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College Catalog 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses

 

Religious Studies
  

  • RELI 140 - American Heretics

    Just what is “the Bible” and what role has it played in shaping American life? How might it center a pattern of repeated political and cultural negotiation of power? Many, if not most, of the earliest Europeans who colonized what is now the U.S. were considered religious heretics by the Christian churches of their original homelands at the time of their immigration. Over the course of U.S. history, “new” traditions have also emerged, often considered heretical or “not really Christian” by the subsequently established Christian traditions. Much of the debate over who is and isn’t heretical or “really Christian” has focused on what counts as authoritative Christian sacred text and how to interpret it. Controversy over what does and does not count as sacred scripture, how it is to be interpreted, and who gets to determine right teaching of these texts for human life has gone on to shape American culture and politics in distinctive ways. The debates and the texts on which conflicts focus have provided the primary scripts, the central narratives, and the cultural discourse, from worship to moral practice, politics to the courts, and secular ceremony to economic life in this country. Moreover, self-identified Christians have turned to Civil Rights, Women’s suffrage to the second wave of Feminism, capitalism to socialism, and heterosexually exclusive civil marriage laws to Gay Rights. This course will examine this pattern, characterized by dispute, adaptation, and power, even violence, by looking at the number of these groups, their sacred texts, and their impact through use of film, guest lecture, visual arts, field work in various different religious communities, on-line virtual churches, and, most importantly, the sacred texts themselves. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 141 - Non-Classical Mythology

    What is myth, and why have scholars spent so much time arguing over its nature? How have various groups used narratives and other related forms to describe the origins and nature of humans, animals, love, death, and the cosmos? Do myths exist in our present-day culture? How have people brought themselves into contact with myth through ritual, drama, possession, music, art, pilgrimage, and other activities? Do people really believe their myths? Do myths change the way in which we experience the world? This class will explore the role of myth in religion and culture, with an emphasis on examples outside of the more familiar ancient Greek and Roman traditions. Our focus will be on the religious aspects of myth, but we will also explore perspectives drawn from Folklorisitcs, Literary Criticism, Art History, Philosophy, and other academic disciplines. Through readings, lectures, slides, videos, and hands-on experiences, we will investigate case studies from many cultures and historical periods. We will explore aspects and uses of myth including myth theory, archetypes and psychological transformation, cosmology and the idea of social charters, myth as a kind of scientific thought, the use of myth in art and performance, political control and subversion, and recent efforts to utilize or create new myths in the form of literature and film. Every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 145 - Pagans, Christians and Jews in Classical Antiquity: Cultures in Conflict

    Cross-Listed as CLAS 145 
    This course studies the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and pagan cultures, and the protracted struggle for self-definition and multi-cultural exchange this encounter provoked. The course draws attention to how the other and cultural and religious difference are construed, resisted, and apprehended. Readings include Acts, Philo, Revelation, I Clement, pagan charges against Christianity, Adversus Ioudaios writers, the Goyim in the Mishna, and apologetic literature. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 194 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 200 - The Qur’an (Koran)

    This course offers an introduction to the Qur-an (Koran), the central text of Islam. Students will read the Qur-an in translation, explore traditions of Qur-anic interpretation, and engage recent academic approaches to understanding the text. In addition to considering the original context of the Qur-an and its relationship to Biblical materials, the course will examine contemporary controversies surrounding the text and its import for living Muslim communities. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 201 - Islam and Philosophy

    (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 202 - Atheism Past and Present

    Over the last decade atheists have entered the public sphere in unprecedented fashion, authoring best-selling books and forcefully arguing their case in the international media. This seminar explores the origins, varieties, and arguments of atheist thought, past and present. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 212 - Philosophy of Religion

    Cross-Listed as  
    The Philosophy of Religion seeks an understanding of religion by raising philosophical questions about its underlying assumptions and implications. When we believe something it is because we think it is true and because we think we have good evidence to support our belief. In the case of religious beliefs, however, we are immediately faced with questions concerning the nature of such beliefs. What claims do they make? What would count as good evidence for a religious belief? What is the nature of religious truth? In this course we will examine the nature of religious beliefs and the ways in which philosophers in different traditions have justified or argued against such beliefs. Perhaps in response to the increasing challenge to religion from the natural sciences, twentieth century philosophers have questioned the traditional philosophical approach to religion. Some philosophers, Wittgenstein for example, question traditional interpretations of religious language and re-examine the relationship between faith and reason. Can religious life be practiced without a theology or with skepticism or agnosticism regarding theological questions? Other topics covered in the course include the attempt to introduce intelligent design into public schools as part of the science curriculum; religious pluralism; the belief in life after death; and feminist critiques of religious language. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 222 - Christianity in Late Antiquity

