Russian and East European StudiesCourses for Spring 2025
| Title | Instructor | Location | Time | All taxonomy terms | Description | Section Description | Cross Listings | Fulfills | Registration Notes | Syllabus | Syllabus URL | Course Syllabus URL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCS 0200-680 | Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian II | Neda Scepanovic-Uliano | TR 7:00 PM-8:29 PM | This course is the second in the series of first-year courses, the continuation of Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary BCS. Class work emphasizes development of communicative and cultural competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in BCS. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in BCS. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | |||||||||
| HUNG 0200-680 | Hungarian II | Adrienn V. Mizsei | MW 7:00 PM-8:59 PM | This course is the second in a series of first-year courses, continuation of Hungarian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, short stories, and internet sites. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life, including planning a trip to Hungary, staying in a hotel, ordering meals, and buying goods. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Hungarian. | ||||||||||
| HUNG 0400-680 | Hungarian IV | Adrienn V. Mizsei | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course is the second in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Hungarian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including online news resources, songs, and videos. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | |||||||||
| HUNG 0400-681 | Hungarian IV | Adrienn V. Mizsei | TR 7:00 PM-8:29 PM | This course is the second in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Hungarian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including online news resources, songs, and videos. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | |||||||||
| PLSH 0200-680 | Polish II | Agnieszka Dziedzic | MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course is the second in a series of first-year courses, continuation of Polish I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Polish. We will continue the exploration of Polish culture through exciting authentic materials, including Polish films, history and contemporary affairs. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Polish. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Polish on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Polish. | ||||||||||
| PLSH 0201-680 | Polish for Heritage Speakers I | Agnieszka Dziedzic | MW 7:00 PM-8:29 PM | This is the first in the series of literacy courses for students who have spoken Polish at home and seek to improve literacy skills and language competence. The course aims to enhance linguistic accuracy in spelling, grammar, word choice and pronunciation, as well as fluency and narrative structure in both speaking and writing. We will also focus on developing effective reading and listening strategies and expanding students’ active and passive vocabulary through interpretation and analysis of various literary genres and a broad variety of cultural themes. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | |||||||||
| REES 0010-301 | Central and Eastern Europe: Cultures, Histories, Societies | Kristen R Ghodsee | MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | The reappearance of the concept of Central and Eastern 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 - its cultures, histories, and societies - from the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire to the enlargement of the European Union. Students are encouraged to delve deeper into particular countries, disciplines, and sub-regions, such as Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, through an individual research paper and class presentations. | ||||||||||
| REES 0110-401 | Portraits of Russian Society: Art, Fiction, Drama | Siarhei Biareishyk | TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | 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 history birth, death, duel, courtship, tsar, and so on. Each of these main texts is accompanied by a set of supplementary materials paintings, 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 disciplines yet 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. | HIST0823401 | Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only) | ||||||||
| REES 0149-401 | World Socialist Literature and Film |
Anna Linetskaya Kevin M.F. Platt |
TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | In 1989-1991, a whole world, perhaps many worlds, vanished: worlds of socialism. In this course we will investigate key works of literature and film spanning the socialist world(s), focused around the USSR, which was for many the (not uncontested) center of the socialist cosmos for much of the twentieth century. Further, we will study the cultural and political interrelationships between the socialist world(s) and anticolonial and left movements in the developing and the capitalist developed nations alike. Finally, we will investigate the aftermaths left behind as these world(s) crumbled or were transformed beyond recognition at the end of the twentieth century. Our work will be ramified by consideration of a number of critical and methodological tools for the study of these many histories and geographies. The purview of the course is dauntingly large—global in scale—and therefore “coverage” will of necessity be incomplete. Readings and viewings may include works by: Tengiz Abuladze, Bertolt Brecht, Slavenka Drakulić, Sergei Eisenstein, Howard Fast, Ritwik Ghatak, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Pablo Neruda, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Sembène Ousmane, Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Rabindranath Tagore, Christa Wolf, Zhang Meng, and others. | COML0149401, ENGL1460401 | |||||||||
