Catalog
German and Russian Studies
Professors Decker, Costlow, and Sweet; Associate Professor Browne (chair); Lecturers Neu-Sokol, Anderson, and Zirngast
The Department of German and Russian Studies explores the languages and cultures of countries conceiving and defining themselves anew. Departmental offerings investigate important interconnections between history, society, culture, and language in Central and Eastern Europe. The curricula in German and Russian assert the vitality of traditions challenged and invigorated by change, and the importance of attaining fluency not only in language but also in the nuances of cultural understanding. The department offers majors and minors in German and Russian. More information on the Department of German and Russian Studies is available on the Web site (www.bates.edu/GRST.xml).
Minor
A minor requires a minimum of seven courses in German or Russian (or six courses and a designated Short Term unit). At least one of the seven courses must involve a study of literature or culture (taught either in the language or in translation), but only one course in translation may be counted toward the minor. A student may petition to have up to three comparable courses, completed at other institutions either in the United States or abroad, apply toward the minor. Advanced Placement courses may not be applied toward the minor.All students, and especially majors, are strongly encouraged to spend an extended period of time abroad prior to graduation. Opportunities to do so include participation in the Bates Fall Semester Abroad programs in Austria, Germany, and Russia; junior year or junior semester abroad programs; summer sessions; and the various off-campus Short Term units sponsored by the department.
Entering students are assigned to the appropriate level in language courses according to the following criteria: their performance on the SAT II or Advanced Placement Test of the College Entrance Examination Board taken in secondary school, relative proficiency based on length of previous study, and/or after consultation with an appropriate member of the department.
Literatures and Cultures in Translation
While the department emphasizes the importance of acquiring the fluency needed to study literature and culture in the original, many courses are offered in translation. See listings under individual languages for detailed descriptions of these courses.GER 120. Writing on the Wall.
GER 254. Berlin and Vienna, 1900–1914.
GER 290. Nietzsche, Kafka, Goethe.
GER s22. Kafka.
GER s24. Monsters: Imagining the Other.
ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.
RUSS 220. Twentieth-Century Russian Novel.
RU/WS 240. Women and Russia.
RUSS 261. Russian Culture.
RUSS 270. Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature.
RUSS 271. Modern Russian Literature.
RUSS 276. Dostoevsky and the Culture of Crisis.
RUSS s19. Radical Tolstoy.
RUSS s26. Russian and Soviet Film.
General Education Information for the Classes of 2009 and 2010
Any one Short Term unit from the Department of German and Russian Studies may be used as an option for the fifth humanities course.German
Major Requirements
The major consists of nine courses at the 200 level or above. Required are German 233, 234, and at least one course from each of the following four groups: 1) 241, 242, 301, 303, 310; 2) 243, 244; 3) 357, 358; 4) 270, 356. In addition, majors must complete at least one of the following: History 263, English 295, Philosophy 272, 273. Majors also choose either to a) write a senior thesis or b) pass a series of comprehensive examinations in the second semester of the senior year. Students choosing to write a thesis must register for 457 or 458.Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major except for 201, 202, and/or 233; nor for the minor except for 101, 102, 201, 202 and/or 233. CoursesGER 101. Fundamentals of German I.
This course introduces students to the German language and its cultural contexts. By emphasizing communicative skills, students learn to speak, act out real-life situations, build vocabulary, and develop their listening comprehension. German 101 is not open to students who have had two or more years of German in secondary school. Normally offered every year. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 101-102. Fundamentals of German I and II.
This course introduces students to the German language and its cultural contexts. By emphasizing communicative skills, students learn to speak, act out real-life situations, build vocabulary, and develop their listening comprehension. German 101 is not open to students who have had two or more years of German in secondary school. Normally offered every year. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 102. Fundamentals of German II.
This course introduces students to the German language and its cultural contexts. By emphasizing communicative skills, students learn to speak, act out real-life situations, build vocabulary, and develop their listening comprehension. German 101 is not open to students who have had two or more years of German in secondary school. Normally offered every year. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 120. Writing on the Wall.