    This course introduces students to the emergence of a diverse social movement now termed “Christianity” within the political, economic, historical and cultural worlds of the ancient Mediterranean (i.e. the Roman Empire) We will examine the formation of early Christian identity during the first four centuries of the common era. We will explore multifaceted forms of religious practice, resistance to and adaptations of institutional and social power, relations between Christians and non-Christians, and rhetorical strategies used in articulating Christian identity. Offered every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 223 - Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity

    The critical study of ancient Christian texts involves making strange texts familiar and familiar texts strange. In this course, we will consider non-canonical texts alongside canonical texts in order to develop insight into the formation of Christian identity in the first through fourth centuries. Special emphasis will be given to the development of the discourses of orthodoxy and heresy, the diversity of Christian beliefs and practices, and the examination of early Christian writings within their social and political contexts. Instead of investigating the material in strict chronological order, we will consider how different people (Jesus, Mary Magdalene, James, Paul, etc) serve as authorizing figures for the texts. Using this organization, we will investigate issues at stake in the development of Christian “canon,” including theology, Christology, apostolic authority, women’s roles, and the relation of Christianity to the state and to other religious traditions. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 226 - Martyrdom Then and Now

    From Socrates to suicide bombers, martyrs have been forced to give up their lives, or chosen to risk them and even to die, rather than renounce their beliefs or practices. Of course, we know their stories only second hand. This course explores how narratives about martyrs (“martyrologies”) relate to the formation of religious identities and communities. Over the course of the semester, we will analyze martyrologies from the early Christian and Jewish periods, the beginnings of Islam, the sixteenth century, and modernity. We will pay special attention to the social and political contexts with which martyrs often found themselves at odds (including the Roman Empire in the ancient past, and the U.S./Middle East conflicts of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries). In class discussions, readings, and written work, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the following questions (among others): How do the stories we tell about martyrs shape the way we understand religious practices and beliefs? How do narratives of bearing witness, suffering, and death help to illumine relationships between religious and political domains? How might our current understanding of martyrdom be informed for better and for worse by a study of history? (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 232 - Religion and Food

    Why does food play such a big part in so many sacred traditions? How do people use food to make sense of the world? Why do we fast, kill animals, feed spirits, and throw potluck suppers in the name of religion? This course will introduce students to the study of religion, using food as an entry point. Through readings, lectures, slides, videos, and hands-on experiences, we will investigate case studies from many cultures and historical periods. We will explore aspects of foodways such as cooking, farming, sacrifice, aesthetics, and display as they relate to myth, magic, ritual, healing, ethics and doctrine. Students will be expected to keep up with an intensive but interesting schedule of reading, to participate in class discussions and activities, and to complete written assignments including responses, several mini-projects, and a final library or field project on a topic of their choice. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 233 - Hindus and Muslims

    This class will be a reflection on the long history of co-existence of people in South Asia thought to belong to two very different religions Hinduism and Islam. We will begin by looking at the formation of classical Islam in the Middle East, and looking at the classical Hindu epic, the Ramayana. From there we will move to a survey of the history of encounter and exchange, from the early period (al Biruni), to the establishment of the great Muslim sultanates. We will critically examine the evidence of religious conflict, alongside the evidence of rich cultural exchange, and interrogate the competing historigrahic narratives, according to which South Asia either become a single Indo-Islamic civilization or a place of two cultures destined to become different modern nation states (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Finally, we will consider colonial and post colonial South Asia and conclude with a reflection on the Babri Masjid crisis and India’s debates about secularism. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 234 - Introduction to Jewish Life and Thought

    This course will survey Judaism’s basic beliefs and practices, from the Bible to the present day, through examination and discussion of religious and social literature created by the Jewish people. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 235 - Theorizing Religion

    The course is an introduction to some of the important theoretical and methodological work conducted by scholars in various disciplines who hope to better define and understand religious phenomena. This seminar begins with some of the early twentieth century texts that are often cited and discussed by contemporary scholars of religion (e.g., Durkheim, Weber, Freud) and then turns to a number of investigations stemming from engagement with earlier theorists or refracting new concerns. The course inquires into the problems of defining and analyzing religious cultures, and the researcher’s position or positions in this analysis, as this has been approached from anthropological, sociological, and religious studies perspectives. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 236 - Sanskrit and Classical Religion in India

    Cross-Listed as ASIA 236 , CLAS 202 , and LING 236  
    Like Latin and Greek in Europe, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language of scholarship and revered as the perfect medium for discourse on everything from science and sex to philosophy and religion. It flourished in its classical form after the age of the Buddha (5th century BC) and served as a scholarly lingua franca in India until the Islamic period. This course serves as an introduction to the grammar an script of Sanskrit, and we will advance to a point of reading simplified texts from the classical epic Ramayana.Students will be expected to attend class regularly and spend at least ten hours a week outside class studying the grammar and vocabulary. Without this sort of effort, no progress is possible in such a complex language. In addition to the rigorous study of the language, we will consider both the role of the language in classical Indian culture and religion, and some texts from the Ramayana, looking at both English translation and Sanskrit originals. Every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 238 - Catholics: Culture, Identity, Politics

