trip will include the Kremlin and the banyas, Saint Basil's
Cathedral and the Bolshoi Theater, the Ostankino Tower and the underground palaces of the Metro,
the workers' canteen and the dining rooms of the posh restaurants, etc. The course discussions will be
centered on literary texts, travelers' accounts, films, and works of art and architecture.
SM 475. DR ZHIVAGO IN HIST CONTX.

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(AS) {SLAV}
SM 519. History of Russian Literary Language and Culture. Verkholantsev.Prerequisite(s): Any
RUSS 400 level course or comparable proficiency.
This course examines the linguistic, literary, and social history of the Russian language from the
medieval period to the modern day. Course topics include: the creation of the Slavic alphabets and the
first literary language of the Slavs, Old Church Slavonic; the beginnings and development of writing
and literacy in Old Russia; the evolution of the Russian literary language, its styles, and registers;
grammatical categories of Russian; features of Russian lexicography; the social history and politics of
language use; analysis of texts. Taught in Russian; readings in Russian & English; advanced language
proficiency required.
SM 528. (COML528) From Late-Soviet to Non-Soviet Literature and Culture. Platt and Djagalov.
The aims of this course are threefold: to introduce students to some signature literary and cultural
texts form roughly the post-Stalin era to the present, to equip them with relevant theoretical
approaches and concerns, and finally, to offer a space where they can develop their own research
projects. A major theme will be the relations between "Russian" literature and history, in which
literature is not only a mimesis of the historical process but often an active agent. Throughout, we will
be particularly attentive to the periphery of literature. In the first place, this means an expanded
geography, the inclusion of non-Russian Soviet and emigre writers before and after 1991, as well as
an effort to theorize their structural position. Secondly, we will adopt the late Formalists' understanding
of literary periphery as the genres, cultural forms, institutions, and phenomena that abutted the literary
field and affected its processes. Depending on student interest, our attention to these objects of
inquiry could be directed toward bardic song and the later lyric-centric Russian rock, samizdat and
literary internet, thick journals and literary prizes, Soviet-era dissidence and today's protest culture.
SM 548. Borderland Literature and Minority Nationalism: The role of Central Asia in RussianIranian Relations. (M) Yountchi.
Advanced graduate course on Central Asian and Iranian literature and history. Particular attention is
given to the role of literature in Tajik-Iranian cultural exchange, the culture and history of Persianspeaking minorities in late 19th and early 20th century Caucasus and Central Asia, and the relations
between center and periphery. Theories concerning Orientalism, minority nationalism and subaltern
studies are also examined.
SM 549. (COML550) STALINIST CULTURE. (M)
SM 555. (COML555, HIST555) HIST EMOTIONS RUSS&WEST.
SM 618. (COML618, HIST620) Cultural History of Medieval Rus' (800-1700). Verkholantsev.
SM 575. (COML579) Slavic Literary Theory in Western Context. Steiner.
This course will compare selected theoretical concepts advanced by Russian Formalists, Prague
Structuralists, and the Bakhtin group (e.g., defamiliarization, aesthetic sign, dialogue) with similar or
analogous notions drawn from Western intellectual tradition.

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(AS) {SLAV}
SM 619. (COML619) East & West in Medieval Europe: Bohemia as Center in the Age of the
Luxemburgs. Brownlee and Verkholantsev.
The seminar will examine a range of topics in Medieval Studies viewing European medieval civilization
as encompassing the whole ("global") geographic and cultural space of Europe and ignoring reference
to contemporary socio-political division of Europe into "Western" and "Eastern." As a case study, the
course focuses on the 14th-century Holy Roman Empire from Henry VII to the Emperor Sigismund,
and particularly on the reign of Charles IV, in a context in which Prague becomes the imperial capital
and Bohemia a center of Europe.
A detailed examination of this monarch's vision of a "Global Europe" will allow us to explore a
network of connections, a network that stretches from Prague to the farthermost western, eastern and
southern corners of the European continent. We will examine correspondences and differences
between various linguistic, textual, political, and religious communities, while attempting to show how
Latin and Slavic European cultures were interwoven. Some of the titles from the reading list are
Charles IV's The Life of St. Wenceslas and Autobiography, The Golden Bull, Dante's Letters &
Monarchia, Machaut's Jugement of the King of Bohemia, Petrarch's Epistolae & Poems, Froissart's
Prison of Love, Johannes von Tepl's The Plowman of Bohemia, The Life of St. Constantin the
Philosopher, fragments from Czech, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian and Rus medieval chronicles,
etc. All reading will be done in English, with original language versions always available.

RUSSIAN (RUSS)
105. Accelerated Elementary Russian. (M) Staff.
This is an intensive two-credit course covering the first and the second semesters of the first-yeat
sequence (RUSS001 and 002). The course is designed for students with no background in Russian
and develops language competence in speaking, reading, writing and understanding contemporary
Russian. Class work emphasizes development of communication skills and cultural awareness.

Introductory Russian Language (001-004)

001. (RUSS501) Elementary Russian I. (A) Staff.
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).
002. (RUSS502) Elementary Russian II. (B) Staff.Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001 or equivalent.
Continuation of RUSS001. Further work developing basic language skills using exciting authentic
materials about life in present-day Russia. At the conclusion of the course, students will be prepared
to negotiate most basic communication needs in Russia (getting around town, ordering a meal, buying
goods and services, polite conversation about topics of interest) and to comprehend most texts and
spoken material at a basic level.

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(AS) {SLAV}
003. (RUSS503) Intermediate Russian I. (A) Staff.Prerequisite(s): RUSS 001 and 002 or placement
exam.
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.
004. (RUSS504) Intermediate Russian II. (B) Staff.Prerequisite(s): RUSS 003 or placement exam.
A continuation of RUSS003. This course will further develop your ability to use the Russian language
in the context of everyday situations (including relationships, travel and geography, leisure activities)
and also through reading and discussion of elementary facts about Russian history, excerpts from
classic literature and the contemporary press and film excerpts. At the end of the course you will be
able to negotiate most daily situations, to comprehend most spoken and written Russian, to state and
defend your point of view. Successful completion of the course prepares students to satisfy the
language competency requirement.
SM 107. Russian Outside the Classroom I. (C) Yakubova.Prerequisite(s): At least four semesters of
Russian.
The goal of RUSS107 is to provide students of Russian language and students who spoke Russian at
home with formalized opportunities to improve their conversation and comprehension skills while
experiencing various aspects of Russian culture. There will be no weekly assignments or readings, but
all students will be expected to contribute at a level equivalent to their Russian-speaking abilities both
in class and on the newsletter final project. The course consists of attending regular conversation
hours in addition to a tea-drinking hour in the department (F 4-5pm), film viewings, and a single
outside cultural event (e.g., a concert of Russian music at the Kimmel Center).
SM 108. Russian Outside the Classroom II. (C) Yakubova.Prerequisite(s): At least four semesters of
Russian, and RUSS107. Continuation of RUSS107.
This is a half-credit course that consists of a variety of fun and entertaining non-classroom Russian
language activities. Students who have taken at least one semester of Russian will take part in: 1.
Russian lunch and dinner table; 2. Russian Tea and conversation, featuring cartoons, poetry readings,
music listening, news broadcast, games, cooking lessons, and informal visits by guests; 3. The
Russian Film Series; 4. field trips to Russian cultural events in the area (symphony, drama, film, etc.);
5. other Russian Program events.