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, signaling the end of the forty-year cold war. However, the Wall still retains a powerful hold over the American imagination as a prime historical artifact of political and personal division. What did it actually entail to slice an existing country in half? How did people living in both East and West come to rely on the Wall to define who they were? What physical or symbolic walls do we erect in modern identity politics, and how are our worldviews shaped by existing political and geographic boundaries? In order to probe these complex ramifications of the Berlin Wall, students analyze political speeches, espionage thrillers, love stories, films, Wall graffiti, interviews, news reports, and monuments and memorials. Conducted in English. Not open to students who have received credit for First-Year Seminars 368. Enrollment limited to 15. [W1] Offered with varying frequency. E. Anderson.GER 201. Intermediate German I.
A continuation of German 101-102, with added emphasis on the development of reading strategies and composition skills. Open to first-year students who enter with at least two years of German. Prerequisite(s): German 102. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. Staff, D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 201-202. Intermediate German I and II.
A continuation of German 101-102, with added emphasis on the development of reading strategies and composition skills. Open to first-year students who enter with at least two years of German. Prerequisite(s): German 102. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. Staff, D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 202. Intermediate German II.
A continuation of German 201, with added emphasis on the development of reading strategies and composition skills. Open to first-year students who enter with at least two years of German. Prerequisite(s): German 102. Normally offered every year. Staff, D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 233. German Composition and Conversation.
Topical course designed to develop linguistic and cultural competency. Through reading and discussing a variety of texts, working with multimedia, and completing weekly writing assignments, students attain greater oral and written proficiency in German while deepening their understanding of the culture of German-speaking countries. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. D. Sweet, G. Neu-Sokol.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 233-234. German Composition and Conversation.
Topical course designed to develop linguistic and cultural competency. Through reading and discussing a variety of texts, working with multimedia, and completing weekly writing assignments, students attain greater oral and written proficiency in German while deepening their understanding of the culture of German-speaking countries. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. D. Sweet, G. Neu-Sokol.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 234. German Composition and Conversation.
Topical course designed to develop linguistic and cultural competency. Through reading and discussing a variety of texts, working with multimedia, and completing weekly writing assignments, students attain greater oral and written proficiency in German while deepening their understanding of the culture of German-speaking countries. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. D. Sweet, G. Neu-Sokol.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 241. German Literature of the Twentieth Century I.
A study of German literature and society from 1890 through 1933, with emphasis on the aesthetic and sociohistorical underpinnings of Naturalism, Impressionism, Expressionism, and selected works of Mann, Kafka, and Brecht. Prerequisite(s): German 234. Open to first-year students. [W2] Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 242. German Literature and Film of the Twentieth Century II.
A continuation of German 241, focusing on post–World War II literature and emphasizing such authors as Böll, Brecht, Frisch, Dürrenmatt, Bachmann, and Wolf. Attention is given to contemporary women writers and poets whose works center on utopian visions and the search for peace. Prerequisite(s): German 234. Offered with varying frequency. G. Neu-Sokol.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 243. Introduction to German Poetry.
A study of poetry in German-speaking countries since 1800. The course focuses on four or five well-known poets, to be chosen from among the following: Hölderin, Novalis, Mörike, Heine, Droste-Hülshoff, Rilke, Trakl, Brecht, Celan, and Bachmann. Attention is also given to the poetry of Lasker-Schüler, Kolmar, Bobrowski, Lavant, Enzensberger, and Kirsch. Students make oral presentations and write short interpretations or translations of poems. Prerequisite(s): German 234. Open to first-year students. Offered with varying frequency. G. Neu-Sokol.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 244. Staged Marriages.
A study of major issues in German dramaturgy from the Enlightenment to the present, explored through texts that dramatize problems relating to marriage. Authors include Lessing, Büchner, Brecht, and Horváth. Prerequisite(s): German 234. Open to first-year students. [W2] Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 254. Berlin and Vienna, 1900–1914.
From the beginning of the twentieth century to the outbreak of World War I, the capital cities of Berlin and Vienna were home to major political and cultural developments, including diverse modernist movements in art, architecture, literature, and music, as well as the growth of mass party politics. The ascending German Empire and the multiethnic Habsburg Empire teetering on the verge of collapse provide the context within which this course examines important texts of fin-de-siècle modernism. Topics include urban growth and planning, German Expressionism, Austrian Impressionism, early German cinema, and Freud's case studies of hysteria. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 270. Living with the Nazi Legacy.