    A study of the religious tradition of Roman Catholicism. Some attention will be given to the theology and historical development of the Roman Catholic Church, but major emphasis will fall on the relationship of the Catholic religion to various Catholic cultures, including Ireland, Mexico, Poland and the United States. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 245 - Arabic Reading and Translation

    Cross-Listed as CLAS 345 
    This course aims to improve your Arabic reading and translation skills while introducing you to selected genres of Arabic and Islamic literature. The course will proceed in a workshop format and focus on the comprehension and translation of texts in question. Students will learn to use an Arabic dictionary, expand their vocabulary, deepen their understanding of grammar and syntax, and develop skills in reading manuscripts, navigating Arabic texts, and producing English translations. Prerequisite: Prerequisite(s): 3 previous semesters of Arabic language. Every fall. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 252 - Martin and Malcolm: Racial Terror and the Black Freedom Struggle

    In this course we explore the complicated lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. - the convergences and divergences. We analyze the intersections of racial identity, religious affiliation, and political orientation and their relations to the prevailing notions of manhood. How did Malcolm and Martin enter the black freedom movement? How did their religious affiliation facilitate or hinder entry? How did their participation in the movement inform their understanding of religion? Within their respective imaginations, what kind of “religio-political and ethical figure” is America - Egypt, or Promised Land, Zion or Babylon; messianic nation or apocalyptic, dystopian nightmare? How do Martin and Malcolm perform, enact, and embody the notion that “black lives matter?” (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 254 - How to Do Things with Dead People

    This class will introduce the issues in the social study of death generally, and offer comparative examples and case studies to explore the general themes, rooting these discussions in concrete cases. The class approach is broadly anthropological. So what are funerals doing? What do they communicate, and what do they achieve? (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 256 - Marx: Religion as Ideology, Alienation, and Authority

    This course intends to introduce students to the foundational theories and concepts of the Marxist and Anarchist theoretical traditions, as they apply to the academic study of religion. I emphasize three words in the preceding sentence: foundational, theoretical, and religion, in order to clarify that this course will focus almost exclusively on older texts to the exclusion of more contemporary efforts in either tradition, that it will not focus on the practical revolutionary efforts of either Marxists or Anarchists, but rather on the theoretical writings of those traditions, and finally, that we will focus exclusively on those elements in the tradition that are most relevant to the study of religion. Every third year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 277 - Metaphysics in Secular Thought

    Cross-Listed as GERM 277  and POLI 277  
    A widespread tendency in contemporary Western societies is to associate metaphysics with religion, if not with what is often dismissively called the “irrational.” This course will dismantle this myth by reading closely European philosophy and political theory, mostly since the seventeenth century, in their relation to theology and their reception by twentieth-century critical theory. This will allow us to examine the ways in which secular thought emerges not as an alternative to metaphysics-something which thought cannot supersede anyway-but rather as a different way of dealing with the very same metaphysical questions and issues that concern religion, from the meaning of life to the imminence of death, and from (actual or imagined) guilt to the hope for redemption. We shall endeavor to identify the similarities and differences between the ‘secular’ and the ‘religious’ ways, including their respective relations to rationality. Readings will include: Aristotle, Talal Asad, George Bataille, Walter Benjamin, Kenneth Burke, Richard Dienst, Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Peter Harrison, Jacques Lacan, Karl Marx, Marcel Mauss, Carl Schmitt, Baruch Spinoza, Alberto Toscano, Max Weber, Slavoj Zizek. All readings in English. No pre-knowledge required. Occasionally (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 294 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 300 - Introduction to Islamic Law

    This course introduces students to the basic concepts that recur in the study of Islamic law and provides a general overview of the history and development of Islamic law and legal theories. The course will also offer the students an opportunity to delve into the process of legal reasoning as practiced by Muslim jurists in order to understand it and anticipate its outcome. We will discuss Muslim juristic hermeneutics (their unique way of reading the authoritative texts of the Qur’an and the Sunna/Tradition of the Prophet), their reasoning based on analogy, utility, and their concept of rights. Comparisons with Western legal reasoning will be offered in the course of our discussions, but previous knowledge of law or legal philosophy is not assumed. Prerequisite(s): Two courses in Religious Studies preferred (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 311 - Ritual

    This seminar-style course concentrates on the concept of ritual in approaches to the study of religion, and examines examples of rituals in practice. We will eschew focus on any single religious tradition for a focus on ritual across traditions. This will require students to ‘work with’ concepts - forming a conception of what they mean by ritual, and be willing to change that conception when faced with contradictory evidence. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 325 - Conquering the Flesh: Renunciation of Food and Sex in the Christian Tradition

