Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Russian Area Studies

Program Faculty
David Galloway, Russian
Christopher Lemelin, Russian, Chair
Charity Lofthouse, Music
David Ost, Political Science
Kristen Welsh, Russian

The Russian Area Studies program curriculum allows students to combine courses in the humanities and the social sciences. Students learn not only about the language, culture, history, and society of Russia, but also about the geopolitically related regions in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. This contextualization of Russia allows students to understand better the current events involving the Russian Federation. Such knowledge is especially valuable given the critical role this region plays in the world and its importance to U.S. foreign policy.

Russian Area Studies students go on to careers in a wide variety of fields. Recent graduates are working in such areas as international development, finance, public health, and law, at both U.S. and international organizations. Some of the program's alumni have gone on to study at top graduate programs in the field. Students considering graduate work in Russian area studies or Slavic languages and literatures should consult with a member of the Russian Area Studies faculty member as early as possible, ideally by the beginning of the sophomore year.

Russia’s past includes incredible struggles for social justice, economic equity, and civil liberties, sometimes against unbelievable odds. In Russian culture, the country’s writers and artists are considered political and ethical spokespersons just as much as are politicians or philosophers. Because of this, Russian Area Studies lends itself naturally to a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches.

Mission Statement

The Russian Area Studies Program’s mission is to prepare students for employment in fields which use their skills in the Russian language and knowledge of Russia and the neighboring states of Eurasia by educating them in the cultural, historical, literary, and political issues which affect these countries.

Offerings

The Russian Area Studies program offers two tracks for a major and two tracks for a minor. The major and minor in Russian History and Society are interdisciplinary, drawing on courses from history and politics. The major in Russian Language and Culture and the minor in Russian Language are disciplinary, drawing primarily on courses in language and literature.

Only courses for which the student has received a grade of C- or better will be counted toward either of the majors or minors. A term abroad in one of the Colleges' approved programs is strongly recommended for either of the majors.

Russian History and Society Major

interdisciplinary, 11 courses
Learning Objectives:

• Communicate in the Russian language at the ACTFL Intermediate Low proficiency level.
• Explain and interpret significant historical events of the last thousand years of Russian history, including that of underrepresented groups in and contiguous with the Russian state.
• Explain and interpret the major literary and artistic movements and figures in the Russian-speaking world from the 19th century to today, including groups whose work has been historically less commonly taught.
• Analyze cultural products in Russian and English and contextualize these products with attention to the close and dynamic relationship between the cultural, historical, and political contexts in which they were produced.
• Develop and complete a capstone project that demonstrates an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the major and which capitalizes on previous coursework.
• Demonstrate a wide-ranging knowledge of Russia and the neighboring states of Eurasia sufficient for ongoing engagement with their societies, histories, and cultures or to provide the potential for a career within the discipline, as well as critical reading, writing, and thinking skills that can be applied to any career path.

Requirements:

• RUSE 101 Blood and Ice: Russian Empires
• RUSE 112 Dangerous Words: Russian Literature and Society
• RUSE 460 Readings and Research in Russian Area Studies
• Three Russian language courses, starting with RUS 101
• Two courses from the Russian area studies Humanities electives
• Three courses from the Russian area studies Social Science electives

Russian Language and Culture Major

disciplinary, 11 courses
Learning Objectives:

• Communicate in the Russian language at the ACTFL Intermediate High proficiency level.
• Explain and interpret significant historical events of the last thousand years of Russian history, including that of underrepresented groups in and contiguous with the Russian state.
• Explain and interpret the major literary and artistic movements and figures in the Russian-speaking world from the 19th century to today, including groups whose work has been historically less commonly taught.
• Analyze cultural products in Russian and English and contextualize these products with attention to the close and dynamic relationship between the cultural, literary, and linguistic contexts in which they were produced.
• Develop and complete a capstone project that demonstrates an understanding of the literary and linguistic emphases of the major and which capitalizes on previous coursework.
• Demonstrate a wide-ranging knowledge of Russia and the neighboring states of Eurasia sufficient for ongoing engagement with their languages, histories, and cultures or to provide the potential for a career within the discipline, as well as critical reading, writing, and thinking skills that can be applied to any career path.

Requirements:

• RUSE 101 Blood and Ice: Russian Empires
• RUSE 112 Dangerous Words: Russian Literature and Society
• RUSE 460 Readings and Research in Russian Area Studies
• Six Russian language courses, starting with RUS 101
• Two non-language courses from the Russian Area Studies offerings, one of which must be from the Humanities and one of which must be from the Social Sciences.