Introductory/Survey Russian Courses (010 - 199)

048. (HIST048) The Rise and Fall of the Russian Empire, 1552-1917. (C) History & Tradition Sector.
All classes. Nathans/Holquist.
How and why did Russia become the center of the world's largest empire, a single state
encompassing eleven time zones and over a hundred ethnic groups? To answer this question, we will
explore the rise of a distinct political culture beginning in medieval Muscovy, its transformation under
the impact of a prolonged encounter with European civilization, and the various attempts to re-form
Russia from above and below prior to the Revolution of 1917. Main themes include the facade vs. the
reality of central authority, the intersection of foreign and domestic issues, the development of a radical
intelligentsia, and the tension between empire and nation.

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(AS) {SLAV}
049. (HIST049) The Soviet Century, 1917-1991. (B) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Nathans/
Holquist.
Out of an obscure, backward empire, the Soviet Union emerged to become the great political
laboratory of the twentieth century. This course will trace the roots of the world's first socialist society
and its attempts to recast human relations and human nature itself. Topics include the origins of the
Revolution of 1917, the role of ideology in state policy and everyday life, the Soviet Union as the
center of world communism, the challenge of ethnic diversity, and the reasons for the USSR's sudden
implosion in 1991. Focusing on politics, society, culture, and their interaction, we will examine the
rulers (from Lenin to Gorbachev) as well as the ruled (peasants, workers, and intellectuals; Russians
and non-Russians). The course will feature discussions of selected texts, including primary sources in
translation.
100. Figuring Out Russia: Introduction to Russian Culture. (M) Verkholantsev.
The course introduces students to major topics in Russian history, literature, art and religion. Students
will learn about Russias past and present, its myths and beliefs, about its Czars and peasants, its
heroes and rebels, about its artists, musicians and intellectuals, about its cities and society. Course
materials include short works of major Russian authors, as well as films, musical scores and works of
art. This introductory course will prepare students for more advanced and specialized courses in
Russian literature and history.
SM 125. (CINE125, COML127, GSWS125) The Adultery Novel. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All
Classes. Staff. All readings and lectures in English.
The object of this course is to analyze narratives of adultery from Shakespeare to the present and to
develop a vocabulary for thinking critically about the literary conventions and social values that inform
them. Many of the themes (of desire, transgression, suspicion, discovery) at the heart of these stories
also lie at the core of many modern narratives. Is there anything special, we will ask, about the case of
adultery--once called "a crime which contains within itself all others"? What might these stories teach
us about the way we read in general? By supplementing classic literary accounts by Shakespeare,
Pushkin, Flaubert, Chekhov, and Proust with films and with critical analyses, we will analyze the
possibilities and limitations of the different genres and forms under discussion, including novels, films,
short stories, and theatre. What can these forms show us (or not show us)about desire, gender, family
and social obligation? Through supplementary readings and class discussions, we will apply a range
of critical approaches to place these narratives of adultery in a social and literary context, including
formal analyses of narrative and style, feminist criticism, Marxist and sociological analyses of the
family, and psychoanalytic understandings of desire and family life.
SM 130. Russian Ghost Stories. (C) Vinitsky.
In this course, we will read and discuss ghost stories written by some of the most well-known Russian
writers. The goal of the course is threefold: to familiarize the students with brilliant and thrilling texts
which represent various periods of Russian literature; to examine the artistic features of ghost stories
and to explore their ideological implications. With attention to relevant scholarship (Freud, Todorov,
Derrida, Greenblatt), we will pose questions about the role of the storyteller in ghost stories, and about
horror and the fantastic. We will also ponder gender and class, controversy over sense and sensation,
spiritual significance and major changes in attitudes toward the supernatural.
We will consider the concept of the apparition as a peculiar cultural myth, which tells us about the
"dark side" of the Russian literary imagination and about the historical and political conflicts which
have haunted Russian minds in previous centuries. Readings will include literary works by Pushkin,
Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, and Bulgakov, as well as works by some lesser, yet extremely
interesting, authors. We will also read excerpts from major treatises regarding spiritualism, including
Swedenborg, Kant, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mme Blavatsky. The course consists of 28 sessions
("nights") and includes film presentations and horrifying slides.

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135. (HIST135) Cold War: Global History.
136. (HIST047) Portraits of Russian Society: Art, Fiction, Drama. (M) Humanities & Social Science
Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Platt. No prior language experience required.
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 historybirth,
death, duel, courtship, tsar, and so on. Each of these main texts is accompanied by a set of
supplementary materialspaintings, 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 disciplinesyet 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.
145. Russian Literature to the 1870s. (A) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Steiner.
Major Russian writers in English translation: Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, early Tolstoy, and early
Dostoevsky.
155. Russian Literature after 1870s. (B) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Steiner.
Major Russian writers in English translation: Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pasternak, Babel, Solzhenitsyn, and
others.
165. (CINE165, SLAV165) Russian and East European Film After WWII. (M) Todorov.
This course examines the Russian and East European contribution to world cinema after WWII Stalinist aesthetics and desalinization, WWII in film, the installation of totalitarianism in Eastern
Europe and the Cold War in film, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
post-soviet condition, cinematic representations of Yugoslavia's violent breakup; the new Romanian
waive. Major filmmakers in discussion include Kalatozov, Tarkovsky, Wajda, Polanski, Forman,
Mentzel, Sabo, Kusturitsa, Konchalovsky, Mikhalkov and others.
L/R 188. (CINE352, COML241, GRMN256, RELS236) The Devil's Pact Reloaded: Goethe's Faust
& Bulgakov's Master i Margarita. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Richter and Vinitsky.
For centuries the pact with the devil has signified humankind's desire to surpass the limits of human
knowledge and power. The legend of the devil's pact has permeated literature, art, and cinema. In this
course,students will focus on two masterpieces of world literature in which the devil's pact plays out in
surprising ways, Goethe's Faust and Bulgakov's Master and Margarita. Excerpts from film, art, music
and popular culture will be brought in as needed. Team-taught by professors of German and Russian
literature, this course will bring all the devilish details to light.

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(AS) {SLAV}
189. (PPE 062) Soviet and Post-Soviet Economy. 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.
190. Terrorism: Russian Origins and 21st Century Methods. (M) Todorov.
This course studies the emergence of organized terrorism in nineteenth-century Russia. It examines
the philosophy of the terrorist struggle through its methods, causes, various codes, and manifestoes
that defined its nature for the times to come. We critique intellectual movements such as nihilism,
anarchism, and populism that inspired terrorism defining the political violence and disorder as
beneficial acts. The issue of policing terrorism becomes central when we study a police experiment to
infiltrate, delegitimize and ultimately neutralize terrorist networks in late imperial Russia.
The discussions draw on the ideology and political efficacy of the conspiratorial mode of operation,
terrorist tactics such as assassination and hostage-taking, the cell structure of the groups and
underground incognito of the strikers, their maniacal self-denial, revolutionary asceticism, underground
mentality, faceless omnipotence, and other attributes-intensifiers of its mystique.
We analyze the technology and phenomenology of terror that generate asymmetrical disorganizing
threats to any organized form of government and reveal the terrorist act as a sublime end as well as a
lever for achieving practical causes. Our study traces the rapid proliferation of terrorism in the twentieth
century and its impact on the public life in Western Europe, the Balkans, and America.
191. (COMM291) Putin's Russia: Culture, Society and History. (M) Platt. No prior knowledge of
Russian is required.
Winston Churchill famously said that Russia "is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
Strikingly, today many informed Russians would agree: no one can provide definitive answers
concerning what has driven Russian public life and politics over the past three years, as it ricochetted
from the mass protests of 2011 and 2012, into the Pussy Riot scandal, then the Olympics, and most
recently to the intense patriotism driving the Russian annexation of Crimea and intervention in
Ukraine. In this course we will examine how Russians themselves communicate about and represent
Russia and what this reveals about this complex society and its development. We will consider print
journalism, novels, films, televised media, and the internetpaying close attention both to particular
representations and to social institutions for their production, dissemination and consumption. Topics
of special concern will include: conspiracy theories, representations of Russian history, collective
identity and patriotism, intellectuals and elites, gender and sexuality, consumption and wealth. Putins
Russia is an introductory level course for which no prior knowledge Russian history, culture or society
is required. All readings and screenings will be in English.
SM 193. (COML150, HIST149) War and Representation in Russia, Europe and the U.S.. (M)
Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Platt.
Representations of war have been created for as many reasons as wars are fought: to legitimate
conflict, to celebrate military glory, to critique brutality, to vilify an enemy, to mobilize popular support,
to generate national pride, etc. In this course we will ex^amine a series of representations of war
drawn from the literature, film, state propaganda, memoirs, visual art, etc. of Russia, Europe and the
United States of the twentieth century.

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(AS) {SLAV}
196. Russian Short Story. (M) Todorov.
This course studies the development of 19th and 20th century Russian literature through one of its
most distinct and highly recognized genresthe 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 postmodernism. We critique the strategic use of various devices of literary representation such as irony,
absurd, satire, grotesque, anecdote, 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.
197. (COML197) Madness and Madmen in Russian Culture. (M) Humanities & Social Science
Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Vinitsky.
This course will explore the theme of madness in Russian literature and arts from the medieval period
through the October Revolution of 1917. The discussion will include formative masterpieces by
Russian writers (Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Bulgakov), painters (Repin, Vrubel,
Filonov), composers (Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky), and film-directors (Protazanov,
Eisenstein), as well as non-fictional documents such as Russian medical, judicial, political, and
philosophical treatises and essays on madness.
240. (COML236, HIST333) Napoleonic Era and Tolstoy. (M) Holquist/Vinitsky. All readings and
lectures in English.
In this course we will read what many consider to be the greatest book in world literature. This work,
Tolstoy's War and Peace, is devoted to one of the most momentous periods in world history, the
Napoleonic Era (1789-1815). We will study both the novel and the era of the Napoleonic Wars: the
military campaigns of Napoleon and his opponents, the grand strategies of the age, political intrigues
and diplomatic betrayals, the ideologies and human dramas, the relationship between art and history.
How does literature help us to understand this era? How does history help us to understand this great
novel?
This semester marks the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's attempt to conquer Russia and achieve
world domination, the campaign of 1812. Come celebrate this Bicentennial with us! Because we will
read War and Peace over the course of the entire semester, readings will be manageable - and very
enjoyable.

Intermediate/Seminar Courses (200 - 299)

SM 201. (COML207) Dostoevsky and His Legacy. (A) 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."

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(AS) {SLAV}
SM 202. Tolstoy. (B) Vinitsky. Ben Franklin Seminar
This course consists of three parts. The first, How to read Tolstoy? deals with Tolstoys artistic stimuli,
favorite devices, and narrative strategies. The second, Tolstoy at War, explores the authors provocative
visions of war, gender, sex, art, social institutions, death, and religion. The emphasis is placed here on
the role of a written word in Tolstoys search for truth and power. The third and the largest section is a
close reading of Tolstoys masterwork The War and Peace (1863-68) a quintessence of both his artistic
method and philosophical insights.
SM 203. (LAW 967) Legal Imagination: Criminals and Justice Across Literature. (M) Vinitsky. Ben
Franklin Seminar. This class will be taught for both SAS and Penn Law School students: 12 students
from each side.
This seminar will focus on the legal, moral, religious, social, psychological, and political dimensions of
crime, blame, shame, and punishment as discussed in great works of literature. The first part of the
course will compare and contrast visions of justice in Eastern and Western Europe and emphases on
divine versus human justice. The second part will move to the psychology of the individual person, the
criminal. Part three of the course will focus on the state institutions of criminal justice. Readings
include Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, Dickens' Oliver Twist, Tolstoy's Resurrection, Kafka's The Trial, and
especially Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and selection from The Brothers Karamazov.
SM 213. (COML213, RELS218) Saints and Devils in Russian Literature and Tradition. (M) Arts &
Letters Sector. All Classes. 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 peoples 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 Russias
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.
SM 220. (COML220, HIST220) Russia and the West: Focus on America. (C) Humanities & Social
Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Vinitsky. From the Other Shore: Russia and the West is
offered as Russia and the West: Focus on America for 2015 Summer Session II only.
This is the course description for the 2015 Summer Session II only
This course will explore the representations of America in Russian political and cultural history from
mid 18th to the early 21st century. We will consider the history of Russian and American relations and
Russian visions of various events and aspects of American political, economic, social, and cultural life
the Revolution, American-Indian wars, industrialization, Civil War, political system, sexual relations,
New York City, cinema industry, pop and rock music, etc. within the context of Russian political and
ideological history. We will also examine how images of America reflect Russia's own cultural
concerns, anticipations, and biases. The class will consist of lectures, discussion, and several minidramas in which students will reenact certain historical and cultural conflicts. The course requirements
include active participation, one in-class presentation and one take-home exam.