    Cross-Listed as WGSS 325  
    This course explores how bodily practices of fasting and sexual abstinence have shaped Christian identities from the first century, C.E. to today. From Paul of Tarsus’ instructions about sexual discipline to the True Love Waits® campaign, from the desert fathers’ rigorous bodily regimens to the contemporary Christian diet movement, Christians have often understood the practice of renunciation as a necessary feature of spiritual perfection. In this course we will consider several ascetic movements in Christian history, including the development of ascetic practice in late antiquity, the rise of fasting practices among women in medieval Europe, and the culture of Christian dieting and chastity in the U.S. We will pay special attention to how Christian practices of piety both draw upon and contribute to cultural understandings of gender and the body. Every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 336 - Gender, Caste, Deity

    Since sociologists and anthropologists have long argued that people think about religion and the divine in categories that correlate closely to their social system, it is not surprising that they have been especially interested in the religion and society of India. Beginning with the classic account of the caste system by social anthropologist Louis Dumont, we will examine is view of the hierarchical nature of society and its relationship to religious views that affirm and assume hierarchy in human and divine worlds. From there we will go on to consider the many responses to Dumont’s view, including studies of gender roles; sexuality in mythology and ascetic traditions; untouchability; religious hierarchy and political power; and, resistance to and inversions of hierarchical systems in India. Every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 346 - Religious Reform and Violence: Catholic, Protestant, and Radical

    The sixteenth century in Europe thus marks a turning point from a Medieval culture defined by Catholic institutions to the independent, so-called secular, sovereign nation states of the modern era. Throughout this period of time the splintering of Roman Catholicism into diverse Protestant and Radical groups came at the cost of great economic and political upheaval. The violence with which these groups broke away from a once Holy Roman Empire produced waves of Jewish, Muslim, and so-called heretic Christian refugees fleeing across Europe, often to the Ottoman Empire on the east and to the newly discovered territories across the Atlantic on the west. The Ottoman Empire absorbed Jew, Muslim, and Christian alike with a relative lack of conflict. By contrast, within Europe, religious wars raged well into the 17th century, as emerging European nation-states enslaved African peoples and devastated the indigenous populations across the Atlantic. How did religious thought and practice figure into this drama? For example, what role did apocalypticism play in religious reform and revolution? What is the significance of Christian evangelism for colonial expansion? How did Christian discourse on witchcraft legitimate the slaughter of European women and the colonized of both genders to reinforce elite European male privilege? How did the definition of “human” shape and get reshaped by theological debate over the status of indigenous peoples and African slaves in what became the Americas? What ambiguous role did Protestant thought and practice play in the emergence of concepts of individual freedom, private property, secularism, and capitalism, as we know them today? Is this violence unique to Christian traditions? Is it characteristic of religious traditions in general? Or does the secularism we take for granted produce its own versions as well? We will explore these questions among others over the course of the semester. We will approach this subject in an interdisciplinary fashion, drawing on primary texts in translation, secondary historical sources, art, architecture, music, and film. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 348 - Contemporary Christian Thought and Practice

    This course critically examines the engagement of Christian thought and practice with modern and post-modern cultures. Students will explore interactions across theological thinking, ethical action, ritual behavior, and material culture in Christian life. Possible issues for focus include: divine creativity and environmentalism; the nature and gender of God in relation to what it means to be human; liberation theologies and global capitalism; Christian theological responses to violence; Christian identity and U.S. nationalism; Christianity and sexual identity; the rise of evangelicalism to political power; spiritual discipline across Christian traditions; global Christianity; and the relation between the Incarnation and material objects. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 354 - Human Sacrifice: Killing for God and State

    Though sacrifice is often viewed as the exclusive property of religion, this course is organized around the claim that religion and statecraft (the art of governing a nation well) are connected through practices of human sacrifice. Thus, in this course, we use “human sacrifice” as a comparative category to understand aspects of religion and statecraft, especially in war, capital punishment, torture, terrorism, and genocide. Though torture, terrorism, and genocide are important, our special focus is warfare and capital punishment, which encompass the other sites of human sacrifice. The central questions are the following: Why do gods and states demand blood; whence the impulse to human sacrifice? What are the relations between divine sovereignty, political sovereignty, and sacrifice? What are the modalities of human sacrifice? Is human sacrifice inevitable? Every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 359 - Religion and Revolution: Case Studies

    An examination of five revolutions and their religious engagements: The Diggers and the English Civil War, The Taiping Rebellion in China, Buddhism and the Cambodian Revolution, Cultural Rebirth and Resistance in Native America, and the Algerian Islamist Revolution. All participants will read one work about each example, and then will focus more deeply on the examples in group and individual work. The course intends to develop critical skills in comparing the radical social changes implied by the word revolution with the differing revolutionary impulses that are sometimes drawn from religion, and sometimes opposed to it. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 394 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 469 - Approaches to the Study of Religion

    An advanced seminar required for religious studies majors, open to minors. Both classic and contemporary theories on the nature of religion and critical methods for the study of religion will be considered. Prerequisite(s): Two courses in Religious Studies and permission of instructor. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 494 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 601 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RELI 602 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RELI 603 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RELI 604 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 611 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RELI 612 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RELI 613 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RELI 614 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 621 - Internship

