Undergraduate

REES REES 24425/34425 Russia’s Culture Wars

(REES 24425)

A look at contemporary Russian culture through Russia’s invasions, from Afghanistan in 1979 to Ukraine in 2022. Broadly, this course explores the extent to which war and other types of state violence determine cultural life. How do the policies and tactics of war, and the art and literature of wartime, convey ideas about power and the state, traditional vs. modern values, civilizational mission vs. cultural pluralism? Beyond Russian literature and film, we consider voices from Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Chechnya, Syria, Belarus, and Ukraine, asking, What is the cultural impact of Russia’s invasions?

2022-2023 Autumn

POLI 20403 / 30403/30403 Third-Year Polish I

(30403)

The process of learning in all three quarters of Third-Year Polish is framed by three themes, which most succinctly but aptly characterize Polish life, culture, and history: in the Autumn Quarter--the noble democracy in the Commonwealth of Both Nations, in the Winter Quarter--the fight for independence, and in the Spring Quarter--the newly independent Poland. During the course of the year, students also improve their knowledge of advanced grammar and stylistics. All work in Polish.

All work in Polish.

2022-2023 Autumn

CZEC 10303 First-Year Czech III

This course is an introduction to the basic grammar of Czech with attention given to all four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as exposure to Czech culture. Winter and Spring Quarters include work with Czech film and literature. Students gain some familiarity with the major differences between literary and spoken Czech as they learn to use the language both as a means of communication and as a tool for reading and research.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Language

REES 23154 /33154 XCAP: The Commune: The Making and Breaking of Intentional Communities

(KNOW 29975)

Any class is an intentional community of sorts: people gathered together with a sense of collective purpose. But often the hopes of students are not met by the content or the methods in the classroom. Can we do better by making the process more intentional—clarifying and developing a collective sense of purpose at the outset? We will start by forming a collective plan on topics to be explored—anything from iconic American communities and Russian communes to memoir studies and economics. Possible projects include creating an intentional community in an off-campus location, designing a communal space, rewriting manifestos, or creating a new communal charter. We can cover anything from economics, space, and gender to the problem of leadership and secular belief systems. We may also want to utilize alternative modes of learning, besides reading and discussing texts, such as roleplaying. A few students in the class have some experience in intentional communities, and we will welcome their input and suggestions

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Literature and Linguistics

REES 24220 /34220 Anxious Spaces

(ARCH 24220 / GNSE 24220 / GNSE 34220)

This course explores built (architectural), filmic, and narrative spaces that disturb our bearings, un-situate us, and defy neurotypical cognition. In the sense that “angst” is a mode that can be understood as both stalling and generative, we analyze spaces and representations of spaces such as corridors, attics, basements, canals, viaducts, labyrinths, forests, ruins, etc., spaces that are ‘felt’ as estranging, foreboding, in short, anxiety-provoking, in order to understand why—despite or because these topoi are hostile—they are produced, reproduced, and craved. We will pay special attention to abject spaces of racial and sexual exclusivity, sites of spoliation, and of memory and erasure. Among our primary texts are films by Kubrick, Tarkovksy, and Antonioni, and Chytilová, short fiction by Borges, Kafka, Nabokov, and selections from the philosophical/theoretical writings of Bachelard, Deleuze & Guattari, Debord, Foucault, Kracauer, and the edited volume, Mapping Desire, Geographies of Sexuality.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Literature and Linguistics

REES 20020 /30020 Pale Fire

(FNDL 25311 / ENGL 22817 / GNSE 29610 / GNSE 39610)

This course is an intensive reading of Pale Fire by Nabokov.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Literature and Linguistics

POLI 20303 Second-Year Polish III

The primary goal of second year Polish is to expand the student’s speaking, reading and writing skills by building on grammar and vocabulary learned during the first year of study. As a complement to the linguistic side of the course, the student will gain a greater familiarity with Polish history and culture through varied means including readings of literary works, articles from contemporary Polish newspapers and movies.

Fall Quarter of Second Year Polish or instructor consent.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Language

POLI 10303 First-Year Polish III

This course teaches students to speak, read, and write in Polish, as well as familiarizes them with Polish culture. It employs the most up-to-date techniques of language teaching (e.g.,communicative and accelerated learning, and learning based on students' native language skills), as well as multileveled target-language exposure.

POLI 10203 or consent of instructor.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Language

RUSS 10600 Russian through Pushkin III

This literary and linguistic approach to Russian allows students to learn the language by engaging classic Russian poetic texts (e.g., Pushkin’s The Bronze Horseman), as well as excerpts from Eugene Onegin and selections from Pushkin’s shorter poems and prose works. Although the focus is on reading Russian, all four major communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) are stressed, preparing students for the College Language Competency Exam and for continued study of Russian in second-year courses. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

Not open to students who have taken RUSS 10100-10200-10300.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Language

RUSS 20303 Second-Year Russian III

This course continues RUSS 10103-10203-10303; it includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, elementary composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students from excessive dependence on the dictionary and develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

Class meets Monday through Friday; Tuesday and Thursday meetings will be arranged with the instructor.

2021-2022 Spring
Category
Language
Subscribe to Undergraduate