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Slavic Department
Undergraduate Courses
Spring 2006 Course Schedule |
| Courses in
the Russian Language |
101, 102
Beginner's Russian
F. McLellan & Staff |
Introduction to the essentials of
Russian grammar. Presentation of grammar reinforced by oral
practice of grammatical patterns. One hour per week devoted
specifically to the development of oral skills. Five classes,
one one-hour laboratory. |
105, 107
Intermediate Russian
F. McLellan & Staff |
Grammar review; advanced grammar; introduction
to word formation; expansion of vocabulary through readings of
classical and modern fiction and history. One hour per week of
translation and discussion of readings. Prerequisite: Successful
completion of 102 of placement test at Princeton. Five classes,
one one-hour laboratory. |
111
Introductory Czech 1
M. Fried |
An Introduction to the Czech language in all
four language skills (reading, writing, listening compression,
and speaking), teaching all fundamental aspects of Czech grammar
and basic communication skills in a variety of situations. As
the course progresses, the rich Central European culture of
Bohemia and Moravia will be sampled through poetry, film, and
fiction as well as expository prose. Knowledge of a previous
Slavic language not required. |
207, 208
Advanced Russian Reading & Conversation
K. Blank |
Selected texts (nineteenth- and
twentieth-century poetry and prose, contemporary journalistic
prose) with discussion and analysis in Russian. Four classes. |
405, 406
Advanced Russian Grammar & Reading I & II
C.E. Townsend, L. H. Babby |
Courses have two separate but linked elements:
a practical analysis of Russian word structure (fall) and
sentence structure (spring) and close readings and translations
of contemporary Russian prose. Word structure deals with nouns
and adjectives but emphasizes the verb. Sentence structure deals
with grammatical construction and word order. Three classes.
Prerequisites: 207 or instructor's permission. These courses
need not be taken in sequence, and either can be taken in the
third year. |
407, 408
Advanced Russian Reading, Composition, & Conversation
Staff |
Intensive study and discussion conducted in
Russian. Compositions and problems of translation. Reading of
varied texts, with close analysis of language and style. Three
classes. Prerequisite: 208 or instructor's permission. |
| Courses in
the Other Slavic Languages |
103, 104
Slavic Languages Other Than Russian
Staff |
Polish, Serbo-Croatian, or
Bulgarian as needed and as available. Courses are designed to
enable students to master the basic grammar and to read original
texts in the language with a dictionary within one year. For
students with prior Russian, some limited comparisons may be
made. Three classes. |
| Courses in
Russian Literature |
308
The Russian Short Story
H. Ermolaev |
The Russian short story from the 1830s to the
present. Readings include stories by Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol,
Chekhov, Gorky, Bunin, Zamyatin, Zoshchenko, Petrushevskaya,
Tolstaya, and others. Special emphasis on the active use of the
language. Reading, discussions, oral and written reports in
Russian. Three classes. Prerequisite: 207 or instructor's
permission |
311
Russian Music (also Music 339)
S. Morrison |
A detailed survey of Russian national and
international composers. Topics of discussion and analysis will
include magic opera, realism, orientalism, the relationship
between composers and poets of the Russian Symbolist era, the
World of Art movement and the Ballets Russes, Soviet film music,
Soviet arts doctrine, and musical aesthetics (especially as they
pertain to authorship and identity). Prerequisites: 105 or
permission of instructor. Two 90-minute classes. |
312
Russian Drama
O.P. Hasty |
Introduction to major dramatics works of the
19th and 20th century; including Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov,
Shvarts, and Vampilov. Readings, discussions, oral and written
reports in Russian. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: 207 or
instructor's permission. |
314
Russian Literature & Revolution, 1880-1920
E. Chances |
Exploration of literature of Russia's
revolutionary era. Course focuses on relationship between
political and artistic revolution; the relationship between the
creative process and the Russian Revolution. Topics include the
artist and the revolution, the socialist novel, revolutionary
film, etc. Works by Bely, Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Pasternak, Bitov,
and others. One three-hour seminar. Knowledge of Russian not
required. |
315
Russian Women Writers (also Women's Studies 315)
O.P. Hasty |
This survey of nineteenth- and
twentieth-century literature by Russian women writers will focus
on the self-definition of women writers who introduce new
concerns into the literary arena. Readings will include short
stories, novels, poetry, and memoirs. One three-hour seminar. |
316
Ethical Dimensions of Contemporary Russian Cinema
E. Chances |
Exploration of the quest for moral values in
Soviet and post-Soviet Russian cinema of the 1960s to the
present. Topics include, among others, the effects of Stalinism;