    A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RELI 622 - Internship

    A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RELI 623 - Internship

    A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RELI 624 - Internship

    A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 631 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RELI 632 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RELI 633 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RELI 634 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RELI 641 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Offered every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RELI 642 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Offered every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RELI 643 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Offered every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RELI 644 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Offered every semester. (4 Credits)

Russian
  

  • RUSS 101 - Elementary Russian I

    A structured introduction to the basics of the Russian sound system and grammar, as well as speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension. Some exposure to Russian culture. For beginning students. No prerequisites. Russian language classes (unless otherwise stated) are proficiency oriented, and aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Intermediate and advanced courses are taught in Russian as much as possible. Most classes meet three times per week with an additional weekly class period devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation classes are taught by Russian native speakers. Every fall. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 102 - Elementary Russian II

    Continuation of RUSS 101 ; further development of the same skills. Russian language classes (unless otherwise stated) are proficiency oriented, and aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Most classes meet three times per week with an additional weekly class period devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation classes are taught by Russian native speakers. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 101  with a grade of C- or better, or consent of instructor. Every spring. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 151 - “Things Don’t Like Me”: The Material World and Why It Matters

    We all have a contentious relationship with our material reality. The blankets are tangled, the roads are icy, the colors of the walls are wrong, the sun is too hot, the universe is too big. Once our basic needs are met, why do we continue to adapt, transform, and refine our physical environment? Why and how do human beings invest objects with meaning - and at what cost to others? What is the difference between persons and things, and is the distinction as clear-cut as it seems? How do the objects that surround us shape the world of ideas, emotions, and other essential aspects of human existence? Drawing upon the insights of scholars from such fields as history, literature, anthropology, visual art, architecture, and material culture studies, we will seek answers to these questions. We will read literary texts and analyze how the authors reflect as well as imagine material reality, and how they deploy concrete objects to create meaning in their work. The course will consist of mini-lectures, class discussion, oral presentations. We will meet outside of class for film screenings and a visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Alternate fall semesters. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 194 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 203 - Intermediate Russian I

    In the second year of Russian, students learn to operate in basic social and cultural environments. Conversational skills needed on the telephone, public transport and other daily situations, listening and reading skills such as television, newspapers and movies, and various modes of writing are studied. Russian language classes (unless otherwise stated) are proficiency oriented, and aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Intermediate and advanced courses are taught in Russian as much as possible. Most classes meet three times per week with an additional weekly class period devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation classes are taught by Russian native speakers. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 102  with a grade of C- or better, or consent of the instructor. Every fall. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 204 - Intermediate Russian II

    Continuation of RUSS 203 ; further development of the same skills; added emphasis on reading and discussing simple texts. Students are usually prepared for study in Russia after they have completed Intermediate Russian II. Russian language classes (unless otherwise stated) are proficiency oriented, and aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Intermediate and advanced courses are taught in Russian as much as possible. Most classes meet three times per week with an additional weekly class period devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation classes are taught by Russian native speakers. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 203  with a grade of C- or better, or consent of instructor. Every spring. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 245 - Nabokov

    Cross-Listed as ENGL 245  
    The scandal surrounding Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel about the nymphet Lolita finally made him a hugely successful celebrity, allowing him to retire from teaching at Cornell University and move to Switzerland to devote himself to fiction, translation, criticism and lepidoptery. This was only one of the many metamorphoses Nabokov underwent while in exile, moving from Russia to the Crimea, Cambridge UK, Berlin, Paris, Cambridge MA, Ithaca, Hollywood, and finally Montreux. Members of the Russian nobility, the Nabokovs lost everything with the 1917 Revolution except for their immense cultural capital, which Nabokov transformed into a tremendously productive career as a writer, critic, translator and scholar in Russian, French, and English. This course examines both the Russian (in translation) and English novels. A merciful defier of national, linguistic, cultural and theoretical categories, Nabokov remains paradoxically elusive and monumental, a thrilling and exasperating genius. Alternate spring semesters. (4 Credits)

    Curricular Change: Course renumbered from 366 to 245, effective spring 2018
  

  • RUSS 246 - Comparative Democratization

    Cross-Listed as LATI 246  and POLI 246 
    This course focuses on theories of democratic breakdown, regime transitions, and democratization in Southern Europe, Latin America, and Post-Communist Europe. Some of the cases we will study include Pinochet’s coup and Chile’s return to elections, the end of the South African apartheid regime, and Russia’s post-Cold War shift toward both democratic elections and new strands of authoritarianism. Building on the literatures on transitions, consolidation, civil society, and constitutional design, the course culminates in an examination of democratic impulses in Iran and the Middle East. Themes are explored through diverse teaching methods including discussion, debates, simulations, partisan narratives, lecture, film, and poetry. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 250 - Terrorism and Art: The Spectacle of Destruction

    Cross-Listed as INTL 250  
    Russia presents an excellent case study for the topic of political violence. Terrorism as a means of political persuasion originated in the land of the tsars; Russian history features an incendiary cycle of repressions, revolts, and reprisals. Studying the origins and depictions of these events in works of art reveals how culture mediates between the world of ideas and the sphere of action. We will consider the tactics and motives of revolutionary conspirators as well as the role that gender and religion played in specific acts of terror. We will explore the ways in which Russian revolutionary thought and action served as a model for radicals around the world. The Russian case will provide a framework for in-depth study of examples of terrorism from Algeria, Ireland, Germany, the U.S., and the Middle East. Texts will include novels, poems, manifestos, letters, journalistic accounts, and films, as well as readings in cultural history and political theory. Taught in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 251 - 19th Century Russian Literature

    19th-century Russian authors reflect on imperial expansion in Romantic poetry and fictions about dashing horsemen, jaded dandies, and Caucasian beauties (Pushkin, Lermontov). Realistic prose (Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev) celebrates and satirizes provincial life and glorifies the center-s power, while also showing its crushing bureaucracy, its self-destructive underground men, its poor clerks, and dens of prostitution. Writers interrogate autocracy, serfdom, incipient industrialization and women-s equality. Nihilists, Westernizers, and Slavophiles philosophize about free will, national identity, life, and death. The course concludes with Chekhov-s short stories and innovative plays. Readings include all major genres and some theory. This course is topical and themes vary depending on faculty/student interests and areas of expertise. Specific theme will be announced in advance of registration. Lectures, readings and discussions are in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 252 - Experiments in Living: 20th Century Russian Literature and Culture

    In the twentieth century, political and artistic revolutions in Russia had repercussions far beyond its borders; we can still feel the effects to this day. How do artists respond to and shape historical events? How did writers in twentieth-century Russia transmute fear, violence, and chaos into art? In this course we will consider novels, stories, and poems, as well as paintings, music, and film reflecting upon the Bolshevik revolution, the Stalinist terror, World War II, the Thaw, {i}glasnost{ei} and {i}perestroika{ei}, and the turmoil of the post-Soviet era. We will become acquainted with major artistic trends including Symbolism, Futurism, and Socialist Realism; and observe how in each case, matters of style went hand in hand with the desire to change the world. Our readings will convey the fantastic schemes of the utopian thinkers at the turn of the century; artists’ responses to and participation in the political, scientific, and sexual experimentation of their time; and the survival of creative expression in the midst of unimaginable hardships. We will discover how and why some cultural figures chose to serve, and others to resist, the state, and what fate had in store for them. We will learn how provocateurs and innovators such as Mayakovsky, Akhmatova, Babel, Zoshchenko, Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky, Pelevin, and Tolstaya explored the relationship between art and ideology, exile and creativity, laughter and subversion, memory and survival, individual psychology and historical cataclysm. All reading will be in English. Offered in alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 255 - Fierce and Beautiful World: Russian Culture Before the Revolution

    Like the legendary knight Ilya Muromets who lay still for decades, then arose and stunned the world with mighty feats, Russia is a force to be reckoned with again. In 2007, Vladimir Putin was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. What do we know about his country, and about the people who chose him as their leader? When you think of Russia, what comes to mind? Slender birch trees or brutish bears? Do you imagine soulful wonder-working icons, finely-wrought samovars, onion-domed cathedrals, opulent palaces, folkloric lacquer boxes, whimsical nesting dolls, delicious pastries, delicate ballet dancers? Or do you picture revolutionary nihilists, vodka-soused ruffians, tyrannical tsars, masters flogging serfs, or a troika racing at breakneck speed toward an unknown destination? Only a country so vast could accommodate such contradictions. Studying Russian culture offers a way to confront the paradoxes of the human condition, in particular, the opposing yet complementary drives to create and to destroy. The great poet Tyutchev declared that “you cannot understand Russia with your mind.” In this course we’ll take his cue and approach Russia through the senses. Russian culture offers a feast for the eyes, in visual art from icons to popular prints, the work of realist painters and the pioneers of abstract art; decorative art from wood carving to Faberge eggs; churches built without nails and palaces made of ice; boisterous folk dances and the Ballets Russes. Sound, too, plays a major role in Russian culture, from church bells to balalaikas, bawdy chastushkas to Tchaikovsky. We’ll discover the cultural significance of tea-drinking, traditional foods, and most of all, alcohol. We will consider the ways in which Russian art and ideas made an indelible impression on world culture. As we examine case studies from medieval times through the end of the tsarist period, we will ask such “burning questions” as: why does art have such a privileged status in Russian society? What exactly is the Russian soul? What is Russia’s relationship to the West: does it belong to Europe, to Asia, or does it possess a unique essence and destiny? Russia embraces its duality, and this may account, in part, for the distinctiveness and the vitality of Russian culture. All readings will be in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 256 - Mass Culture Under Communism

