May 03, 2024  
College Catalog 2022-2023 
    
College Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses


 

Religious Studies

  
  • 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 225 - Women and the Bible

    Cross-Listed as WGSS 225  
    In this course we will examine the roles, identities, and representations of women in the Tanakh/ Old Testament, New Testament, and Jewish and Christian apocrypha.  We will explore how biblical writers used women “to think with,” and we will consider how gender is co-constructed alongside religious, social, and sexual identities.  We will ask the following sorts of questions: What opportunities for social advancement and leadership were open to women in ancient Israelite, early Jewish, and early Christian communities, and how did these opportunities differ from those open to women in other religious formations in the ancient Mediterranean?  How did biblical regulations of bodies, sexuality, marriage, and family life shape women’s lives? What are the social and material effects of biblical representations of women? And how might current feminist theories inform our interpretation of biblical texts about women? Alternate spring semesters. (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 241 - Reclaiming Zen, Yoga and Church: Asian American Religions

    Cross-Listed as AMST 241  and ASIA 241  
    Asian Americans are often overlooked in the study of religion in the U.S., and yet the impact of Asian religious practices can be seen at every turn: yoga studios, mindfulness meditation, “zen” aesthetics of minimalism, and so on. What do we make of the gap between how Asian religions are practiced in Asian American communities and how these traditions have been reinterpreted by predominantly white, educated, middle class adherents? How do Asian American Christians negotiate their identities in the context of non-Asian Christian churches or the intergenerational tensions within their own ethnic churches? The approach of this course is interdisciplinary (and sometimes counterdisciplinary); it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from ethnic studies, religious studies, history, and sociology. Topics include: race and the racialization of Asian Americans; the politics of cultural and religious exchange; the commodification of Asian religious practices; and issues of assimilation and hybridity within Asian American Christian traditions. Spring semester only. (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


    This course situates Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X within the larger context of the black freedom struggle. While focusing on them as individuals, the bulk of the course addresses historical contexts, organizations, events, and individuals which are obscured by King’s and X’s celebrity. The black freedom struggle has always been national in scope with international implications. In addition to the “southern theater,” we explore of the black freedom struggle in the Western, Midwestern, and Northern regions of the country. We also explore the relation between historical expressions of the black freedom struggle such as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and contemporary movements such as Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name. A major theme of the course is the role of religion and the larger category of spirituality as a kind of connective tissue among the various dimensions of the black freedom struggle. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 253 - James Baldwin and the Black Religious Imagination

    Cross-Listed as AMST 253  
    This course explores James Baldwin’s life and work as a writer and activist. Baldwin was a black queer man in an antiblack and heteronormative world. His queer imagination and spirituality are part of the same cloth. Deeply scared by the black church, Baldwin’s spirituality and art were, nevertheless, profoundly shaped by the spirit and language of black church religiosity. Through a heterogenous body of writing and the life he lived, Baldwin explored the souls of black folks (including queer blackness) and the nature of American identity. Fall semester. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 254 - Dealing with the Dead


    This broadly anthropological class introduces issues in the social study of death and the dead generally, focusing on the diverse ways in which different societies treat the dead as a social group, and the social powers that emerge from the practices of dealing with the dead. The class uses comparative examples to explore general themes, rooting these discussions in concrete cases. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 256 - Marxism, Anarchism, and Religion


    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 276 - Marx, the Imaginary, and Neoliberalism

    Cross-Listed as GERM 276 MCST 276 , and POLI 276  
    All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. Marx’s contribution to the theorization of the function of the imaginary in both the constitution of subjectivity and the mechanisms of politics and economy-usually referred to as ideology-cannot be overestimated. The first part of this course traces Marx’s gradual conceptualization of the imaginary throughout his work-as well as further Marxist theoreticians, such as Louis Althusser, Étienne Balibar, and Slavoj Žižek-while exploring how the imaginary enabled Marx’s discovery of three further crucial concepts: structure, the unconscious, and the symptom, all of which are central in the analysis of culture and ideology. In the second part of the course, we shall focus on the logic and mechanisms of power in contemporary neoliberalism, including the claim that today Marx’s theory is no longer relevant (readings will include Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Maurizio Lazzarato, McKenzie Wark).  Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 277 - Metaphysics in Secular Thought

    Cross-Listed as GERM 277  and POLI 277  
    All readings in English; no pre-knowledge required. 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 may 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.  Occasionally. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 278 - Marx, Religion, and Biopolitical Race

    Cross-Listed as GERM 278 MCST 278 , and POLI 278  
    All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. In this course we shall examine the relation of religion to both capital and the modern forms of political power (what Michel Foucault termed biopolitics or biopower), as well as the biopolitical formations of race and racism as means for sustaining power-while discovering the enduring pertinence of Marx’s work in theorizing the above issues. Biopower emerges gradually in secular capitalist modernity as a form of power that legitimizes itself not through its right to “take life” (as in traditional forms of sovereignty) but through its obligation to protect and enhance life. Yet, albeit “secular,” biopower is a form of “pastoral power” (Foucault). We shall explore: the interconnectedness of modern biopower and religion; Marx’s critique of the dominant (Enlightenment) critique of religion and his thesis that the secular state presupposes religion; the colonial and racial constructions of religion; racial capitalism; and the biopolitical constructions of race in its relation to social class and other forms of domination.  Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)