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234. (COML235, HIST219, SLAV517) Medieval Russia: Origins of Russian Cultural Identity. (M)
Verkholantsev.
This course offers an overview of the cultural history of Rus from its origins to the eighteenth century,
a period which laid the foundation for the Russian Empire. The course takes an interdisciplinary
approach to the evolution of the main cultural paradigms of Russian Orthodoxy viewed in a broader
European context. Although this course is historical in content, it is also about modern Russia. The
legacy of Medieval Rus is still referenced, often allegorically, in contemporary social and cultural
discourse as the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian societies attempt to reconstruct and reinterpret
their histories. In this course, students learn that the study of the medieval cultural and political history
explains many aspects of modern Russian society, its culture and mentality.
SM 260. (HIST413) USSR after Stalin. (M) Platt & Nathans.
How are human behaviors and attitudes shaped in a socialist society? What forms do conformity and
dissent take under a revolutionary regime? This course will explore the cultural history of the Soviet
Union from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of communism in 1991. We will
investigate a variety of strategies of resistance to state power as well as the sources of communisms
enduring legitimacy for millions of Soviet citizens. Above all, we will be concerned with the power of
the word and image in Soviet public and private life. Assigned texts will include memoirs, manifestos,
underground and officially approved fiction & poetry, films, works of art, and secondary literature.
275. (CINE275) Russian History in Film. (M) Todorov.
This course draws on fictional, dramatic and cinematic representations of Russian history based on
Russian as well as non-Russian sources and interpretations. The analysis targets major modes of
imagining, such as narrating, showing and reenacting historical events, personae and epochs justified
by different, historically mutating ideological postulates and forms of national self-consciousness.
Common stereotypes of picturing Russia from "foreign" perspectives draw special attention. The
discussion involves the following themes and outstanding figures: the mighty autocrats Ivan the
Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great; the tragic ruler Boris Godunov; the brazen rebel
and royal impostor Pugachev; the notorious Rasputin, his uncanny powers, sex-appeal, and court
machinations; Lenin and the October Revolution; images of war; times of construction and times of
collapse of the Soviet Colossus.
299. Independent Study. (C) Staff.

Advanced Russian Language Courses

311. (RUSS511) Russian Conversation and Composition. (A) Alley.Prerequisite(s): RUSS 004 or
placement exam.
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.

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312. (RUSS512) Russian Conversation and Composition II. (B) Shardakova.Prerequisite(s): RUSS
311.
Primary emphasis on speaking, writing, and listening. Development of advanced conversational skills
needed to carry a discussion or to deliver a complex narrative. This course will be based on a wide
variety of topics from everyday life to the discussion of political and cultural events. Russian culture
and history surveyed briefly. Materials include Russian TV broadcast, newspapers, Internet, selected
short stories by contemporary Russian writers. Offered each spring.
360. Russian for Heritage Speakers I. (C) Korshunova. Previous language experience required
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.
361. Russian for Heritage Speakers II. (B) Korshunova.Prerequisite(s): Prerequisites: Russian 360
or at least three and no more than six years of Russian formal schooling, or instructor's permission.
This course is a continuation of RUSS360. In some cases, students who did not take RUSS360 but
have basic reading and writing skills may be permitted to enroll with the instructor's permission.
Students who complete RUSS361 with a passing grade will satisfy the Penn Language Requirement.
399. Supervised Work. (C)
Hours and credits on an individual basis.

Advanced Courses (400 to 425) in History, Literature and Culture. Taught in Russian.
412. Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature and Culture: Romantics and Realists. (M)
Verkholantsev.Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or placement exam. Conducted in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, and combines advanced study
of the Russian language with an examination of the fundamental literary movements and figures of
nineteenth-century Russian literature and culture. Course materials include prosaic and poetic texts by
Pushkin, Gogol', Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, as well as films and art. Language work
will be devoted to writing, syntactical and stylistic analysis, vocabulary, academic speech, and listening
comprehension.
SM 413. Twentieth-Century Russian Literature, Film and Culture: Utopia, Revolution and
Dissent. (M) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or placement exam. Conducted in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, and introduces students to
major movements and figures of twentieth-century Russian literature and culture. We will read the
works of modern Russian writers, and watch and discuss feature films. The course will introduce the
first Soviet films and works of the poets of the Silver Age and beginning of the Soviet era as well as
the works from later periods up to the Perestroika and Glasnost periods (the late 1980s).

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SM 416. Business and Democracy in the New Russia. (M) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s): RUSS 312
or placement exam. Conducted in Russian.
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.
417. Russian Modernism: Literature, Music & Visual Arts. (J) Staff.Prerequisite(s): RUSS312 or
placement exam. Conducted in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, while closely studying a
representative selection of texts from the modernist period. The course will explore central issues of
the period, such as the relationship between literature and revolution, reconceptualizations of society,
history and the self. Of particular interest will be authors' experimentation in form and language in
order to present afresh the experience of life. Textual study is combined with a general overview of the
period, including reference to parallel trends in the visual arts, architecture and music, as well as
contemporary intellectual movements. Principal writers studied will include Belyi, Sologub, Remizov,
Andreev, Artsybashev, Gorky, Zamiatin, Pilnyak, Platonov, Zoshchenko, Babel, Olesha, and Kharms.
418. Russian Culture and Society Now. (L) Staff.Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or placement exam.
Conducted in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian, while surveying main social,
political and cultural developments in Russia since 1991. In these two turbulent decades Russia has
undergone colossal changes ranging from disintegration of the Soviet Empire to the rapid
development of new gastronomical tastes and new trends in literature and culture. The course will
explore diverse and often conflicting cultural sensibilities in contemporary Russian fiction, poetry,
journalism, scholarly writing, performance art, as well as in pop-culture and film. Topics under
consideration will include reassessing Russia's luminous cultural heritage as well as traumatic periods
in Soviet history; search for identity and the recent drift towards neo-nationalism; gender issues and
the contemporary focus on fatherlessness; changing attitudes towards former cultural taboos; dealing
with Russia's current political and cultural dilemmas. The course also incorporates two advanced
Russian colloquiums with guest appearances of Prof. Kevin Platt and Ilya Vinitsky.
SM 419. Russian Song and Folklore. (M) Verkholantsev.Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or placement
exam. Conducted in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian. Song and, in particular, folk
song is an essential and exciting component of Russian culture and social life, and an important
language learning tool. The course offers a general introduction to the history of Russian folklore, song
and musical culture. Students will explore the historical trajectory of Russian song and its various
genres (from folk to the modern Estrada), examine the poetic and literary principles of song, discuss
its aesthetic properties, and analyze the educational, community-building and ideological roles of song
in Russian society.