    Revolution to the fall of communism. For each period in Soviet history, changes in the production and consumption of culture will be considered with specific examples to be discussed. Topics dealt with in the course include the role of mass media in society, popular participation in “totalitarian” societies, culture as a political tool. Popular films, newspapers and magazines, songs, radio and TV programs, etc., will serve to analyze the policies that inspired them and the popular reactions (both loyal and dissenting) they evoked. Taught in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 257 - Tolstoy’s War and Peace

    In 1851, a dropout from the university, Lev Tolstoy volunteered to serve in the Caucasus, where he also launched his writing career. Later he examined Napoleon’s war with Russia in War and Peace , while gradually gaining fame for his stance against imperialist wars and violence. His doctrine of non-resistance against evil was to inspire his last piece of war writing, Hadji Murad as well as other thinkers from Gandhi to Martin Luther King. Though most of the semester will be devoted to the “non-novel,” “loose baggy monster,” War and Peace we interrogate it in the context of Tolstoy’s evolving ideas and 19th century Russia and Europe. We conclude with a close reading of Hadji Murad , Harold Bloom’s “personal touchstone for the sublime prose fiction.” While pondering Tolstoy and Russia, students are introduced to various critical approaches to literature and various reactions to Tolstoy both on page and on stage. In English. Lectures, discussion, writing, and oral presentations. Alternate years, fall semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 261 - Making History: Russian Cinema as Testimony, Propaganda, and Art

    Cross-Listed as HIST 261  
    Through the study of Russian films starting from the silent era up to the present day, the course will explore how storytelling in cinema differs from that in history and fiction, as well as how power relations, technology, and aesthetics shaped cinematic depictions of major historical events in Russia and the Soviet Union, from medieval times to post-Soviet era. Students will view and analyze films that are among the essential Russian contributions to world cinema, by directors including Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Mikhalkov, and Sokurov. Course readings will draw upon film theory, history, fiction, and memoirs. We will use our readings to create a conceptual framework for examining the films as narratives about real events, as vehicles of propaganda, and as imaginative works of art. In addition to attending weekly film screenings and discussing the films and readings in class, students will give presentations on topics of their choice arranged in consultation with the instructor. Alternate spring semesters. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 265 - Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication

    Cross-Listed as INTL 265  
    When communication takes place across language barriers, it raises fundamental questions about meaning, style, power relationships, and traditions. This course treats literary translation as a particularly complex form of cross-cultural interaction. Students will work on their own translations of prose or poetry while considering broader questions of translation, through critiques of existing translations, close comparisons of variant translations, and readings on cultural and theoretical aspects of literary translation. Prerequisite(s): Advanced proficiency in a second language required. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 270 - Wrongdoing in Russian Literature

    The Russian word for crime literally means “overstepping,” in the sense of crossing a boundary. What happens, however, when that boundary shifts, as it did in the twentieth century with the Bolshevik Revolution? Or what if the society that defines the criminal is itself “wrong”? Throughout its history, Russian literature has returned almost obsessively to the theme of transgression. We will take a cross-cultural approach as we juxtapose Russian texts with those from other literary traditions, bringing out a similar and contrasting views of wrongdoing in Russian culture and that of “the West” against which Russia has traditionally defined itself. Readings will introduce course participants to an intellectual axe murderer, a malicious barber, a female serial killer, demonic hooligans, men pushed over the edge by classical music, and others on the wrong side of the law. Central to the course will be the question of how fiction writers present crime and how their artistic choices influence the way readers think of such seemingly self-evident oppositions as good and evil, right and wrong. We will address such themes as: the motives for and the moment of crossing over into crime; the detective as close reader/the criminal act as a work of art; gender and violence; crimes of writing; the (in)justice of punishment and the spectacle of state power. We will explore St. Paul’s “underworld” history and how it has been reinvented as a tourist attraction. Students will be encouraged to apply ideas arising from our readings to current events, studying the means by which contemporary instances of wrongdoing (and the trials intended to make things right) are represented in the mass media, and analyzing how true-life stories are turned into allegory and myth. Offered every other year. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 272 - The Post-Soviet Sphere

    Cross-Listed as  
    The USSR’s 1991 dissolution ended one of history’s great experiments. Socialism sought to dissolve ethnicity and overcome ethnic conflict with a focus on equality. Instead it exacerbated nationalism and created-separated identities. But how? Topics include ethno-creation, control, and resistance; ethnic animosities and the USSR’s destruction; new states after 1991; “diaspora” populations beyond ethnic homelands; local rebellions; new “native” dictatorships; and recent international organizations. . (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 294 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 363 - Orientalism and Empire: Russia’s Literary South