the struggle for freedom of individual conscience under
totalitarianism; the artist's moral dilemmas in Soviet and
post-Soviet society; materialism versus spirituality. Films of
Andrei Tarkovsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, and others. One three-hour
seminar. Knowledge of Russian not required. |
317
Russian Fiction Foreign Film
O. Hasty |
This course focuses on major works of Russian
Literature and their cinematic translations - first by important
Russian film-makers who stay close to the text and then by
leading foreign film-makers who recast the works in new cultural
settings. Beyond what they teach is about literature and film,
these juxtapositions lead us to confront issues crucial to a
world that grows increasingly multicultural and increasingly
dependant on visual modes of communication. |
319
History of Russian Literature before 1860
C. Emerson |
A survey of English of Russian literature up to
1860. The course concentrates on master prose writers of the
first half of the 19th century: Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, the
early Dostoevsky, and the early Tolstoy. Two lectures, one
preceptorial. Knowledge of Russian not required. |
320
History of Russian Literature, 1860-1917
E. Chances |
A survey in English of Russian literature from
mid-nineteenth century to Soviet literature. Authors read
include, among others, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov,
Nabokov, and Bely. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Knowledge of
Russian not required. |
321
Soviet Literature, 1917-1965
H. Ermolaev |
A survey in English of Soviet literature from
1917 to 1965 against a background of major social and political
developments. Readings include works by Babel, Mayakovsky,
Sholokhov, Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, and other representative
authors. One lecture, one two-hour preceptorial. Knowledge of
Russian not required. |
322
Soviet Literature, 1965-present
H. Ermolaev |
Intensive study of Soviet literature since 1965
in the context of changing social and political conditions.
Reading and discussion of representative works of Vladimov,
Trifonov, Bykov, Aitmatov, Rybakov, Tolstaya, Petrushevskaya,
and others. Knowledge of Russian not required. One lecture and
one two-hour preceptorial. |
411, 412
Selected Topics in Russian Literature and Culture
O.P. Hasty |
Topics include: Russian literature and the
city; Russian literature and the intellectual; the search for
moral value in post-Communist literature; satire; Russian
literature and music; twentieth-century Russian poetry; Russian
emigre literature. |
413
Pushkin & His Time
M. Wachtel |
An introduction to Pushkin's works with
attention to a number of genres (lyric, long poem, drama, short
story). Readings in Russian or English, depending on students'
preference. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 207 or
instructor's permission. |
414
Solzhenitsyn
H. Ermolaev |
Intensive inquiry into Solzhenitsyn's art and
philosophy. Through discussions of Gulag Archipelago, One Day
in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, First Circle, Cancer Ward,
short stories, and his most important literary and political
statements, plus analysis of Soviet and Western reactions to his
writings. One lecture and one two-hour preceptorial. Knowledge
of Russian not required. |
415
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, and the Tasks of Literature (also
COM 415)
C. Emerson |
This course is primarily about War and Peace,
framed by some earlier and later fiction and by Tolstoy's essays
on art and religion. Tolstoy's radical ideas on narrative have a
counterpart in his radical ideas on history, causation, and the
formation of a moral self. Together, these concepts offer an
alternative to the "The Russian Idea," associated with
Dostoevsky and marked by mysticism, apocalypse, and the crisis
moment. To refute this idea, Tolstoy redefined the tasks of
novelistic prose. Seminar. |
416
Dostoevsky
E. Chances |
A consideration of Dostoevsky's major works
with particular emphasis upon their relation to the political,
social, religious, and literary currents of his time. Knowledge
of Russian not required. One three-hour seminar. |
417
Vladimir Nabokov
O.P. Hasty |
An examination of Nabokov's major
accomplishments as a Russian/American novelist in the context of
the Russian literary tradition, and the cultural climate of
emigration. Two lectures, one preceptorial. |
419
19th- and 20th-Century Russian Poetry
M. Wachtel |
An introduction to major Russian poets from
Pushkin to the present. No prior knowledge of Russian literature
is assumed. The focus of the course will be on close readings of
individual poems, but the intention is, by generalization, to
reach an understanding of the development of Russian literature
as a whole. Readings in Russian, with discussion in English, and
an optional hour for discussion in Russian. Prerequisites: 207
(may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor. Two
90-minute seminars. |
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Updated 8/26/2004
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