| REES 0172-401 | Madness and Madmen in Russian Culture | Molly Peeney | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | Is "insanity" today the same thing as "madness" of old? Who gets to define what it means to be "sane," and why? Are the causes of madness biological or social? In this course, we will grapple with these and similar questions while exploring Russia's fascinating history of madness as a means to maintain, critique, or subvert the status quo. We will consider the concept of madness in Russian culture beginning with its earliest folkloric roots and trace its depiction and function in the figure of the Russian "holy fool," in classical literature, and in contemporary film. Readings will include works by many Russian greats, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov and Nabokov. | COML1097401 | Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only) | ||||||||
| REES 0172-402 | Madness and Madmen in Russian Culture | Molly Peeney | TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | Is "insanity" today the same thing as "madness" of old? Who gets to define what it means to be "sane," and why? Are the causes of madness biological or social? In this course, we will grapple with these and similar questions while exploring Russia's fascinating history of madness as a means to maintain, critique, or subvert the status quo. We will consider the concept of madness in Russian culture beginning with its earliest folkloric roots and trace its depiction and function in the figure of the Russian "holy fool," in classical literature, and in contemporary film. Readings will include works by many Russian greats, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov and Nabokov. | COML1097402 | Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only) | ||||||||
| REES 0240-401 | Russian and East European Art and Cinema since 1900 | Kevin M.F. Platt | TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | Since the turn of the twentieth century, art and politics have been uniquely intertwined in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and its successor states. In the first decades of the century, across these territories, radical artistic movements such as suprematist abstraction, productivism, constructivist architecture, Bauhaus modernism, and, finally, Stalinist socialist realism sought to support revolutionary social transformation by literally reshaping the social world and human perception. Cinema, too, played its part—Vladimir Lenin, the Communist revolutionary founder of the Soviet Union, famously said that “of all the arts the most important for us is the cinema.” Propelled by this vision, the early USSR became a laboratory for cutting-edge film that sought to transform viewers into a new kind of person. Yet as the century wore on and Soviet socialism gave way first to state terror and then to moribund bureaucratism and cultural conservatism, it was non-comformist underground artists who took the lead in experimental and politically radical art in the region. Finally, in the post-Soviet era, art and cinema in these territories embraced democratic freedoms and market institutions, before finally, in some quarters, returning to revolutionary roots in response to rising authoritarianism. In this broad survey course, we will trace the history of art and film of the region through a series of case studies, including: Erik Bulatov, Sergei Eisenstein, Miloš Forman, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Oleg Kulik, Emir Kusturica, El Lilzitsky, Kazimir Malevich, Jiří Menzel, Kira Muratova, Pussy Riot, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Dziga Vertov, Andrzej Wajda, and others. | ARTH2951401, CIMS0274401 | |||||||||
| REES 1171-401 | Dialogues in Critical Theory between East and West |
Siarhei Biareishyk Asher Maria |
TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | The twentieth century, marked by radical political revolutions and immense technological advancements, witnessed a seismic shift in critical thinking—the emergence of what we now call "critical theory." Instead of the centrality of the free individual, an idea of structure took hold; instead of grand narratives, the notion of decentered subjectivity gained prevalence. Concurrently, the 1917 communist revolution, WWII, and the Cold War divided the world into distinct cultural, political, and epistemological formations—broadly categorized as East and West, or socialist and capitalist worlds. This seminar will explore the genesis of this transformation in critical thinking, focusing on literary, cultural, and political theory through the lens of the political and cultural divide between Eastern and Western Europe. Participants will be introduced to the main tenets of critical theory and continental philosophy of the twentieth century, including structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, existentialism, and deconstruction. The seminar will highlight the often covert dialogues and conceptual exchanges between East and West, despite censorship and beyond official channels. Finally, we will ask: what promise does critical theory have for us today, in a world dominated by war, political crises, and global capital? No previous knowledge of literary and cultural theory or philosophy is required. | REES6171401 | |||||||||
| REES 1174-401 | National Antiquities: Genealogies, Hagiographies, Holy Objects | Julia Verkholantsev | M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | Human societies have always wanted to know about their origins, the reasons for their customs, the foundations of their social institutions and religious beliefs, and the justification of their power structures. They have conceived of creation myths and of origins stories for their communities in order to position themselves within the past and present of the natural and human worlds. The newly Christianized kingdoms of Medieval Europe faced the challenge of securing a place in the new vision of universal Providential history, and they inscribed their own histories into the narratives they knew from the authoritative sources of the time - biblical genealogies and heroic stories inherited from the poets of classical antiquity. The deeds and virtues of saintly kings and church hierarchs provided a continuity of historical narrative on the sacred map of time and space. In the 19th century, while interest in medieval antiquity as a source of inspiration for political and cultural renewal brought about a critical study of evidence, it also effected reinterpretation and repurposing of this evidence vis-a-vis a new political concept - that of a nation. This seminar will focus on central, eastern and southeast European nations and explore three categories of "national antiquities" that have been prominent in the workings of their modern nationalisms: (1) stories of ethnogenesis (so-called, origo gentis) that narrate and explain the beginnings and genealogy of peoples and states, as they are recorded in medieval and early modern chronicles, (2) narratives about holy people, who are seen as national patron-saints, and (3) material objects of sacred significance (manuscripts, religious ceremony objects, crowns, icons) that act as symbols of political, cultural and national identities. Our approach will be two-fold: On the one hand, we will read medieval sources and ask the question of what they tell us about the mindset of the authors and societies that created them. We will think about how the knowledge of the past helped medieval societies legitimize the present and provide a model for the future. On the other hand, we will observe how medieval narratives and artifacts have been interpreted in modern times and how they became repurposed - first, during the "Romantic" stage of national awakening, then in the post-imperial era of independent nation-states, and, finally, in the post-Soviet context of reimagined Europe. We will observe how the study of nationalistic mentality enhances our understanding of how the past is represented and repurposed in scholarship and politics. | HIST0725401 | |||||||||
| REES 1181-401 | Writing the Translation | Timothy Straw | R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | Literary translation is many things. Perhaps most of all, though, it is writing. It is a craft, and it is also a particular kind of imagination that both haunts and supersedes craft. Every translation, then, is as much the making of a new original as it is the learning from and listening to the ‘old’ one. We will pursue what Kornei Chukovsky calls “the high art of translation” in its multiple forms: as a discipline, as a tradition, as a force of disruption and change, and as a form of play. This is a course in two parts: seminar and workshop. We’ll first read and discuss translated texts, and texts about translation, from a multiplicity of language traditions. This will help us develop a shared theoretical and imaginative language for the course’s second portion, the workshop, in which you will try out your own translation work in conversation with your peers and me. A majority of the writers, poets, and theorists that we will encounter are working in the Russian-language tradition, but we will supplement this with texts by Anne Carson, John Keene, Sawako Nakayasu, among others. We will also consider translation between mediums, including video, music, and comics. And a user’s note: if you are concerned that your language skills are not far enough along to participate meaningfully in class, please set that worry aside! Translation is a great way to improve your language, and this course is less about result than about process. | COML1181401 | |||||||||
| REES 1370-401 | Cold War: Global History | Benjamin Nathans | MW 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | The Cold War was more than simply a military confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union; it was the frame within which the entire world developed (for better or worse) for nearly five decades. This course will examine the cold War as a global phenomenon, covering not only the military and diplomatic history of the period, but also examining the social and cultural impact of the superpower confrontation. We will cover the origins of the conflict, the interplay between periods of tension and detente, the relative significance of disagreements within the opposing blocs, and the relationship between the "center" of the conflict in the North Atlantic/European area and the global "periphery". | HIST1735401 | Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only) | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=REES1370401 | |||||||
| REES 1380-401 | Tolstoy’s War and Peace and the Age of Napoleon | Peter I. Holquist | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | 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 book 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 book? Because we will read War and Peace over the course of the entire semester, readings will be manageable and very enjoyable. | COML1262401, HIST1260401 | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=REES1380401 | ||||||||
| REES 1535-401 | Russian Politics | Rudra Sil | MW 5:15 PM-6:15 PM | Keeping in mind the difficulties of teaching about an adversary embroiled in a war, this course will seek to analyze Russian politics as objectively as possible, with an eye to understanding long-term continuities and changes through alternating periods of stability and turmoil. This necessarily entails a consideration of historical complexities, especially the Soviet era (1917-1991). Thus, the first part of the course examines the origins and evolution of the Soviet regime from Lenin to Gorbachev. The point would be to identify some key continuities and transformations political dynamics, economic development, social conditions, and geopolitical ambitions -- particularly aspects that would later affect the evolution of post-Soviet Russia. The rest of the course delves into the evolution of politics, economics, society and foreign policy, first during the early years of transition under Boris Yeltsin (1992-99), but primarily under Vladimir Putin (2000 - present). In this section, we track the evolution of Russia’s political system, the fluctuations in economic growth, and changing social conditions over time. In the process, we will consider the rise of the oligarchs, patterns of political protest, social/demographic trends, and the role of natural resources. We will then turn to the drivers of Russia’s foreign policy since the break-up of the USSR, trying to identify the sources for the sharp decline in Russia’s relations with the US/West since even before the invasion of Ukraine. We will trace some of the key forces that paved the way to the invasion of Ukraine, especially and speculate about what the future holds in terms of peace and conflict in the region. In all these domains analysis will be informed by an underlying question: how “normal” is post-Soviet Russia’s trajectory when compared to non-western powers with their own competing historical inheritances and geopolitical aspirations (e.g. China, India, Turkey, etc.). | PSCI1172401, PSCI5172401 | |||||||||
| REES 1630-401 | Soviet and Post-Soviet Economy | Alexander Vekker | T 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | 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. | REES6630401 | |||||||||
| REES 2179-401 | Behind the Headlines: Navigating Russian-Language Media | Maria Alley | TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | This course explores a wide range of Russian-language media, looking at the diverse ways in which news outlets cover current political, economic, and sociocultural events and issues. The coursework emphasizes close reading and analysis of written, spoken, and visual texts and discussion of the topics and issues they raise. A special focus will be placed on the role that language plays in expressing underlying ideologies, power dynamics, and nuance, and in shaping public opinion. In addition to developing more advanced, professional-level proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening in Russian, you will expand your active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics and improve your translation skills. Within the course structure, students are encouraged to explore topics of particular personal and academic interest. This course is designed for heritage students who have completed Russian 0401 or have demonstrated competency at this level through placement testing. | REES5179401 | |||||||||
| REES 2270-401 | Contemporary Russia Through Film | Maria Bourlatskaya | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | 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. | CIMS2270401, CIMS5296401, REES5296401 | |||||||||
| REES 5179-401 | Behind the Headlines: Navigating Russian-Language Media | Maria Alley | TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | This course explores a wide range of Russian-language media, looking at the diverse ways in which news outlets cover current political, economic, and sociocultural events and issues. The coursework emphasizes close reading and analysis of written, spoken, and visual texts and discussion of the topics and issues they raise. A special focus will be placed on the role that language plays in expressing underlying ideologies, power dynamics, and nuance, and in shaping public opinion. In addition to developing more advanced, professional-level proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening in Russian, you will expand your active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics and improve your translation skills. Within the course structure, students are encouraged to explore topics of particular personal and academic interest. This course is designed for heritage students who have completed Russian 0401 or have demonstrated competency at this level through placement testing. | REES2179401 | |||||||||
| REES 5296-401 | Contemporary Russia Through Film | Maria Bourlatskaya | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | 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. | CIMS2270401, CIMS5296401, REES2270401 | |||||||||
| REES 6171-401 | Dialogues in Critical Theory between East and West |
Siarhei Biareishyk Asher Maria |
TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | The twentieth century, marked by radical political revolutions and immense technological advancements, witnessed a seismic shift in critical thinking—the emergence of what we now call "critical theory." Instead of the centrality of the free individual, an idea of structure took hold; instead of grand narratives, the notion of decentered subjectivity gained prevalence. Concurrently, the 1917 communist revolution, WWII, and the Cold War divided the world into distinct cultural, political, and epistemological formations—broadly categorized as East and West, or socialist and capitalist worlds. This seminar will explore the genesis of this transformation in critical thinking, focusing on literary, cultural, and political theory through the lens of the political and cultural divide between Eastern and Western Europe. Participants will be introduced to the main tenets of critical theory and continental philosophy of the twentieth century, including structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, existentialism, and deconstruction. The seminar will highlight the often covert dialogues and conceptual exchanges between East and West, despite censorship and beyond official channels. Finally, we will ask: what promise does critical theory have for us today, in a world dominated by war, political crises, and global capital? No previous knowledge of literary and cultural theory or philosophy is required. | REES1171401 | |||||||||