  
  • RELI 294 - Topics Course


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

  
  • RELI 311 - Ritual


    The word “ritual” is used in many contexts to refer to types of practice that are considered centrally important, as well as formalistic and repetitive. This seminar-style course concentrates on the concept of ritual as a central component of social practice, within and without religious groupings. Focusing on developing the concept of ritual, we will focus on ritual across traditions. This requires 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 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 aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This course meets three times per week with two additional weekly sessions (labs) devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation sessions 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 aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This course meets three times per week with two additional weekly sessions (labs) devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation sessions 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. Occasionally offered. (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 aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Intermediate and advanced courses are taught in Russian as much as possible. This course meets three times per week with two additional weekly sessions (labs) devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation sessions 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. 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 aim at perfecting all four linguistic skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Intermediate and advanced courses are taught in Russian as much as possible. Students are usually prepared for study in Russia after they have completed Intermediate Russian II. This course meets three times per week with two additional weekly sessions (labs) devoted specifically to oral proficiency. These conversation sessions 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  


    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.

      Occasionally offered. (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 - Russian Literature on the Eve of Revolution


    How can literature help readers find meaning and purpose in times of crisis? In this course, we will study well-crafted narratives serving as windows into the conditions that led to dissent, social strife, and a thirst for liberation in imperial Russia, culminating in the Bolshevik revolution. Under autocracy in Russia, literature was the only public forum for debates about the things that mattered most. In the lead-up to the revolution, Russian literature had a tangible effect on the world by building compassion and sparking indignation, inspiring questions about how things could be otherwise, and by driving readers to action. In the first half of the semester, we will read short stories by authors such as Gogol and Chekhov who left an indelible impression on world literature, and a selection from a novel that served as a bible for revolutionaries. In the second half, we will focus on Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, a story of rebellion against fathers in every sense, written in response to the rise of revolutionary terrorism in Russia. We will conclude with a novella by Tolstoy, Hadji Murat, about the resistance that the Russian state met in its attempt to subjugate the peoples of the Caucasus. We will consider these texts as works of art and as sources of understanding and impact feeding into the Bolshevik Revolution. These narratives about people caught up in unjust systems of power raise questions about how one can and should act under oppressive circumstances. The characters we will encounter grapple with issues of agency and responsibility, as well as the crucial question of who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong in a secular world. As such, these stories bear witness not only to their times, but to ours as well. No previous knowledge of Russian literature or history is required. For our readings we will use English translations that preserve the pleasures of the original texts. Alternate years. (4 Credits)

  
  • RUSS 252 - Revolution, Repression, and Resistance: Soviet and Post-Soviet 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, glasnost and perestroika, 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 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. Occasionally offered. (4 Credits)

  
  • RUSS 260 - Rise/Fall of Tsarist Russia

    Cross-Listed as HIST 260  
    A survey of the development of Russian social and political institutions from Peter the Great (1682-1724) to 1917. The course will explain the growth of the tsar’s authority, the origins and outlooks of Russia’s major social/gender groups (nobility, peasants, merchants, clergy, women, minorities, Cossacks) and the relations which grew up between the tsar and his society. The course will conclude with an appraisal of the breakdown of the relationship in 1917, and the tsarist legacy for Russia’s social and political institutions in the Soviet Union and beyond. Can count towards History’s “Europe” and “pre-1800” and “Race/Indigeneity” and “Colonization/Empire” fields. Alternate years. (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. Occasionally offered. (4 Credits)

  
  • RUSS 262 - Soviet Union and Successors

    Cross-Listed as HIST 262  
    A survey of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet history from the Russian Revolution to the present. Topics include the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Bolshevik rule and its tsarist heritage, Soviet “monocratic” society under Lenin and Stalin, dissent in the USSR, the “command economy” in the collapse of Communist political power, and national consciousness as an operative idea in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Can count toward History’s ”Europe” and “pre-1800” and “Colonization/Empire” fields. Alternate years. (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. Occasionally offered. (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. Occasionally offered. (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. . Alternate years. (4 Credits)

  
  • RUSS 294 - Topics Course


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

  
  • RUSS 305 - Advanced Russian I


    This course builds upon the language skills acquired in RUSS 204 by solidifying confidence in speaking and conversing, deepening student vocabulary and reading skills through authentic readings from a variety of genres, strengthening listening skills through exposure to film, TV and other media, and introducing students to higher-level essay writing. By the end of the course, students will be expected to master fundamental grammatical concepts, and will be exposed to more advanced concepts such as participles, verbal adverbs, diminutives, and stylistics. The course is topical in nature, and topics will change from year to year. They may include literature, current events, history, film, theater, and mass media. In the anticipation that students will study in a Russian-speaking country the following semester, a primary goal of the course is to facilitate the achievement of advanced proficiency while studying abroad. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 204  or permission of instructor. Fall semester. (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. Occasionally offered. (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 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 405 - Advanced Russian II


    Seminars on selected topics in Russian Studies. Open to all students with advanced proficiency in Russian, and serving as an integrative capstone experience for majors. The course will combine discussions of a central topic in the Russian Studies field with students’ own scholarly exploration. Recent seminar topics have included Human Rights in the Post-Soviet Sphere, The Contemporary Short Story, and Forbidden Art and the Performance of Dissent. During the semester, seminar participants will pursue independent in-depth research that draws upon Russian sources; this research will serve as the basis of class workshops and discussions during the second half of the semester. The course is taught in Russian, but the final paper will be written in English. Workshops and discussions of the final paper in class and during consultations with the instructor will likewise be conducted in English. Since the topic changes from year to year, the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 305  or permission of instructor Every spring (4 Credits)

  
  • RUSS 488 - Senior Seminar


    Seminars on selected topics in Russian Studies. Open to all students with advanced proficiency in Russian, and serving as an integrative capstone experience for majors. The course will combine discussions of a central topic in the Russian Studies field with students’ own scholarly exploration. Recent seminar topics have included Human Rights in the Post-Soviet Sphere, The Contemporary Short Story, and Forbidden Art and the Performance of Dissent. During the semester, seminar participants will pursue independent in-depth research that draws upon Russian sources; this research will serve as the basis of class workshops and discussions during the second half of the semester. The course is taught in Russian, but the final paper will be written in English. Workshops and discussions of the final paper in class and during consultations with the instructor will likewise be conducted in English. Since the topic changes from year to year, the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): RUSS 305  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)


Sociology

  
  • SOCI 110 - Introduction to Sociology


    The course introduces students to the sociological imagination, or “the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of individual and society, of biography and history, of self and the world,” as C. Wright Mills described it. The enduring value of a sociological imagination is to help students situate peoples’ lives and important events in broader social contexts by understanding how political, economic, and cultural forces constitute social life. Sociology explores minute aspects of social life (microsociology) as well as global social processes and structures (macrosociology). Topics covered vary from semester to semester, but may include: socialization, suburbanization and housing, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class stratification, deviance and crime, economic and global inequality, families and intimate relationships, education, religion, and globalization. Every year. (4 Credits)

  
  • SOCI 150 - Prius or Pickup? Political Divides and Social Class


    The Far Right in the United States has appropriated working class identities to produce an identity among the white working class. Donald Trump, for instance, intentionally portrays a large gap in highbrow and lowbrow to take jabs at privileged liberals (such as when he tweeted the “Hamberder” photo). This course observes what can be called the Far Right “theater of politics” in order to understand how liberals have left working class culture behind in ways that allowed the far right to fill the void by finding persuasive techniques in culture (country music, religion, church…) to articulate a political voice that some working class folks, especially whites, may find appealing. Some of the major questions of the course include: (1) How do political and economic elites produce class, gender, and racial divides and segmentations by aligning themselves with the cultural practices often associated with working class folks? (2) Can the left create a political culture that cultivates respect for organic cultural expressions that include religious expressions and pop-cultural themes like country music and sports (yes, even football!) into their fold  Reducing everything to class and asking all others to submit to its political logic is a limited vision. Instead, the course investigates whether it is possible to envision a political project that rather than privileging the concerns of upper-middle class whites produces a culture of resistance that can articulate working class subjects - straight, queer, white, black, binary, non-binary - into a populist left movement? One of the truly powerful features of the Left is that it is much more diverse than the Far Right. Is it possible to extend that diversity even further so that it can show a “little respect” for organic cultural producers to feel comfortable producing and living in multiple class, racial, gender, and sexual habitus?

      Every year. (4 Credits)

  
  • SOCI 170 - Work, Identity, and Inequality


    This course will examine recent transformations in the U.S. economy - including deskilling, downsizing, and the rise of the service sector - and it will consider how each of these “transformations” relate to issues of identity, community, family formation, structural inequality and national culture. Work has changed so quickly in the last three decades that we have yet to fully comprehend the micro level consequences in our daily lives and the macro level consequences for American culture and global processes. (4 Credits)

  
  • SOCI 175 - Sociolinguistics

    Cross-Listed as LING 175  
    Sociolinguistics is the study of the social language variation inevitable in all societies, be they closed and uniform or diverse and multicultural. Language and culture are so closely tied that it is nearly impossible to discuss language variation without also understanding its relation to culture. As humans, we judge each other constantly on the basis of the way we use language, we make sweeping generalizations about people’s values and moral worth solely on the basis of the language they use.  Diversity in language often stands as a symbol of ethnic and social diversity. If someone criticizes our language we feel they are criticizing our inmost self. This course introduces students to the overwhelming amount of linguistic diversity in the United States and elsewhere, while at the same time making them aware of the cultural prejudices inherent in our attitude towards people who communicate differently from us. The class involves analysis and discussion of the readings, setting the stage for exploration assignments, allowing students to do their own research on linguistic diversity.  Offered every spring. (4 Credits)

 

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