A study of contemporary works from Austria and Germany that articulate the experiences of children of Nazis. Texts, which include autobiographical writings, novels, films, interviews, and essays, are analyzed in terms of their representation of the Nazi past and its continuing impact on the present. Prerequisite(s): German 234. [W2] Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 290. Nietzsche, Kafka, Goethe.
These three writers demarcate significant milestones on the road to modernity and beyond. Their ideas permeate even today's popular language: "Faustian" man, Nietzschean will to power, the "death of God," Kafkaesque. With these writers as guides, this course undertakes a critical investigation of some of the way stations of modernity: the autonomy of the individual (Goethe); radical horizontality as a response to the crisis of culture (Nietzsche); dispossession and rootlessness, anonymity and the search for community as the fundamental characteristics of our age (Kafka). Class discussions are conducted in English; students may read texts either in German or in English translation. Recommended background: one course in literature, history, or philosophy. Open to first-year students. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 301. The Enlightenment in Germany.
The Enlightenment was a formative force of modernity. Its adherents promulgated tolerance and universality, new forms of education, and social utopias. This course is an interdisciplinary investigation of the movements, protagonists, and ideas of the Enlightenment in Germany and includes a postscript to the project of enlightenment at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Readings by Kant and Goethe, Lessing and Mendelssohn, Wieland and Herder. Contemporary writers include Horkheimer, Adorno, and Foucault. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 303. German Romanticism.
Profoundly affected by the French Revolution, Germany's young generation sought to create a philosophical literature (German Romanticism) to reform human consciousness. To achieve this, they posited new forms for sexuality and gender relations and sought to renew spirituality and consciousness of the supernatural. This course examines key philosophical and literary writings by the early German Romantics, including Schlegel, Novalis, Wackenroder, and Tieck. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 310. No Certainties: Film and Literature in Germany Today.
Germany faces unprecedented challenges. Despite reunification — now in its second decade — Germany remains profoundly divided. At the same time the new realities of a post-Wall "new Europe" confront Germany with questions of immigration, multiculturalism, and assimilation more urgently than ever. Social dislocation is widespread. Environmental issues play an increasing role. What have been the responses of the philosophers and poets, novelists and filmmakers? How does culture address the contemporary world? Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.GER 356. Representing Austrian Fascism.
Official state documents and popular historical imagination frequently present Austria as the "first victim of Nazi aggression," thus discounting the active role that Austrians played in the Anschluss and the Third Reich. This course explores the myth of Austria's victimization through analysis of government documents, literary texts, and documentary films that represent Austrian involvement in and response to the Nazi past. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 357. Austrian Literature.
A study of Austrian fiction that emerges from and responds to three important periods in Austrian political and cultural history: the restorative and revolutionary period of the mid-nineteenth century; fin-de-siècle Vienna and the impending collapse of the Habsburg Empire; and the post–World War II Second Austrian Republic. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Offered with varying frequency. C. Decker.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 358. Literature of the German Democratic Republic.
Reading and discussion of selected prose and poetry of the German Democratic Republic. Topics include the theory of Socialist Realism, the role of the GDR Writers' Union, GDR authors who emigrated to the West, and the emergence of younger, independent writers. Works by Schneider, Becker, Wolf, Heym, and Wander are among those examined. Prerequisite(s): one 200-level literature course taught in German. Recommended background: German 242. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.GER 365. Special Topics.
Designed for the small seminar group of students who may have particular interests in areas of study that go beyond the regular course offerings. Periodic conferences and papers are required. Permission of the department is required. Staff.GER 457. Senior Thesis.
Research leading to writing of a senior thesis. Open to senior majors, including honors candidates. Students register for German 457 in the fall semester or for German 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both German 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.GER 457, 458. Senior Thesis.
Research leading to writing of a senior thesis. Open to senior majors, including honors candidates. Students register for German 457 in the fall semester or for German 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both German 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.GER 458. Senior Thesis.
Research leading to writing of a senior thesis. Open to senior majors, including honors candidates. Students register for German 458 in the winter semester Majors writing an honors thesis register for both German 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.INDS s17. Wake Up!.