| REES 6285-401 | Film, Revolution, and the 1960s | Julia Alekseyeva | R 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | This graduate class analyzes global film practices of the 1960s alongside revolutionary movements, from the 1960 Japanese anti-US-Japan Security Treaty (ANPO) protests to the global insurrections of May 1968 and beyond. | CIMS5045401, EALC6311401, ENGL5045401 | |||||||||
| REES 6460-401 | Linguistic Culture and Literary Development | D. Brian Kim | T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | The opening pages of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” (1869), set in July 1805, feature a conversation between two nobles who are speaking in a combination of Russian and “that elegant French in which our forefathers not only spoke, but also thought.” Tolstoy’s remark points to a shift in the relative status — both practical and symbolic — of each of these languages in Russian high society that was occurring as the eighteenth century gave way to the nineteenth. Shifts in the functions and values of language(s) comprise the subject of this graduate-level seminar, which traces the emergence of the modern Russian literary tradition as it took place in dialogue with evolving attitudes and ideologies surrounding language, translation, nation, and empire. We will adopt a diverse array of theoretical approaches as we examine the influence of linguistic culture on literary development as well as how ideas about literature can exert their own influence on realities and discourses of language. | COML6460401 | |||||||||
| REES 6630-401 | Soviet and Post-Soviet Economy | Alexander Vekker | T 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | 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. | REES1630401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 0150-401 | Accelerated Russian I-II | Aleksey Berg | MTWR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | TWO IN ONE: This is an intensive two-credit course covering two semesters of the first-year sequence in the traditional track (RUSS0100 and 0200). The course is designed for students with no background in Russian and develops competence in speaking, reading, writing and understanding contemporary Russian. It will also introduce you to Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Russian on topics concerning your daily life. You will know greetings and everyday expressions, talk about people in your life, your hobbies and interests, past activities and future plans, your residence, food preferences and health. You will also be able to write short personalized messages in Russian in a variety of informal ad formal contexts. Together with RUSS0300 and 0400 fulfills Penn Language Requirement. | RUSS5150401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 0200-401 | Russian II | Molly Peeney |
TR 3:30 PM-4:29 PM MW 3:30 PM-4:29 PM |
This course is the second in a series of first-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will be able to talk in detail about your interests, study habits and daily schedule, plans for the future, food preferences and health and compare these with practices common in the target cultures. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Russian. | RUSS5200401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 0200-680 | Russian II | Lada Vassilieva | TR 5:15 PM-7:14 PM | This course is the second in a series of first-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will be able to talk in detail about your interests, study habits and daily schedule, plans for the future, food preferences and health and compare these with practices common in the target cultures. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Russian. | RUSS5200680 | |||||||||
| RUSS 0400-401 | Russian IV | Maria Alley | MTWR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course is the second in a series of second-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class works emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. | RUSS5400401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 0401-401 | Russian for Heritage Speakers II | Djamilia Nazyrova | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course is the second in the series of literacy courses for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve literacy skills and language competence. The course continues to focus on enhancing linguistic accuracy in spelling, grammar, word choice and pronunciation, as well as fluency, narrative structure and appropriate use of idiomatic expressions in both speaking and writing. We will continue developing effective reading and listening strategies. Course readings mostly include works of Russian classics and focus on topics in Russian history as well as cultural issues and daily life of the Russian-speaking community around the world. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. | RUSS5401401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 1200-401 | Russia Society Today II | Aleksey Berg | MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | 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. | RUSS5600401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 5150-401 | Accelerated Elementary Russian | Aleksey Berg | MTWR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | TWO IN ONE: This is an intensive two-credit course covering two semesters of the first-year 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. Together with RUSS003 and 004 fulfills Penn Language Requirement. | RUSS0150401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 5200-401 | Russian II | Molly Peeney |
MW 3:30 PM-4:29 PM TR 3:30 PM-4:29 PM |
This course is for graduate students. It is the second in a series of first-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will be able to talk in detail about your interests, study habits and daily schedule, plans for the future, food preferences and health and compare these with practices common in the target cultures. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Russian. | RUSS0200401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 5200-680 | Russian II | Lada Vassilieva | TR 5:15 PM-7:14 PM | This course is for graduate students. It is the second in a series of first-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will be able to talk in detail about your interests, study habits and daily schedule, plans for the future, food preferences and health and compare these with practices common in the target cultures. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Russian. | RUSS0200680 | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | ||||||||
| RUSS 5400-401 | Russian IV | Maria Alley | MTWR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course is for graduate students. It is the second in a series of second-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Russian culture and Russian-speaking cultures around the world through exciting authentic materials, including internet sites and cultural artifacts, songs, videos, short stories, as well as conversations with native speakers. Class works emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Russian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. | RUSS0400401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 5401-401 | Russian for Heritage Speakers II | Djamilia Nazyrova | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course is the second in the series of literacy courses for students who have spoken Russian at home and seek to improve literacy skills and language competence. The course continues to focus on enhancing linguistic accuracy in spelling, grammar, word choice and pronunciation, as well as fluency, narrative structure and appropriate use of idiomatic expressions in both speaking and writing. We will continue developing effective reading and listening strategies. Course readings mostly include works of Russian classics and focus on topics in Russian history as well as cultural issues and daily life of the Russian-speaking community around the world. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. | RUSS0401401 | |||||||||
| RUSS 5600-401 | Russian Society Today II | Aleksey Berg | MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | This course is for graduate students. It is the second in a series of third-year courses in the traditional track, continuation of Russian 1100. In this course we will continue exploring aspects of contemporary Russian society and every day life including gender issues, educational system, standardized testing, and health care through current mass media, polling data, TV, radio, and film. The course is designed to strengthen and expand students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Russian, as well as to increase students' active and passive vocabulary on a wide range of topics. The course continues to solidify students' knowledge of the basic structure of Russian, which they learned in previous courses and focuses on more advanced grammatical concepts including verbal aspect. By the end of the course, you will be able to write short analytical essays in Russian on an increasing number of issues. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Russian. | RUSS1200401 | |||||||||
| UKRN 0200-680 | Ukrainian II | Kseniia Power | MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course is the second in a series of first-year courses, continuation of Ukrainian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Ukrainian. We will continue the exploration of Ukrainian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, and short stories. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Ukrainian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Ukrainian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Ukrainian. | ||||||||||
| UKRN 0400-680 | Ukrainian IV | Kseniia Power | MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | This course is the second in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Ukrainian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Ukrainian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Ukrainian culture through exciting authentic materials, including Ukrainian newspaper articles on a variety of cultural themes and current events. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Ukrainian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Ukrainian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | |||||||||
| UKRN 1200-680 | Advanced Ukrainian II | Kseniia Power | MW 7:00 PM-8:29 PM | This course is the second in a series of third-year courses, continuation of Ukrainian 1100. The course is designed to continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Ukrainian and increasing students’ active and passive vocabulary on a wide range of topics. The course also aims to solidify the knowledge of the basic structure of Ukrainian students acquired in previous courses and focuses on more advanced grammatical concepts. Students will continue the exploration of Ukrainian literature, history, and modern life through the authentic materials, newspapers, literature excerpts and plays. This course provides a solid foundation for doing research in Ukrainian or working or studying in Ukraine. The course is conducted almost entirely in Ukrainian. | Penn Lang Center Perm needed |
