Fall 2024

RUS 549 

Russian for Academic Purposes I

This course focuses instruction on skills required to perform in a Russian-speaking academic context across core subject areas of literary analysis and cultural studies. The targeted language skills - reading, writing, speaking, and listening - will be tied with the specific needs of students (e.g., reading and writing proposals, presentations for conferences, academic articles, and correspondence). In addition, students get acquainted with various academic sub-styles and genres as well as differences in academic standards (citation, bibliography). The course includes a comprehensive review of Russian grammar and syntax.

SLA 530

Topics in Russian Literature or Literary Theory: Russian Literature of the Twentieth Century

The purpose of this course is to help graduate students prepare for the twentieth-century section of the general exam. Texts are selected from the list of required reading and discussions concern the significance of the works as well as the main approaches to them.

SLA 531

Topics in Russian Literature or Literary Theory: Haunted House: Russian Literature in the Age of Realism

The first part of the class deals with a general survey and description (physiology) of Russian realism as a cultural movement. In the second part, we focus on Russian Realists' ideological struggle against Romantic values and an unpredicted result of this struggle -- "spectralization" of social and political realities they claimed to mirror in their works and creation of the image of Russia as a house haunted by numerous apparitions: ghosts of the past and guests from the future, tormented women and suffering children, afflicted peasants and demonic nihilists, secret societies and religious sects.

SLA 535

Methods of Teaching Slavic

A practical course required of graduate students who are teaching Beginner's Russian. The course covers all issues relevant to the teaching of the language: phonetics, grammar presentation, efficient use of class time, class and syllabus planning, writing quizzes and tests. In addition to weekly meetings with the instructors, students are expected to meet as a group to develop best practices for covering each week's material. An important part of the course is instructor supervision of teaching.

SLA 561

Proseminar in Slavic

The purpose of the course is twofold: to cover some of the essential texts of the Russian literary and critical tradition and to acquaint students with the range of topics and approaches taught by the faculty. Offered once every two years, it is team-taught, with each faculty member taking a two-week segment. The course is mandatory for all graduate students in the department, who take it either their first or second year of study.