Russian Area Studies Minor

interdisciplinary, 6 courses
Requirements:

• RUSE 101 Blood and Ice: Russian Empires or GLS 101 Introduction to Global Studies
• RUSE 112 Dangerous Words: Russian Literature and Society
• Four courses from the Russian Area Studies electives selected in consultation with an advisor.

Russian Language Minor

disciplinary, 6 courses
Requirements:
Six Russian language courses starting with RUS 101

Cross-Listed Courses

Humanities Electives
HIST 237 Europe Since the War
HIST 238 World Wars in Global Perspective
HIST 261 20th Century Russia
HIST 276 The Age of Dictators

Social Sciences Electives
BIDS 120 Russia and the Environment
ECON 233 Comparative Economics
ECON 236 Introduction to Radical Political Economy
ECON 344 Economic Development and Planning
GLS 101 Introduction to Global Studies
INRL 140 Introduction to Comparative Politics
POL 140 Introduction to Comparative World Politics
POL 257 Russia/China Resurgent
SOC 300 Classical Sociological Theory

Courses Taught in Russian (RUS)

Courses taught in English are designated RUSE and are listed separately below. Students who have studied Russian previously should contact the Russian Area Studies chair to arrange for a placement test.

RUS 101 Beginning Russian I  An introduction to the Russian language designed particularly to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing. Weekly laboratory hour is mandatory.

RUS 102 Beginning Russian II  An introduction to the Russian language designed particularly to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing. Weekly laboratory hour is mandatory. Prerequisite: RUS 101, placement, or permission of the instructor.

RUS 201 Intermediate Russian I  The aim of these courses is to develop further the basic language skills acquired in the introductory courses. An intensive study of grammatical structures with a continued emphasis on oral and written skills, they include supplementary reading with vocabulary useful for everyday situations and creative writing based on course material. Weekly laboratory hour is mandatory. Prerequisite: RUS 102, placement, or permission of the instructor.

RUS 202 Intermediate Russian II  The aim of these courses is to develop further the basic language skills acquired in the introductory courses. An intensive study of grammatical structures with a continued emphasis on oral and written skills, they include supplementary reading with vocabulary useful for everyday situations and creative writing based on course material. Weekly laboratory hour is mandatory. Prerequisite: RUS 201, placement, or permission of the instructor.

RUS 410 Topics: Russian Language and Culture  Advanced Russian language and culture courses for students who have completed two or more years of language study. These courses offer topics from a broad range of choices, including literary texts, poetry, film and avant-garde writers. Written and oral reports and weekly journals. This course may be repeated for credit.

RUS 411 Topics: Russian Language and Culture  Advanced Russian language and culture courses for students who have completed two or more years of language study. These courses offer topics from a broad range of choices, including literary texts, poetry, film and avant-garde writers. Written and oral reports and weekly journals. This course may be repeated for credit.

Courses Taught in English (RUSE)

For courses with a RUSE designation, all readings and discussion are conducted in English. There are no prerequisites for courses at the 100 or 200 level.

RUSE 101 Blood and Ice: Russian Empires  The largest country in both Europe and Asia, Russia has dominated Eastern Europe and north Asia for over a thousand years. Through an examination of its long, varied, and frequently bloody history, we will investigate the nature of "empire" as defined and interpreted by the various political entities, which have ruled the Russian land.

RUSE 112 Dangerous Words: Russian Literature and Society  This course serves as the introductory literature and culture course for Russian Area Studies as well as the major and minor. It introduces students to the dominant literary and cultural traditions from 1800-2000, with particular emphasis on developments in poetry and prose, but also with reference to movements in art, music, theater, and dance. Students will gain experience in close readings of texts in order to better understand the Russian cultural tradition and the manner in which Russian literature and history intertwine. Note: this course requires no previous knowledge of Russian literature or history.

RUSE 120 Sport and Ideology: Gender, Race, National Identity  This course examines the intersection of ideology and sport in multiple forms. Beginning with a broad introduction to the major issues in the application of questions regarding gender, race, class, and ideology to sport, we will primarily view sport as ideological struggle through the 20th century Olympic games movement and the contest between the Soviet and Eastern Bloc nations and the U.S., though we will also consider the larger context of sport as a window to social issues. We will use a variety of primary materials, including monographs, articles, interviews, documentaries, and feature films.

RUSE 137 Vampires: From Vlad to Buffy  This course examines the vampire from its historical roots in the legend of Vlad Tepes to the American commercialization and popularization of the vampire in media such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Students discuss the qualities of the folkloric vampire and its role in traditional culture, how the folkloric vampire has evolved over time and across cultural borders, and why the vampire is such a pervasive cultural icon. The approach is interdisciplinary, using folktales, short stories, legends, novels, films, television shows, and analytical studies.

RUSE 203 Surviving Russian Prisons  The Soviet system of prisons and labor camps operated for much of the 20th century. Under dictator Josef Stalin, millions of the country's own citizens were imprisoned on false charges for years, worked to death in Siberian mines, or executed outright. The perpetrators of these crimes have never been brought to justice. In this course students read from the literature that arose in response to this tragedy: works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Varlam Shalamov, Lidia Ginzburg, and Georgii Vladimov. There are no prerequisites.

RUSE 204 Russian Film 1917-2001  This course is an introduction to the most important trends, directors, and films in Russian cinema from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Students are exposed to a wide range of movies, including early silent films, experimental films of the 1920s and early 1930s, socialist realist films, films on World War II and Soviet life, and films from contemporary Russia. All readings are in English and all films shown with English subtitles. Because of the rich heritage of Russian cinema, this course does not claim to be an exhaustive treatment of all the great Russian films, but rather aims to acquaint students with the overall contours of Russian filmmaking and with the fundamentals of reading film. There are no prerequisites.

RUSE 206 America through Russian Eyes  How do you define America? Does your definition mesh with what the rest of the world might think? This course explores American culture and identify through readings and films by American and Russian poets, novelists, and directors. From Red scares through the Cold War and Evil Empire all the way to the New Russians, twentieth-and twenty-first-century Americans and Russians have shared a deep mutual fascination, and have often defined themselves via contrast with the forbidding, alluring Other. We will study travelogues, memoirs, novels, stories, and films by artists as diverse as John Steinbeck, Langston Hughes, Gary Shteyngart, Ellen Litman, and Aleksei Balabanov, using these works to refine our own understanding of American culture. All readings and discussions will be in English. Register for either AMST 206 (prerequisite: AMST 100) or RUSE 206 (prerequisite: RUSE 112 or HIST 263) or permission.

RUSE 207 Chekhov and His Legacy  Anton Chekhov stands not only as one of Russia's best-known writers, but also as a key figure for our understanding of modernity. His innovations as a short story writer and as a playwright contributed significantly to stylistic trends of the twentieth century. Chekhov's works stem from a modernist sensibility and a uniquely independent spirit, and they allow us to understand his attitude toward the state of Russian society of his day. Moreover, Chekhov's works continue to influence writers not only in Russia, but also but also in America and in other parts of the English-speaking world. This course will examine Chekhov's short stories from a number of perspectives. We will consider how Chekhov developed his craft in the context of his biography and look at how Chekhov used his writing to comment on the state of society in late-nineteenth century Russia. We will examine the innovative characteristics of Chekhov's work: his modernism, the nature of his humor, and his stance toward such cultural paradigms as gender and class. Finally, we will examine how these aspects of Chekhov's work helped shape the modern short story and theater. In the latter part of the course, we will consider a number of Anglophone writers, whom Chekhov influenced, including James Joyce, Eudora Welty, Raymond Carver, and Tennessee Williams. There are no prerequisites.

RUSE 208 Fantastika: SciFi and Fantasy in the Russian World  Science fiction and fantasy are a cornerstone of Russian culture. During the Soviet push toward modernization, rocket ships and extraterrestrial beings inspired audiences to reach "ever higher." Yet the tradition first surfaced in Russia much earlier, with the fantastical tales of 19th-century giants Pushkin and Gogol, and it is enjoying a popular resurgence today, in the post-Soviet period. This course presents an overview of Russian science fiction and fantasy literature. Students explore how science fiction and fantasy relate to the Russian cultural and historical context, and how they portray an ideological stance. They will study the genre's origins in socialist utopian philosophy, its flowering during the early twentieth century, and its recent reawakening since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Key questions include how technological advancement challenges social norms; how science and fantasy relate to spiritual life; how technological utopias come into being; and how technological utopias can become dystopias. Materials include stories, films, and novels from the 19th century through the present day, with special emphasis on science fiction in the Soviet period. All materials and discussions will be in English. There are no prerequisites.