The unit weds academic inquiry with a rigorous experiential journey to self-awareness, nature, and social engagement. It pursues four interrelated avenues of inquiry: small seminar examination of texts to provide historical, cultural, and philosophical context (German literature, New England transcendentalism, native peoples, Zen and engaged Buddhism, deep ecology); outdoor experiential activities; a week-long meditation retreat; and a week in the wilderness. Papers in response to readings, journalling, and a student-designed project are required. Two weeks are spent offcampus. Cross-listed in environmental studies, German, and religious studies. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission is required. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.GER s22. Kafka.
Franz Kafka is one of the most enigmatic writers of the early twentieth-century avant garde. His unsettling, bureaucratic universe has contributed the term "Kafkaesque" to the general vocabulary. In this unit, students investigate Kafka's shorter prose works, letters, and two novels (The Trial and The Castle). Students also read critical interpretations from the 1920s to the present day ranging from the metaphysical to the political. Short papers and an oral report are required. Conducted in English. Recommended background: One course in either literature or philosophy. Enrollment limited to 30. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
GER s24. Monsters: Imagining the Other.
This unit investigates the cultural functions of monsters, their significance as signifiers of the excluded, the absolute "other." Beginning with classical antiquity and proceeding to the present, students discuss texts by philosophers, historians, psychologists, a dictator, literary writers, and monster theorists in order to forge a historical and theoretical understanding of monsters, their messages, and their makers. Students view up to three monster movies each week. Conducted in English. Enrollment limited to 30. Offered with varying frequency. D. Sweet.GER s50. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Normally offered every year. Staff.Russian
Major Requirements
Students may major in either Russian literature and culture or Russian studies. The department expects students in either field of study to have broad exposure to Russian language and culture and strongly encourages majors to spend some portion of an academic year in Russia by the end of the junior year.To fulfill the major in Russian literature and culture, students complete any seven courses from the language sequence and four courses from the literature/culture offerings. Majors may substitute one related course in either politics or history for a literature/culture course.
To fulfill the requirements for Russian studies, students complete eleven courses: five from the language sequence, Politics 232, any Russian literature/culture course, and three electives from the offerings in Russian literature/culture.
Students may petition to have appropriate Short Term unit(s) count toward either major. Students in either field of study have the option of writing a senior thesis or taking a comprehensive examination sometime during their last semester (comprehensive examinations are based on the student's course work).
Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major or minor, except for 101, 102, 201, 202, 301, and 302. CoursesRUSS 101. Elementary Russian I.
An introduction to Russian language and culture with an emphasis on communicative skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students also experience the variety and richness of modern Russia through authentic texts including music, film and television excerpts, and selected items from recent newspapers. Conducted in Russian. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 101-102. Elementary Russian I and II.
An introduction to Russian language and culture with an emphasis on communicative skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students also experience the variety and richness of modern Russia through authentic texts including music, film and television excerpts, and selected items from recent newspapers. Conducted in Russian. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 102. Elementary Russian II.
An introduction to Russian language and culture with an emphasis on communicative skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students also experience the variety and richness of modern Russia through authentic texts including music, film and television excerpts, and selected items from recent newspapers. Conducted in Russian. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 201. Intermediate Russian I.
A continuation of Russian 101-102 focusing on vocabulary acquisition and greater control of more complex and extended forms of discourse. Greater emphasis is placed on students' creative use of Russian to express themselves orally and in writing. Prerequisite(s): Russian 102. Conducted in Russian. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 201-202. Intermediate Russian I and II.
A continuation of Russian 101-102 focusing on vocabulary acquisition and greater control of more complex and extended forms of discourse. Greater emphasis is placed on students' creative use of Russian to express themselves orally and in writing. Prerequisite(s): Russian 102. Conducted in Russian. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 202. Intermediate Russian II.
A continuation of Russian 201 focusing on vocabulary acquisition and greater control of more complex and extended forms of discourse. Greater emphasis is placed on students' creative use of Russian to express themselves orally and in writing. Prerequisite(s): Russian 102. Conducted in Russian. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ES/RU 216. Nature in Russian Culture.
How does a given culture understand and represent its relationship to the specific geography of its place in the world? This course explores the cultural landscape of Russia through a broad range of literary works, visual images, and ethnographic studies. Students examine some of the following issues: the relationship between geography and national identity; the political uses of cultural landscape; the interaction of agriculture, official religion, and traditional belief in peasant culture; and the role of class and revolutionary reimaginings of nature in the Soviet era. Conducted in English. Not open to students who have received credit for Environmental Studies/Russian 314. Not open to students who have received credit for ES/RU 314. Open to first-year students. [W2] Normally offered every other year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 220. Twentieth-Century Russian Novel.