    Since the 18th century to the recent wars with Chechnya, contradictory views of Russian empire building have been reflected in Russian literature. Students first explore recurring Russian ideas of empire, such as “Moscow the Third Rome,” and “Eurasianism,” as well as the constructs of East/West as factors in Russian identity thinking. The course focuses on the Caucasus region, Russia’s “Oriental” south, starting with a brief history of imperial expansion into the area and concentrating on its literary expression in travelogues, Classicist and Romantic poetry, Oriental tales, short stories, and novels. We will ponder general “orientalist” imagery and stereotyping (the noble savage, the brave tribesman, the free-spirited Cossack, the sensual woman, the imperial nobleman/peasant, the government functionary, and “virgin” territory) together with ideas of nation and identity based on this specific region. We will read classics of Russian literature (Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Tsvetaeva), but also lesser known authors, some justly and others unjustly forgotten by the canon (Osnobishin, Elena Gan, Iakubovich, Rostopchina). We will supplement our literary readings with a variety of critical and historical texts, as well as films. In English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 364 - Culture and Revolution

    Cross-Listed as  
    This course examines the relationship between cultural and political change during four very different revolutions: in France of 1789, in Russia of 1917, and the more recent events in Iran and South Africa. How do people change when governments are overturned? How do revolutions shape the consciousness of their citizens? Do people understand events as revolutionaries intend them to? To answer these questions, we will examine symbols and political ideologies, mass media outreach, education and enlistment, changing social identities, the culture of violence, popular participation and resistance, as well as other issues. Readings will include such diverse sources as Voltaire and Rousseau, Marx and Lenin, Khomeini and the Koran. We will read contemporary accounts, both sympathetic and antagonistic, and look at popular culture to see how events were understood. Fashion and etiquette, comics and caricatures, movies and plays are among the materials used. Taught in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 366 - Nabokov

    Cross-Listed as ENGL 366  

    There is a risk in studying Vladimir Nabokov, as those who have can attest. At first, you find he is an author who understands the simple pleasures of the novel. He crafts wondrously strange stories-often detective stories-in language often so arresting you may find yourself wanting to read passages aloud to passers-by. Then, you may discover within the novel little hints, here and there, of a hidden structure of motifs. The hints are in the synaesthetic colors of sound, in the patterns on the wings of butterflies, in the tremble of first love, in shadows and reflections, in the etymologies of words. Soon the reader has become a detective as well, linking the recurring motifs, finding clues are everywhere. By then it is too late. The risk in studying Nabokov is that you may not see the world the same way again.

    Nabokov’s life is itself remarkable. He was born into Russian nobility, but fled with his family to Western Europe after the 1917 Revolution. His father took a bullet intended for another. After his education in England, Nabokov moved to Berlin, and then to Paris, where advancing Nazi troops triggered another flight, this time to the United States. He was not only an accomplished poet, novelist, and translator, but also a lepidopterist. Nabokov found and conveyed both the precision of poetry and the excitement of discovery in his art, scientific work, and life.

    In this course, we will read a representative selection of both his Russian (in translation) and English language novels, including Lolita and Pale Fire, two of the finest novels of the twentieth century. We will explore various aspects of Nabokov’s life and art in order to arrive at a fuller understanding of how cultural synthesis inspires artistic creation.

      Alternate years, spring semester. (4 Credits)

    Curricular Change: Course number effective for Fall 2017 only; renumbered to 245 for spring 2018
  

  • RUSS 367 - Dostoevsky in Translation

    Dostoevsky lived an extraordinary life. After achieving instant fame with the publication of Poor Folk, he languished in near obscurity for many years. He was sentenced to death for participation in a political society and was reprieved by the tsar just minutes before his scheduled execution. He served four years of hard labor in prison and another five years in exile in Siberia. He suffered from debilitating epilepsy and a compulsive gambling habit, and he struggled with massive debt. Yet by the end of his life the Russian public hailed him as a prophet and Russia’s greatest living writer. Like his life, his novels are extraordinary. They plumb the dark depths of the human soul, confronting the reader with issues of life and death, good and evil, and the presence of evil in God’s universe. In this course we will read Dostoevsky’s four great novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov, as well as the misunderstood anti-nihilist work Notes from Underground. Taught in English. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 394 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 488 - Senior Seminar

    Seminars on selected topics in Russian language, literature, or culture, designed to serve as an integrative capstone experience for majors. Recent topics are “Investigating Russian Web and Press,” “The Contemporary Short Story,” and “Forbidden Art and the Performance of Dissent.” Conducted in Russian. Since the topic changes from year to year, we recommend that sufficiently advanced students repeat this course. Prerequisite(s): three years of Russian ( , followed by a semester abroad) or approval of instructor. Every spring. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 494 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 601 - Tutorial

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 602 - Tutorial

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 603 - Tutorial

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 604 - Tutorial

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 611 - Independent Project

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 612 - Independent Project

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 613 - Independent Project

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 614 - Independent Project

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 621 - Internship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 622 - Internship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 623 - Internship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 624 - Internship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 631 - Preceptorship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 632 - Preceptorship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 633 - Preceptorship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 634 - Preceptorship

    Limit to be applied toward the major will be determined in consultation with the department. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 641 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 642 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 643 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • RUSS 644 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
 

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