RUSS105HY: INTRODUCTION TO RUSSIAN CULTURE
*Honors College students will have slightly different expectations.
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Course Information:
Autumn 2017
Time: MWF 1-1:50
Location: Natural Sciences 307
Credits: 3
Instructor Information:
Professor: Ona Renner-Fahey
Office Hours: M 11-11:50, W 10-10:50,
F 8-8:50; and by appointment.
Office: 316 Liberal Arts
E-mail:
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Course description:
A survey of Russian culture and civilization from its beginnings to the contemporary period. No language or literature prerequisites. We will cover Russian culture chronologically, dividing the course into four periods, spending approximately three weeks on each historical period. We will consider major historical and political events from each period to establish a context through which we will study the developments of such cultural aspects as the literature, art, and music from each period. The course structure will include lectures and some class discussion. The students will have reading assignments for most class periods. Course may be taken for a traditional letter grade only. Required for Russian majors and Russian Studies minors.
Goals andOutcomes: In this course students will be introduced through a variety of contexts to both the “big-C culture” and “little-c culture” of the Russian people and will trace its cause and development to the contemporary period. Through attentive reading, analytical thought, and some active discussion, the students will finish the semester with a foundational knowledge of Russian culture from its birth in the medieval period to the present day.
Classroom etiquette:
- It is essential to the learning process that students treat each other and the instructor with respect. Under the Student Conduct Code, students who are found to be disruptive may be asked to leave the classroom. Disruptive behaviors may include but are not limited to:
- Using electronic communication devices, including cell phones and laptops for purposes unrelated to ongoing class activities.
- Carrying on side conversations that are distracting to the instructor and other students.
- Verbally interrupting the class with comments or questions not relevant to the course or to the current discussion.
- Failure to participate in assigned group activities.
- Significantly interfering with instructor’s work activities during or outside of class.
Disability accommodations:
If you are a student with a disability who will require reasonable accommodation in this course, please meet with Disability Services for Students in Lommasson 154 for assistance in developing a plan to address program accommodations. If you are already working with Disability Services, then you should arrange to meet with your instructor during her office hours to discuss accommodations that may be necessary.
Grading scale:
88-89 B+78-79 C+68-69 D+
93-100 A83-87 B 73-77 C65-67 D
90-92 A-80-82 B-70-72 C-64 & below F
Assessment and classroom rules:
- Attendance/ Class engagement: Attendance, preparation, and—although largely a lecture-based class—active engagement are required. At times, an attendance sheet will be passed around; at other times, the “pop” reading quizzes (regardless of how the student has done on the quiz) will serve to record attendance. (For this reason, you should always turn in the quiz, even if you haven’t read or think you did very poorly. You can at least receive credit for having been in attendance.) Answering questions—as well as asking relevant questions—is encouraged. Active listening is mandatory and for this reason I do not allow laptops in my class unless you have received special accommodation for this. Tablets may be allowed, with my permission. If you have to leave class early, be sure to let me know; please do not sneak out the back door. Finally, in order to get to know you as well as possible, I may ask for your name when you volunteer to speak or I may even call your name from a list and ask a question of you. If possible, post a recognizable photo of yourself on Moodle.
- “Pop” reading quizzes: Reading assignments from our two main texts will have guided reading questions available on Moodle. Students should answer the questions while they are reading and then study the answers. If there is a multiple choice “pop” quiz in class on the reading, it will be based on those same questions. (In addition, some of the same questions will appear on the midterm and final exams.)
- Film: Students will be required to watch the film Russian Ark outside of class time. We will hold two film screenings (dates and times TBD). If any students can’t attend these, they will need to watch the film on their own and then talk to the instructor about it. This must be done before November 1st.
- Midterm exam: The midterm will be based on material from: the readings, lectures, films, slides, and music. It will be a multiple choice exam and students will need to bring a (“little red”) Scantron sheet and pencils, which can be easily purchased at the University Bookstore.
- Final exam: The final exam will have a similar structure to the midterm and will be cumulative, although weighted more on the material from the second half of the semester. It will be a multiple-choice exam and students will need again to bring a (“little red”) Scantron sheet and pencils.
Percentage distribution of final course grade:
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Attendance/Participation: 26%
“Pop” reading quizzes: 12%
Midterm exam: 26%
Cumulative final exam: 36%
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Required reading:
I.Books (Available at the University Bookstorein a few days):
A Mountain of Crumbs: A Memoir (Elena Gorokhova)
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (John Vaillant)
II.Texts on Moodle:
Readings (other than the two books listed above) can be found on Moodle. If you choose not to print out the readings (and it is strongly recommended that you do print them), you will need to take thorough notes so that you are prepared to discuss them in class, should we have time. Content from the readings may also be on the midterm and final exams, so there are plenty of reasons why you should have ready access to the readings or at least some detailed information from them. If you want to access them electronically, you’ll need to ask for permission to use a tablet. Laptops are not allowed in class.
Suggestions for further reading:
Gulag: A History (Anne Applebaum)
The Icon and the Axe (Billington, James)
Russia in Search of Itself (Billington, James)
The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Literature (Cambridge Intros to Literature) (Caryl Emerson)
The Making of Modern Russia (Kochan and Abraham)
The Land of the Firebird (Massie, Suzanne)
An Anthology of Russian Lit from Earliest Writings to Modern Fiction: Intro to a Culture
(N. Rzhevsky)
Russian Popular Culture: Entertainment and Society Since 1900 (Stites, Richard)
A Concise History of Russian Art (Talbot Rice, Tamara)
The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn
(Volkov, Solomon)
COURSE SCHEDULE:
*This schedule is subject to change. The texts are to have been read before class on the day they are listed.
F 9/1 What is “Culture”?
MEDIEVAL RUSSIA (10th-16th c.):
M 9/4 NO CLASSES
W 9/6The Geography of Russia
F 9/8 The Language(s) of Russia
M 9/11 The Riurik DynastyChristianization and Eastern Orthodoxy
Reading: “Vladimir Christianizes Russia” (on Moodle)
W 9/13Dvoeverie(Coexistence of Christian and Pagan Beliefs)
Reading: “Olga’s Vengeance”
F 9/15Oral Folk Traditions: Fairy Tales (Skazki)
Reading: “Vasilissa the Fair” and Moral Tales
M 9/18 Folk Beliefs: lesser demons and vampires
W 9/20 The “Tatar/Mongol Yoke”
Reading: The Tiger: Prologue, Chapters 1 and 2 (Vaillant) (~30 pages)
F 9/22 Review of the Medieval Period
Reading: Chapters 3, 4 and 5 (Vaillant) (~30 pages)
SECULARIZATION (17th & 18th c.):
M 9/25 Historical and Political Contexts: The Time of Troubles
Reading: Chapters 6, 7, and 8 (Vaillant) (~44 pages)
W 9/27 Historical and Political Contexts: Peter the Great and Westernization
Reading: Chapters 9, 10, and 11 (Vaillant) (~50 pages)
F 9/29Historical and Political Contexts: Catherine the Great and the Enlightenment
Reading: Reading: Chapters 12-15 (Vaillant) (~56 pages)
M 10/2 The Other Capital: Petersburg (Part One)
Reading: Chapters 16, 17 and 18 (Vaillant) (~33 pages)
W 10/4 The Other Capital: Petersburg (Part Two)
Reading: Chapters 19, 20 and 21 (Vaillant) ( ~32 pages)
F 10/6 The Tiger: Wrap-up
Reading: Chapters 22, 23 and Epilogue (Vaillant) ( ~33 pages)
M 10/9 Secularized Literature: Satire and the Picaresque (genres) and Classicism (literary movement)
Reading: “Shemiaka’s Judgment, ”“Frol Skobeev”
W 10/11 Review of the 17th and 18th Centuries
F 10/13 MIDTERM
THE 19th CENTURY:
M 10/16 Historical and Political Contexts: Napoleon’s Invasion and The Decembrists
Reading: “A Message to Siberia” (Pushkin)
W 10/18Historical and Political Contexts: Emancipation
F 10/20 Literature: Sentimentalism
Reading: “Poor Liza” (Karamzin)
M 10/23 Literature: Romanticism and “The Golden Age”
Reading: “The Shot” (Pushkin)
W 10/25 Literature: Realism:
Reading: “Time-Spaces (Dostoevsky and Tolstoy)”
F 10/27 Literature: Realism, cont’d.:
Reading: “A Doctor’s Visit” (Chekhov)
M 10/30 Music: “The Mighty Five”
W 11/1 Discussion of film: “Russian Ark”
F 11/3 Review of the 19th century: Introduction to Gorokhova’sA Mountain of Crumbs
Post-19th CENTURY:
M 11/6 Historical and Political Contexts: The End of Tsarist Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution
Gorokhova, Chapters 1 and 2 (~23 pages)
W 11/8Historical and Political Contexts: The Soviet Period and its Demise
(The GULAG, Glasnost’, Perestroika)
Reading:“The Travails of a Democratic Identity”
F 11/10 NO CLASSES
M 11/13 Literature: “The Silver Age” of Literature: Blok, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky
Reading: Gorokhova, Chapters 3 and 4 (~23 pages)
W 11/15Socialist Realism
Reading: Gorokhova, Chapters 5, 6 and 7 (~42 pages)
F 11/17Ballet: The Ballets Russe; Pavlova, Nijinsky, Nureev, Plisetskaya
Reading: Reading: Gorokhova, Chapters 8, 9 and 10 (~30 pages)
M 11/20Moscow: The capital (Part One)
Reading: Gorokhova, Chapters 11, 12 and 13 (~55 pages)
THANKSGIVING BREAK
M 11/27 Moscow: The capital (Part Two)
Gorokhova, Chapters 14 and 15 (~33 pages)
W 11/29Music: Stravinsky, Shostakovich
Reading: Gorokhova, Chapter 16, 17 and 18 (~47 pages)
F12/1 Journalism and Media
Reading: “Is Journalism Worth Dying For?” (Anna Politkovskaya)
M 12/4Documentary film: “My Perestroika”
W 12/6Documentary film: “My Perestroika”
F 12/8Discussion of Core Cultural Concepts and Russian National Identity
M 12/11 General review
Final Exam: Thursday, December 14th from 1:10-3:10 in our classroom
Bring a scantron sheet and #2 pencils. Do not be late or you will miss slide and music identifications.
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