Russian Studies Major

Major Requirements

The purpose of the major in Russian Studies is to provide students with the language, critical skills and area knowledge necessary for the use of Russian in commerce, science, and international relations and for further study of Russian literature and the former Soviet Union.

A major in Russian Studies consists of 44 credits, distributed as follows:

1. Russian department courses: 36 credits, to include:
   1. Basic language sequence beyond RUSS 101 - Elementary Russian I  and RUSS 102 - Elementary Russian II , 16 credits: RUSS 203 - Intermediate Russian I  and RUSS 204 - Intermediate Russian II , 8 credits, and another 8 credits of Russian language abroad in the third year, or equivalent. Russian Studies majors are expected to complete the equivalent of three years of Russian language in a combination of courses taken on campus and abroad. Students with significant language background when they come to Macalester may substitute courses listed below.
   2. Literature, culture, special language courses, 16 credits: RUSS 251 - Hussars, Hookers, Holy Fools: 19th C Russian Literature in Translation , RUSS 252 - Experiments in Living: 20th Century Russian Literature and Culture , RUSS 255 - Fierce and Beautiful World: Russian Culture Before the Revolution , RUSS 256 - Mass Culture Under Communism , RUSS 257 - Tolstoy’s War and Peace , RUSS 265 - Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication , RUSS 270 - Wrongdoing in Russian Literature , RUSS 363 - Orientalism and Empire: Russia’s Literary South , RUSS 366 - Nabokov , RUSS 367 - Dostoevsky and Gogol , and topics courses offered as RUSS 194 , RUSS 294  or RUSS 294 . At least one of these courses should focus on the 19th century and one on the 20th century.
   3. RUSS 488 - Senior Seminar , 4 credits, designed as the integrative capstone experience. May be taken upon completion of RUSS 204  and an approved study abroad plan. Since the topic changes from year to year, students may repeat RUSS 488  for credit under b), with the consent of the instructor.
2. Study abroad
   A semester study abroad program as approved by the department and the Macalester Study Abroad Committee. Most students will study abroad in the fall semester following completion of RUSS 204 . Courses taken abroad may count for up to 8 credits in the language sequence, as well as four credits under sections I.b. or III.
3. Supporting courses (8 credits)
   Two area studies courses, as approved by the department. Such courses are significantly devoted to the area of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Preapproved courses include:RUSS 272 - The Post-Soviet Sphere , RUSS 364 - Culture and Revolution , HIST 362 - Soviet Union and Successors , INTL 225 - Comparative Economic Systems , ECON 227 - Adam Smith and Karl Marx , INTL 325 - China, Russia and Central Europe in Transition , INTL 285 - Ethnicity and Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe , INTL 317 - Writers and Power: The European East in the 20th Century . Appropriate topics courses include MUSI 394  - Shostakovich.