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420. Contemporary Russia Through Film. (C) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s): Russian 312 or
placement exam. Conduected in Russian.
This course continues developing students' advanced skills in Russian and offers intensive study of
Russian film, arguably the most powerful medium for reflecting changes in modern society. This
course will examine Russia's transition to democracy and market economy through the eyes of its
most creative and controversial cinematographers. The course will focus on the often agonizing
process of changing values and attitudes as the country moves from Soviet to Post-Soviet society.
Russian films with English subtitles will be supplemented by readings from contemporary Russian
media sources. The course provides an excellent visual introduction to the problems of contemporary
Russia society.

Advanced Courses Taught in English (426 - 449)

SM 426. (CINE365) Chekhov: Stage & Screen. (M) Zubarev. Forms a part of the LPS Masters in
Liberal Arts Program.
Whats so funny, Mr. Chekhov? This question is often asked by critics and directors who still are
puzzled with Chekhovs 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 Chekhovs plays as comedies. In addition to reading Chekhovs works, Russian and
western productions and film adaptations of Chekhovs 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 Chekhovs works.
SM 430. (CINE430) Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Film. (M) Todorov. Forms a part of the LPS
Masters in Liberal Arts Program.
This course studies the cinematic representation of civil wars, ethnic conflicts, nationalistic doctrines,
and genocidal policies. The focus is on the violent developments that took place in Russia and on the
Balkans after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and were conditioned by the new geopolitical dynamics
that the fall of communism had already created. We study media broadcasts, documentaries, feature
films representing the Eastern, as well as the Western perspective. The films include masterpieces
such as "Time of the Gypsies", "Underground", "Prisoner of the Mountains", "Before the Rain",
"Behind Enemy Lines", and others.
SM 432. (CINE432, COML196) Fate and Chance in Literature and Culture. (M) Zubarev. Forms a
part of the LPS Masters in Liberal Arts Program.
In Fate and Chance in Literature and Culture, we will explore these two interrelated concepts in
comparative perspective over a broad historical range. As a result, the students will learn how the
philosophy of fate and chance has been reflected in works of different Russian authors and in different
cultural and political environments. In Russian as well as western systems of belief fate and chance
represent two extreme visions of the universal order, or, perhaps, two diametrically opposed cosmic
forces: complete determinism, on the one hand, and complete chaos or unpredictability, on the other.
These visions have been greatly reflected by various mythopoetic systems. In this course, we will
investigate religious and folkloric sources from a series of Russian traditions compared to other IndoEuropean traditions (Greek, East-European). Readings will include The Song of Prince Igor's
Campaign, The Gambler by Dostoevsky, The Queen of Spades by Pushkin, Vij by Gogol, The Black
Monk by Chekhov, The Fatal Eggs by Bulgakov, and more.

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434. Media and Terrorism. (M) Todorov. Forms a part of the LPS Masters in Liberal Arts Program.
This course draws on fictional, cinematic and mass-media representation of terrorism based on
Russian as well as Western examples. We study how the magnitude of the political impact of terrorism
relates to the historically changing means of production of its striking iconology. The course exposes
students to major modes of imagining, narrating, showing, reenacting terrorism and forging its
mystique. We examine the emergence of organized terrorism in nineteenth-century Russia as an
original political-cultural phenomenon. We trace its rapid expansion and influence on the public life in
the West, and on the Balkans.
Historical, political, and aesthetic approaches converge in a discussion of several case studies
related to intellectual and spiritual movements such as nihilism, anarchism, populism, religious
fundamentalism, and others. The public appearance of the terrorist activism and its major attributes
are viewed as powerful intensifiers of its political effect: self-denial, ascetic aura, and stratagem of
mystification, underground mentality, and martyrdom. The pedagogical goal of this course is to
promote and cultivate critical view and analytical skills that will enable students to deal with different
historical as well as cultural modes of (self-)representation of terrorism. Students are expected to learn
and be able to deal with a large body of historical-factual and creative-interpreted information.

Courses in Literature, Culture, and History for Russian Speakers (450 - 499)
460. Post-Soviet Russia in Film. (C) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s): RUSS361 or comparable
language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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. Film is arguably the most
powerful medium for reflecting changes in modern society. This course will examine Russia's transition
to democracy and market economy through the eyes of its most creative and controversial
cinematographers. The course will focus on the often agonizing process of changing values and
attitudes as the country moves from Soviet to Post-Soviet society. Russian films with English subtitles
will be supplemented by readings from contemporary Russian media sources. The course provides an
excellent visual introduction to the problems of contemporary Russia society.
SM 461. 20th Century Russian Literature: Fiction and Reality. (M) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s):
RUSS361 or comparable language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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. Russian 461 introduces the
major movements and figures of twentieth-century Russian literature and culture, works of modern
Russian writers, and feature films. In studying the poetry of Mayakovsky, Block, and Pasternak,
students will become familiar with the important literary movements of the Silver Age. The reality of the
Soviet era will be examined in the works of Zamyatin, Babel, and Zoshchenko. There will be a brief
survey of the development of Soviet cinema, including films of Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, and Mikhalkov.
Literary trends in the later Soviet period will be seen in war stories, prison-camp literature, village
prose, and the writings of female authors of that time.

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SM 464. Russian Humor. (M) Korshunova.Prerequisite(s): RUSS361 or comparable language
competence. Conducted in Russian.
One of the most fascinating and most difficult things for a student of foreign culture is to understand
national humor, as it is presented in various stories and films, jokes and shows. To an extent, humor is
a gateway to national mentality. In the present course we will examine Russian cultural history, from
the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries, through the vehicle of Russian humor. How does
Russian humor depend on religion and history? What was considered funny in various cultural trends?
What are the peculiarities of Russian humorist tradition? Students will be familiarized with different
Russian theories of humor (Bakhtin, Likhachev, Panchenko, Tynianov, etc.) and, of course, with a
variety of works by Russian kings of humor Pushkin and Gogol, Chekhov and Zoshchenko, Bulgakov
and Ilf and Petrov, Erofeev and Kibirov, etc. Class lectures will be supplemented by frequent video and
musical presentations ranging from contemporary cartoons to high comedies and from comic songs
(Chaliapins The Flea) to the music of Shostakovich (The Nose).
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.
465. Singing in the Snow: The History of Russian Song. (M) Verkholantsev.Prerequisite(s):
RUSS361 or comparable language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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. Song is an essential and exciting
component of Russian culture and social life, and an important language learning tool. The course
offers a general introduction to the history of Russian song. Students will explore the historical
trajectory of Russian song and its various genres (from folk to the modern Estrada), examine the
poetic and literary principles of song, discuss its aesthetic properties, and analyze the educational,
community-building and ideological roles of song in Russian society. Among the wide-ranging topics
and genres that we will discuss and work with are lyrics of folk songs, romances, Soviet and patriotic
songs, Anti-Soviet songs, Russian/Soviet anthems, bard song, film and theater songs, childrens
songs, Soviet and Russian Rock and Pop.
467. Classic Russian Literature Today. (M) Korshunova.Prerequisite(s): RUSS361 or comparable
language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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.

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468. Post-Soviet Russian Society: People, Business, Democracy. (M) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite
(s): RUSS361 or comparable language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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. It offers an introduction to
contemporary Russian society, its historical background and its present political and economic
structure. The course will focus on the political, economic and sociological developments in Russia
from Perestroika (late 1980s) to Putin. The course will discuss the society's changing values, older and
younger generations, political parties and movements, elections, the business community and its
relations with the government, common perceptions of Westerners and Western society, and the role
of women in the family and at work. Emphasis will be placed on the examination, interpretation and
explanation of peoples behavior and their perception of democracy and reforms, facilitating
comparison of Western and Russian social experience.
SM 469. Russian Utopia in Literature, Film, and Politics. (M) Korshunova.Prerequisite(s): RUSS361
or comparable language competence. Conducted in Russian.
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. In this course we will undertake
a fascinating journey to the Dreamland of Russian culture. Students will read and discuss Russian
utopian imagination as presented in a variety of literary texts, paintings, musical works, films, as well
as philosophical texts and economic theories. Topics for discussion will include Russian fairy tales and
legends, religious prophesies and communist projects, history and imagination, technological and
patriarchal utopias.
SM 485. (COLL224) Russian Poetics. (A) Steiner.Prerequisite(s): RUSS312, RUSS361 or
comparable language competence. This course is open to all advanced students of Russian (including
students who speak Russian at home).
Introduction to the analysis of poetic texts, based on the works of Batyushkov, Lermontov, Tyutchev,
Fet, Mandelshtam, and others.

Graduate Courses
SM 506. Pushkin. (B) Steiner.Prerequisite(s): RUSS312, RUSS361 or comparable language
competence. This course is open to all students of Russian (including students who speak Russian at
home)
The writer's lyrics, narrative poems, and drama.
SM 508. Advanced Russian for Business. (M) Bourlatskaya.Prerequisite(s): At least one RUSS400level course or comparable language competence.
This advanced language course focuses on developing effective oral and written communication skills
for working in a Russian-speaking business environment. Students will discuss major aspects of
Russian business today and learn about various Russian companies using material from the current
Russian business press. In addition, students will be engaged in a number of creative projects, such
as business negotiation simulations, and simulation of creating a company in Russia.

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SM 544. (COML541, RUSS444) Haunted House: Russian Realism in European Context. (M)
Vinitsky.
In this class we will examine works of major Russian Realist writers, painters, and composers
considering them within Western ideological contexts of the 1850-1880s: positivism, materialism,
behaviorism, spiritualism, etc. We will focus on Russian Realists ideological and aesthetic struggle
against Romantic values and on an unpredicted result of this struggle -- a final spectralization of social
and political realities they claimed to mirror in their works. Paradoxically, Russian Realism contributed
to the creation of the image of Russia as a house haunted by numerous apparitions: nihilism and
revolution, afflicted peasants and perfidious Jews, secret societies and religious sects. The
spectropoetics (Derrida) of Russian Realism will be examined through works of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy,
Turgenev, Leskov, Chekhov, as well as paintings by Ilya Repin and operas by Mussorgsky and
Tchaikovsky. Requirements include one oral presentation, mid-term theoretical survey essay, and a
final paper. Relevant theories include M.H. Abrams, Brookes, Levine, Greenblatt, Castle, and Derrida.

SLAVIC (SLAV)
100. (HIST231, RUSS103) Slavic Civilization. (I) History & Tradition Sector. All classes.
Verkholantsev.
This introductory course examines selected topics in the cultural and political history of Slavic peoples.
Topics include: the origins and pre-history of the Slavs, Slavic languages and literary culture, religions
of the Slavs (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam), the origins of Slavic nationalism and PanSlavism and the formation of Eastern/Central Europe. The course combines lectures with discussions
of literary texts in translation, film, music and art.
109. Central European Culture and Civilization. (M) Steiner. This is Penn-in-Prague course
This course is normally offered through Penn-in-Prague during summer. The reappearance of the
concept of Central Europe is one of the most fascinating results of the collapse of the Soviet empire.
The course will provide an introduction into the study of this region based on the commonalties and
differences between Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Germany. The topics will include
the history of arts and literature, as well as broader cultural and historical patterns characteristic of this
part of Europe.
164. (CINE164, RUSS164) Russian and East European Film from the October Revolution to
World War II. (M) Todorov.
This course presents the Russian contribution to world cinema before WWII -nationalization of the film
industry in post revolutionary Russia, thecreation of institutions of higher education in filmmaking, film
theory,experimentation with the cinematic language, and the social and politicalreflex of cinema. Major
themes and issues involve: the invention of montage,Kuleshov effect, the means of visual propaganda
and the cinematic component tothe communist cultural revolutions, party ideology and practices
ofsocial-engineering, cinematic response to the emergence of the totalitarianstate. Great filmmaker
and theorist in discussion include Vertov, Kuleshov,Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Medvedkin and others.
165. (CINE165, RUSS165) Russian and East European Film After WWII. (M) Todorov.
This course examines the Russian and East European contribution to worldcinema after WWII Stalinist aesthetics and desalinization, WWII in film, theinstallation of totalitarianism in Eastern Europe
and the Cold War in film,the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and thepost-soviet
condition, cinematic representations of Yugoslavia's violentbreakup; the new Romanian waive. Major
filmmakers in discussion includeKalatozov, Tarkovsky, Wajda, Polanski, Forman, Mentzel, Sabo,
Kusturitsa,Konchalovsky, Mikhalkov and others.

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220. (HIST218) Poets, Priests and Politicians: An Intellectual History of Modern Ukraine. (M)
Rudnytzky.
The course is a one-semester survey of literary, philosophical, political and socio-religious issues in
Ukraine from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 21st century. Its goal is to introduce students
to an understanding of individual and collective thought in Ukrainian history and enable them to
determine Ukraine's role in the making of contemporary Europe. Interdisciplinary in nature and
comparative in methodology, the survey focuses on the principal works of imaginative literature and
philosophical writings.
Following a theoretical and historical introduction and placing the subject matter within the
European context, selected works of Ukrainian classicism and romanticism will be analyzed and
interpreted as roots of modern Ukrainian identity. An attempt will be made to point out the elective
affinities of Ukrainian intellectuals with their European counterparts and to demonstrate the organic
unity of Ukraine's culture with that of Western Europe. The survey will conclude with an analysis of
post-modernistic intellectual currents and intellectual life in Ukraine following the Orange Revolution of
2004/05.
399. Independent Study. (C) May be repeated for credit
499. Independent Study.. (C)
SM 500. (CLST511, COML501, ENGL571, GRMN534, ROML512) History of Literary Theory. (M)
Copeland/Platt.
Over the last three decades, the fields of literary and cultural studies have been reconfigured by a
variety of theoretical and methodological developments. Bracing and often confrontational dialogues
between theoretical and political positions as varied as Deconstruction, New Historicism, Cultural
Materialism, Feminism, Queer Theory, Minority Discourse Theory, Colonial and Post-colonial Studies
and Cultural Studies have, in particular, altered disciplinary agendas and intellectual priorities for
students embarking on the /professional /study of literature. In this course, we will study key texts,
statements and debates that define these issues, and will work towards a broad knowledge of the
complex rewriting of the project of literary studies in process today. The reading list will keep in mind
the Examination List in Comparative Literature we will not work towards complete coverage but will
ask how crucial contemporary theorists engage with the longer history and institutional practices of
literary criticism.
There will be no examinations. Students will make one class presentation, which will then be
reworked into a paper (1200-1500 words) to be submitted one week after the presentation. A second
paper will be an annotated bibliography on a theoretical issue or issues that a student wishes to
explore further. The bibliography will be developed in consultation with the instructor; it will typically
include three or four books and six to eight articles or their equivalent. The annotated bibliography will
be prefaced by a five or six page introduction; the whole will add up to between 5000 and 6000 words
of prose. Students will prepare position notes each week, which will either be posted on a weblog or
circulated in class.

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SM 526. (COML526, ENGL705, HIST526) In Defiance of Babel: the Quest for a Universal
Language. (M) Verkholantsev.
This is a course in intellectual history. It explores the historical trajectory, from antiquity to the present
day, of the idea that there once was, and again could be, a universal and perfect language to explain
and communicate the essence of human experience. The idea that the language spoken in the
Garden of Eden was a language which perfectly expressed the essence of all possible objects and
concepts has occupied the minds of scholars for more than two millennia. In defiance of the myth of
the Tower of Babel and the confusion of languages, they strived to overcome divine punishment and
discover the path back to harmonious existence.
For philosophers, the possibility of recovering or recreating a universal language would enable
apprehension of the laws of nature. For theologians, it would allow direct experience of the divinity. For
mystic-cabalists it would offer access to hidden knowledge. For nineteenth-century philologists the
reconstruction of the proto-language would enable a better understanding of human history. For
contemporary scholars, linguistic universals provide structural models both for human and artificial
languages. For writers and poets of all times, from Cyrano de Bergerac to Velimir Khlebnikov, the idea
of a universal and perfect language has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Above all, the
course examines fundamental questions of what language is and how it functions. Among the course
readings are works by Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Dante, Horapollo, Bacon, Giordano Bruno, John
Wilkins, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jonathan Swift, and Zamenhof.
SM 610. Topics in Second Language Acquisition. (M) Shardakova.
SM 620. Europe: From Idea to Union. (M) Steiner.
Employing the methods from the humanities and social sciences this interdisciplinary seminar will
explore the variety of factors that contributed to dividing and uniting Europe. The continent will be
considered as a geographical and cultural space and the construction of its identity will be examined
through several historical periods-from the Middle Ages to Modernism--comprising the rich layer of
pan-European civilization across the ethnic or national borders.
Finally, the structure of the European Union will be scrutinized including its institutions, decisionmaking mechanism, shared currency, collective security, and Europe's changing relationship with the
USA. Participants will be encouraged to select a particular topic in European studies and research it
through assigned readings, film, literature, and other media. The individual projects will be developed
through consultations with the instructor into a class presentation leading to a final paper (about 6,000
words).
SM 623. (HIST620) Historiography of Imperial and Soviet Russia. (A) Platt.Prerequisite(s): At least
advanced reading knowledge of Russian. Seminar discussion will be conducted in English, but a fair
amount of reading will be assigned in Russian.
We will cover the development of Russian historical research and writing from the start of the
eighteenth century to the present, focusing on major texts, schools and figures. Alongside this
traditional historiographical architecture, segments of the course will be devoted as well to a variety of
theoretical models and approaches to research, including: institutional history, cultural history, poetics
of history, philosophy of history, "invention of tradition," trauma studies, and others.
SM 651. (COML650) Theories of Representation. (M) Steiner.
The course will examine major Western theories of sign and representation from Socrates to Derrida.
Primary focus will be on twentieth-century trends including phenomenology, structuralism, and
Marxism. Readings will include: Plato, St. Augustine, Pierce, Husserl, Jakobson, Bakhtin, Voloshinov,
Eco, Derrida and others.

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(AS) {SLAV}
SM 655. (COML654, HIST656) History, Memory, Trauma. (M) Platt. All readings and lectures in
English.
This course will be devoted to study of the theory and practice of representation of the past in major
European traditions during the modern era, with special emphasis on three topics of broad concern:
revolution, genocide, and national becoming. The object of inquiry will be construed broadly, to include
all manner of historiographic, artistic, filmic, literary and rhetorical representation of the past. Each of
the three segments of the course will begin with examination of important theoretical readings in
conjunction with case studies in major European traditions that have been among the central foci of
this theoretical work (French Revolutionary history, Holocaust, English nationalism). Next we will add
analogous Russian cases to the picture (Russian Revolution, Gulag memory, Ivan the Terrible and
Peter the Great as national myths). Finally, at the conclusion of each segment students will bring
theoretical tools to bear on the national traditions and contexts relevant to their own work. Our
readings in the theory and philosophy of history and historiography will include works by: Anderson,
Caruth, Guha, Hegel, LaCapra, Putnam, Ricoeur, White and others.
SM 657. (COML657) Formalism, Bakhtin et al.. (M) Steiner.
This course deals in depth with the three seminal literary-theoretical trends in Slavic philology during
the inter war and the early post-war periods. It starts with Russian Formalism, a school striving to pin
down what differentiates literary discourse from all other forms of language and continues with the
Prague Structuralism that redefined the tenets of Formalisms from a semiotic perspective. Finally, the
Bakhtin circle's key concepts meta-linguistics, dialogue and carnivals are discussed. All readings are
in English.
999. Independent Study. (C)

POLISH
SM 392. (CINE392, COML391) Topics in Film Studies. (M)
501. Elementary Polish I. (D) Moscala.Prerequisite(s): No prerequisite. Offered through the Penn
Language Center.
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. The textbook Hurra - Po Polsku 1 is written in the spirit of the communicative
approach, which makes it possible to communicate from the very beginning of the learning process.
The special attention, however, will be paid on systematic development of all language skills: listening,
reading, speaking and writing.

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502. Elementary Polish II. (D) Wolski-Moskoff.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 501 or Instructor's permission.
Offered through the Penn Language Center.
This course is a continuation of the SLAV501 680. This 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. The textbook Hurra - Po Polsku 1 is
written in the spirit of the communicative approach, which makes it possible to communicate from the
very beginning of the learning process. The special attention, however, will be paid on systematic
development of all language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing.
503. Intermediate Polish I. (D) Wolski-Moskoff.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 502 or placement exam. Offered
through the Penn Language Center.
This is a first-semester intermediate -level language course that emphasizes the development of the
four basic skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) within a culturally based context. Class time
will focus on communicative activities that combine grammatical concepts, relevant vocabulary, and
cultural themes. Students will learn through classroom exercises based on a modern textbook: Hurra
Po Polsku 2, completion of individual and group assignments and work with various audio and video
materials. Major course goals include: the acquisition of intermediate-level vocabulary, the controlled
use of the Polish cases; the aspect of the verbs, the development of writing skills.
504. Intermediate Polish II. (D) Wolski-Moskoff.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 503 or placement. Offered
through the Penn Language Center.
This course is a continuation of the SLAV503 680. This is a second-semester intermediate -level
language course that emphasizes the development of the four basic skills (reading, writing, listening,
and speaking) within a culturally based context. Class time will focus on communicative activities that
combine grammatical concepts, relevant vocabulary, and cultural themes. Students will learn through
classroom exercises based on a modern textbook: Hurra Po Polsku 2, completion of individual and
group assignments and work with various audio and video materials. Major course goals include: the
acquisition of intermediate-level vocabulary, the controlled use of the Polish cases; the aspect of the
verbs, the development of writing skills.
505. Polish for heritage speakers I. (M) Wolski-Moskoff.Prerequisite(s): Instructor permission
required. STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE TWO SEMESTERS OF THIS COURSE SATISFY THE
PENN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT. Polish is used exclusively in the classroom.
The course is addressed to students who have spoken Polish at home and seek to achieve proficiency
in the language. The main goal of this course is to provide instruction directed at students continued
development of existing competencies in the Polish language. Students will acquire skills that range
from learning grammar and spelling, and developing vocabulary, to interpretation and analysis of
different literary genres. Students will explore a broad variety of cultural themes. Topics will include:
Polish literature - classic and modern, social life, contemporary affairs and films.
Upon completion of the Polish for Heritage Speakers course, students are expected to confidently
understand, read, write and speak Polish with an increased vocabulary and a better command of
Polish grammar. They will increase their reading skills through interpretation and analysis of different
Polish literary genres. Students will be able to organize their thoughts and write in a coherent manner.
They will increase their writing skills by writing personal essays, compositions and others. Students will
further their knowledge of the Polish language and will engage in class discussion on various topics.
Students will gain a better understanding of the Polish culture.

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SLAVIC LANGUAGES
(AS) {SLAV}
506. Polish for Heritage Speakers II. (M) Wolski-Moskoff.Prerequisite(s): SLAV505 or placement test.
Continuation of SLAV505

EAST EUROPEAN (EEUR)

121. Elementary Hungarian I. (D) Mizsei. Offered through Penn Language Center.
An introduction to the fundamentals of the Hungarian language, acquisition of conversational,
readings and writing skills.
122. Elementary Hungarian II. (D) Mizsei.Prerequisite(s): EEUR 121 or placement. Offered through
Penn Language Center.
Continuation of EEUR 121
123. Intermediate Hungarian I. (D) Mizsei.Prerequisite(s): EEUR 121-122 or placement. Offered
through the Penn Language Center
Emphasis on vocabulary building, conversation and reading skills. Grammar review.
124. Intermediate Hungarian II. (D) Mizsei.Prerequisite(s): EEUR 121-123 or placement. Offered
through Penn Language Center.
Continuation of EEUR123.
125. Advanced Hungarian I. (M) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
The basic aim is to enable students, independently or under the guidance of theteacher, to
communicate in Hungarian and express their thoughts (orally or in writing) at an advanced level.
126. Advanced Hungarian II. (M) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
A continuation of Advanced Hungarian I
199. Independent Study.. (C)
399. Supervised Work in a Language of Eastern Europe. (M)
Hours and credits on an individual basis.

CZECH (SLAV)
530. Elementary Czech I. (D) Stejskal. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
An introduction to the fundamentals of the Czech language, acquisition of conversational, reading and
writing skills.
531. Elementary Czech II. (D) Stejskal.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 530 or Placement. Offered through the
Penn Language Center.
Continuation of SLAV 530

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(AS) {SLAV}
532. Intermediate Czech I. (D) Stejskal.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 531 or Placement. Offered through the
Penn Language Center.
Emphasis on vocabulary building, conversation and reading skills. Grammar review.
533. Intermediate Czech II. (D) Stejskal.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 532 or Placement. Offered through the
Penn Language Center.
Continuation of SLAV 532
534. Advanced Czech I. (D) Stejskal.Prerequisite(s): Two years of Czech or placement. Offered
through the Penn Language Center.
Emphasis on advanced vocabulary building, conversation and reading skills. Advanced grammar
review.
535. Advanced Czech II. (D) Stejskal.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 534 or placement. Offered Through the
Penn Language Center.
Continuation of SLAV 534

UKRAINIAN (SLAV)
590. Elementary Ukrainian I. (D) Rudnytzky. Offered through the Penn Language Center
An introduction to the fundamentals of the Ukrainian language, acquisition of conversational, reading
and writing skills.
591. Elementary Ukrainian II. (D) Rudnytzky.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 590 or Placement. Offered
through the Penn Language Center
Continuation of SLAV 590
592. Intermediate Ukrainian I. (D) Rudnytzky.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 591 or placement test. Offered
through the Penn Language Center
Emphasis on vocabulary building, conversation and reading skills. Grammar review.
593. Intermediate Ukrainian II. (D) Rudnytzky.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 592 or Placement. Offered
through the Penn Language Center
Continuation of SLAV 592
594. Advanced Ukrainian I. (D) Rudnytzky.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 593 or Placement. Offered through
the Penn Language Center
Emphasis on advanced vocabulary building, conversation and reading skills. Advanced grammar
review.
595. Advanced Ukrainian II. (D) Rudnytzky.Prerequisite(s): SLAV 594 or Placement. Offered through
the Penn Language Center
Continuation of SLAV 594

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