RUSE 237 Russian Folklore  In this course, students survey the wealth of Russian and Slavic folk tales, epic songs, legends, riddles and other elements of the oral tradition, as well as the later literatures these genres inspired. Students examine characters such as the Firebird, Baba-Yaga the witch, Koshchei the Deathless, and Ilya Muromets. Materials are not restricted to the printed word, and include art and music arising from the Russian folk tradition. There are no prerequisites and no knowledge of Russian language or culture is presumed.

RUSE 251 Sexuality, Power and Creativity in Russian Literature  In the 20th century, Russia's "other voices" continued to express the souls and spirit of individual men and women, but now under the profound impact of historical events from revolution and world wars through glasnost, perestroika, and the post-Soviet transition. Witnessing and experiencing great suffering, these heroic writers could neither remain silent under censorship nor write the socialist realist propaganda dictated by the Soviet government. Topics include Russian perceptions of male/female, masculinity/femininity; the female voice; the tension between poet and muse; gender bending; understandings of sexuality in the early Soviet period; the breaking of sexual mores during Glasnost; and how current Russian debates on gender and sexuality cite and relate to this cultural heritage. Open to students of all levels. There are no prerequisites.

RUSE 351 Sexuality, Power and Creativity in Russian Literature  In the 20th century, Russia's "other voices" continued to express the souls and spirit of individual men and women, but now under the profound impact of historical events from revolution and world wars through glasnost, perestroika, and the post-Soviet transition. Witnessing and experiencing great suffering, these heroic writers could neither remain silent under censorship nor write the socialist realist propaganda dictated by the Soviet government. Topics include Russian perceptions of male/female, masculinity/femininity; the female voice; the tension between poet and muse; gender bending; understandings of sexuality in the early Soviet period; the breaking of sexual mores during Glasnost; and how current Russian debates on gender and sexuality cite and relate to this cultural heritage. For Russian Area Studies majors; Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectional Justice majors; or by permission of the instructor.

RUSE 353 Alienation and Intimacy: Russian-American Writers  With the grand commercial success of The Russian Debutante's Handbook (Shteyngart, 2002), a new generation of Russians writing in English arrived on the American literary scene. The course introduces this diverse group of writers and the giants, Nabokov and Brodsky, from whose shadow they emerged. The writers share a first language (Russian), a language of composition (English), and a path through global space (Russia or Soviet Union -> United States). Readings cover a range of literary genres (novel, including the graphic novel; short story; autobiography; memoir) and will be supplemented by author interviews and critical literature. The readings supply multiple models for constructing, or re-constructing, identity (linguistic, national, ethnic). We will consider questions of intertextuality (Reyn, Ulinich, Shteyngart), the diasporic intimacy of the Russian-Jewish-American immigrant community (Litman, Vapnyar, Fishman), the alienation experienced by immigrant characters and writers (Akhtiorskaya, Shteyngart, Gmshin), and the process of telling, retelling, or eliding the Soviet past (Brodsky, Gorokhova, Fishman, Nabokov, Shteyngart). The course is designed to improve students’ critical reading, writing, and literary analysis skills, and introduce them to literature of the Russian diaspora in the U.S. and to one facet of the literature of the American immigrant experience. Pre-requisite: ONE of AMST 101, AMST 206, ENG 152, ENG 170, any RUSE course, or permission of the instructor.

RUSE 460 Capstone Seminar: Readings and Research in Russian Area Studies  Designed for advanced majors and minors in Russian Area Studies (both the History & Society and Language & Culture tracks), this seminar provides a capstone experience. The seminar will engage students in current scholarship across the disciplines of Russian Area Studies and enhance student' approach to research. Each seminar will be based upon fictional (novels, stories, plays, films) and non-fictional (memoirs, speeches, newspapers, journals, documents) works relating to a central theme, which will change from year to year. The seminar will explore a variety of approaches to the theme, with special attention to the sub-fields of greatest interest to class members. Other Russian Area Studies faculty will be invited to lead a session of the seminar, giving participants immediate access to a variety of disciplinary approaches (political science, economics, history, Musicology, literary criticism) to the theme. Students will identify, assign, and lead discussions of critical and contextual sources, and will develop and complete a research paper. In addition to discussing our key texts, we will devote class time to critiquing current scholarship, developing research methods, articulating a research project, workshopping/revising the seminar paper, and honing presentation skills. Potential themes include: Soviet culture and society during the Second World War; Russia in transition; Man and nature in Russia; the soldier in the Russian imagination; Petersburg; Moscow; Petersburg vs. Odessa.

RUSE 495/496 Honors