This unit focuses on major Russian novels from the twentieth century, which may include Bely's Petersburg, Platonov's The Foundation Pit, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, Grossman's Life and Fate, and Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle. Students consider the ways these novels explore poetry, revolution, moral life, and cultural continuity in times of war and revolution; how they make innovative or traditional use of literary form and narrative voice; and how their authors shaped challenges to Soviet identity in literary works that were censored or repressed until the late twentieth century. Conducted in English. Normally offered every other year. J. Costlow.RU/WS 240. Women and Russia.
How did Russian women leave their mark on the twentieth century and how has it shaped their lives? Why are contemporary Russian women inheritors of a complicated legacy of Soviet "emancipation" so resistant to Western feminism? What sources of nourishment and challenge do Russian women find in their own cultural traditions? This course examines some of the great works of twentieth-century Russian writing (autobiography, poetry, novellas, and short fiction) and considers central representations of women in film, in order to understand how women have lived through the upheavals of what Anna Akhmatova called the "true twentieth century." Conducted in English. Not open to students who have received credit for Russian 240. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every other year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 261. Russian Culture.
A topical survey of Russian culture as realized in a number of social institutions including the family, the church, the popular media, and the arts. Particular attention is given to texts emphasizing both the real and imagined role the urban environment plays in shaping Russian identity. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. [W2] Offered with varying frequency. D. Browne.RUSS 270. Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature.
Russia's great prose writers raise "accursed questions" about social justice, religious truth, and the meanings of life. Their critiques of modernity and vividly imagined and often unorthodox characters continue to resonate and challenge. Readings are drawn from such writers as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Pushkin, and Chekhov. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every other year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 271. Modern Russian Literature.
The Devil comes to Soviet Moscow to do good! A cosmonaut discovers that the Soviet space program is a hoax carried out underground! Jesus Christ leads a march through revolutionary St. Petersburg! Who needs fantastic realism? Russian writers of the twentieth century continued to build on a world-class literary tradition established in the nineteenth century. They did so as their country experienced unparalleled political and social revolutions, and even when they were directly targeted by one of the twentieth century's most powerful and terrifying political regimes. This course looks at ways in which writers have responded to political, social, and cultural upheaval, and how they provide spiritual strength to a beleaguered population. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. Offered with varying frequency. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 276. Dostoevsky and the Culture of Crisis.
The works of Fyodor Dostoevsky describe a world on the edge of catastrophe or transformation, in which madmen, prostitutes, saints, and seekers lay claim to visions of revolution or redemption. This course introduces students to the work of Dostoevsky within the context of Russian cultural and political history. Reading includes two major novels (one of them being The Brothers Karamazov) and a selection of his shorter prose works, memoirs, and polemical pieces. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every other year. J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 301. Advanced Russian I.
This sequence completes the essentials of contemporary colloquial Russian. Students read short unabridged texts in both literary and journalistic styles, and write one- and two-page papers on a variety of topics. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 202. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 301-302. Advanced Russian I and II.
This sequence completes the essentials of contemporary colloquial Russian. Students read short unabridged texts in both literary and journalistic styles, and write one- and two-page papers on a variety of topics. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 202. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 302. Advanced Russian II.
This sequence completes the essentials of contemporary colloquial Russian. Students read short unabridged texts in both literary and journalistic styles, and write one- and two-page papers on a variety of topics. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 202. Normally offered every year. D. Browne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 306. Advanced Russian Culture and Language.
This course develops oral fluency and aural acuity as well as reading and writing skills through directed and spontaneous classroom activities and individual and collaborative written assignments. Conversations and compositions are based on literary and nonliterary texts, feature films, and documentary films. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 202. Open to first-year students. Offered with varying frequency. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 310. No Certainties: Film and Literature in Russia Today.
In the decade and a half since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been confronted with overwhelming economic, social, and environmental problems. At the same time, many Russians celebrate the possibilities of the post-Soviet world. The ideologies and social structures that generations of Soviets fought for are crumbling away, and Russia enters a post-Soviet reality at a moment when globalization and strife along its southern border are reshaping the world context. What have been the responses of thinkers and poets, novelists, and filmmakers? How does culture address the contemporary world? Most readings and discussions are in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 202 or permission of the instructor. Normally offered every year. J. Costlow.RUSS 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.RUSS 365. Special Topics.
Designed for the small seminar group of students who may have particular interests in areas of study that go beyond the regular course offerings. Periodic conferences and papers are required. Conducted in Russian. Instructor permission is required. Offered with varying frequency. Staff.RUSS 401. Contemporary Russian I.
The course is designed to perfect students' ability to understand and speak contemporary, idiomatic Russian. Included are readings from Aksyonov, Dovlatov, Shukshin, and Baranskaya and viewings of contemporary Russian films. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 302. Offered with varying frequency. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 401-402. Contemporary Russian I and II.
The course is designed to perfect students' ability to understand and speak contemporary, idiomatic Russian. Included are readings from Aksyonov, Dovlatov, Shukshin, and Baranskaya and viewings of contemporary Russian films. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 302. Offered with varying frequency. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 402. Contemporary Russian II.
The course is designed to perfect students' ability to understand and speak contemporary, idiomatic Russian. Included are readings from Aksyonov, Dovlatov, Shukshin, and Baranskaya and viewings of contemporary Russian films. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite(s): Russian 302. Offered with varying frequency. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
RUSS 457. Senior Thesis.
Open only to senior majors, with departmental permission. Students register for Russian 457 in the fall semester and for Russian 458 in the winter semester. Before registering for 457 or 458 a student must present to the department an acceptable plan, including an outline and a tentative bibliography, after discussion with a department member. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Russian 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.RUSS 457, 458. Senior Thesis.
Open only to senior majors, with departmental permission. Students register for Russian 457 in the fall semester and for Russian 458 in the winter semester. Before registering for 457 or 458 a student must present to the department an acceptable plan, including an outline and a tentative bibliography, after discussion with a department member. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Russian 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.RUSS 458. Senior Thesis.
Open only to senior majors, with departmental permission. Students register for Russian 458 in the winter semester. Before registering for 457 or 458 a student must present to the department an acceptable plan, including an outline and a tentative bibliography, after discussion with a department member. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Russian 457 and 458. Department chair permission is required. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.RUSS s19. Radical Tolstoy.
During his long lifetime Leo Tolstoy launched fundamental critiques of many of his culture's most precious assumptions and institutions: he denounced established religion; attacked imperialism and war; renounced sex, hunting, and the privileges of his class. He also searched for positive rules of life, grounded in agrarian simplicity, nonviolence, and an undying commitment to speaking truth. In this unit, students engage with Tolstoy's writings on topics ranging from education to nonviolence, Christianity, class, and sexuality. Tolstoy is read in company with other thinkers, from Gandhi and Martin Luther King to Wendell Berry and Andrea Dworkin, whose writings resonate with the fundamental Tolstoyan question: How then must we live? Conducted in English. Enrollment limited to 20. Offered with varying frequency. J. Costlow.ES/RU s20. Environment and Culture in Russia.
This unit introduces a broad range of environmental issues in contemporary Russia and invites students to consider those issues in cultural and historical context. Students spend three and one-half weeks at different locations in European Russia and the Urals, visiting sites ranging from privatized farms and peasant markets to industrial centers and conservation areas. A period of intensive preparation at Bates is followed by visits and conversations in Russia that acquaint students with ecologists, activists, governmental officials, and ordinary Russian citizens. Recommended background: one course in Russian studies or environmental studies. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission is required. Offered with varying frequency. J. Costlow.RUSS s26. Russian and Soviet Film.
From the early years of the Soviet avant-garde to the post-Stalinist era of covert critique, Russian film of the twentieth century offers an intriguing and important perspective on Soviet and post-Soviet life. This unit explores the avant-garde cinema of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, the propaganda films of the 1930s, the representation of World War II in Soviet film, the aesthetic and moral quests of post-Stalinist filmmakers, and new directions in filmmaking of the last decade. Films are in Russian and other Soviet languages, with subtitles. All reading and writing is in English. Offered with varying frequency. D. Browne, J. Costlow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations