V3220. Literature and Empire: The Reign of the Novel in Russia. 3 pts. C. Popkin
Formerly "Nineteenth-Century Prose." Explores the aesthetic and formal developments in Russian prose -- especially the rise of the monumental nineteenth-century novel -- as one manifestation of a complex array of national and cultural aspirations, humanistic and imperialist ones alike. Works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov. Knowledge of Russian is not required.
V3221. Literature and Revolution: A Century of Russian Modernisms. 3 pts. R. Stanton
Formerly "Twentieth-Century Prose." Survey of Russian literature from Symbolism to the culture of high Stalinism and post-Socialist realism of the 1960s and 1970s, including major works by Bely, Blok, Olesha, Babel, Bulgakov, Platonov, Zoshchenko, Kharms, Kataev, Pasternak, and Erofeev. Literature viewed in a multi-media context featuring music by Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, avant-garde and post-avant-garde visual music (from Malevich and Kandinsky to Komar and Melamid), and film. Knowledge of Russian is not required.
V3222. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. 3 pts. R. Belknap
Knowledge of Russian is not required. Analysis of the major works of the two writers.
V3223. Magical Mystery Tour: The Legacy of Old Rus'. 3 pts. V. Izmirilieva
Winston Churchill famously defined Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." This course aims at demystifying Russia by focusing on the core of its "otherness" in the eyes of the West: its religious culture. We will explore an array of texts, practices and pragmatic sites of Russian religious life across such traditional divides as medieval and modern, popular and elite, orthodox and heretical. Icons, liturgical rituals, illuminated manuscripts, magic amulets, religious sects, feasting and fasting, traveling practices from pilgrimages to tourism, politcial myths and literary mystification, decadent projects of life-creation, and fervent anticipation of the End are all part of the tour that is as illuminating as it is fun. No knowledge of Russian required.
V3228. Russian Literature and Culture in the New Millennium. 3 pts. R. Borislavov
Knowledge of Russian not required. Survey of Russian literature and culture from the late 1970s until today. Works by Petrushevskaya, Pelevin, Tolstaya, Sorokin, Ulitskaya, Senchin, Akunin, Rubinshtein, Prigov, Vasilenko and others. Literature, visual art, and film are examined in social and political context.
W4006. Modern Russian Religious Thought. 3 pts. R. Gustafson
Knowledge of Russian is not required. The concepts of God, man, nature, history, and culture. Readings from Chaadayev, Khomyakov, Solovyov, Fyodorov, Florensky, Bulgakov, Shestov, Lossky, Frank, and others. The relationship to Eastern Christian thought and Western philosophy.
W4015. Russian Drama from Pushkin to Chekhov 3 pts. R. Belknap
Readings from the selected 19th-century texts. Some attention to theatrical background. Parallel reading list in translation and in the original; students who wish to receive credit for department major or concentration are required to do the reading in the original.
W4016. Russian Drama from Chekhov to the Present 3 pts. R. Belknap
Parallel reading lists in English and Russian. Graduate majors must read in the original. Emphasis on literary texts, the history of literary movements, and on competing theatrical and dramatic theories.
W4017. Chekhov. 3 pts. C. Popkin
Close reading of Chekhov's best work in the genres on which he left an indelible mark (the short story and the drama) on the subjects that left an indelible imprint on him (medical science, the human body, identity, topography, the nature of news, the problem of knowledge, the access to pain, the necessity of dying, the structure of time, the self and the world, the part and the whole) via the modes of inquiry (diagnosis and deposition, expedition and exegesis, library and laboratory, microscopy and materialism, intimacy and invasion) and forms of documentation (the itinerary, the map, the calendar, the photograph, the icon, the Gospel, the Koran, the lie, the love letter, the case history, the obituary, the pseudonym, the script) that marked his era ( and ours). No knowledge of Russian required.
W4027. Poetry and Prose of the 1860s 3 pts. Staff
Readings, lectures, and discussion on the fiction, lyric, drama, and journalism of a crucial decade. A longer reading list is provided for those who cannot read Russian.
W4032. The Culture of Russian Modernism 3 pts. Staff
A knowledge of Russian is not required, but a special list of readings in the original is provided for those interested. The major writers and trends, with emphasis on prose fiction. Garshin, Kuprin, Andreev, Gorky, Bely, Pasternak, Bunin, Remizov, and others.
W4033. The Making of Socialist Realism 3 pts. R. Stanton
The major writers and literary developments, 1917-1934. Special attention to the role of literature in reflecting and shaping social and political values. Readings assigned in English; those with knowledge of Russian expected to read in the original as much as possible.
G4039. Literature, Politics and Tradition after Stalin 3 pts. C. Nepomnyashchy, R. Stanton
Advanced undergraduates may register if the instructor gives permission. The major writers and trends in Russian literature from the death of Stalin to the present. Emphasis on the rethinking of the role of literature in society and on formal experimentation engendered by relaxation of political controls over literature. Readings assigned in English; those with knowledge of Russian expected to read in the original as much as possible.
W4036. Russian Women in Literature and Culture 3 pts. C. Nepomnyashchy
Literary and historical records are studied chronologically, with emphasis on women's social position, their literary image, and their contribution to culture. Special attention to the Soviet period.
W4050. Post-Soviet Russian literature 3 pts. Staff.
A survey of the prose and poetry of the major writers to have entered Russian literature in the 1980s and 1990s. Special attention to writing by women authors. Parallel reading lists available in English and in Russian.
W4309 Nineteenth-Century Narrative Dilemmas. 3 pts. D. Martinsen.
This course will explore narrative strategies developed by Russian authors as they created a literary tradition that would change the world. Starting with Pushkin's first completed prose work, we will explore how narrative frames, structures, genre, and authorial choices contribute to textual explorations of identity, responsibility, love, violence, and revenge. Texts covered will include: Pushkin's "Tales of Belkin," Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time," Gogol's "Diary of A Madman," "The Nose," and "The Overcoat," Dostoevsky's "The Double and Demons," Tolstoy's "War and Peace," and Leskov's "The Enchanted Wanderer." No knowledge of Russian required.
See also Comparative Literature--Russian [CLRS].
V3333-V3334. Introduction to Russian Literature, I and II 3 pts. Staff
Prerequisites: two years of college Russian and the instructor's permission. For non-native speakers of Russian. A close study in the original of representative works of Russian literature from Pushkin to present.
V3319. Masterpieces of 19th-Century Russian Literature 3 pts. M. Kashper
Prerequisites: native or near-native knowledge of Russian and the instructor's permission. A close study, in the original, of representative works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Leskov, and Chekhov.
V3320. Masterpieces of 20th-Century Russian Literature 3 pts. M. Kashper/Staff
Prerequisites: native or near native knowledge of Russian and the instructor's permission. A close study, in the original, of representative works by Bunin, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Babel, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Platonov, Akhmatova, Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky and Pelevin.
V3332. Vvedenie v russkuiu literaturu: Scary Stories. 3 pts.
Two years of college Russian or the instructor's permission. For non-native speakers of Russian. The course is devoted to the reading, analysis, and discussion of a number of Russian prose fiction works from the eighteenth to twentieth century. Its purpose is to give students an opportunity to apply their language skills to literature. It will teach students to read Russian literary texts as well as to talk and write about them. Its goal is, thus, twofold: to improve the students' linguistic skills and to introduce them to Russian literature and literary history. A close study in the original of the "scary stories" in Russian literature from the late eighteenth century. Conducted in Russian.
V3333. Vvedenie v russkuiu literaturu: Poor Liza, Poor Olga, Poor Me. 3 pts.
Two years of college Russian or the instructor's permission. For non-native speakers of Russian. The course is devoted to the reading, analysis, and discussion of a number of Russian prose fiction works from the eighteenth to twentieth century. Its purpose is to give students an opportunity to apply their language skills to literature. It will teach students to read Russian literary texts as well as to talk and write about them. Its goal is, thus, twofold: to improve the students’ linguistic skills and to introduce them to Russian literature and literary history. A close study in the original of the "fallen woman" plot in Russian literature from the late eighteenth century. Conducted in Russian.
V3344. Vvedenie v russkuiu kul'turu: Russian Culture in NYC. 3 pts. M. Kashper.
Prerequisites: Five semesters of classroom Russian or the equivalent and the instructor's permission. A study of Russian culture as it is represented in New York City. Conducted in Russian.
V3345. Vvedenie v russkuiu kul'turu: Advanced Russian Through History. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: Five semesters of classroom Russian or the equivalent and the instructor's permission. Advanced Russian through History is a language course designed to meet the needs of those foreign learners of Russian as well as heritage speakers who want to develop further their reading, speaking and writing skills and be introduced to the history of Russia.
V3461. Pushkin 3 pts. I Reyfman
Conducted mainly in Russian. Examinations in English. A close study in the original of Pushkin's narrative, dramatic and lyrical verse.
V3463. Tolstoy 3 pts. R. Gustafson
Prerequisite: three years of college Russian or instructor's permission. A close study in the original of Anna Karenina. Class discussion conducted in English.
V3464. Dostoevsky 3 pts. V. Izmirlieva
Prerequisites: three years of college Russian and instructor's permission. A close study, in the original, of selections of representative work.
V3465. Russian Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries 3 pts. R. Gustafson
Prerequisites: three years of college Russian and instructor's permission. A close study, in the original, of selected texts from five representative lyric poets: Tiutchev, Fet, and Blok, Tsvetaeva, and Brodsky. Attention given to metrics, formal analysis of style and structure, and the relationship to literary and philosophical movements. Class discussion will be conducted in English.
V3467. Twentieth-Century Russian Prose Writers 3 pts. R. Stanton
Prerequisites: three years of college Russian or instructor's permission. A close study, in the original, of representative Soviet writers such as Babel, Olesha, Zamiatin and/or Bulgakov. Class discussion conducted in English.
V3472. Platonov 3 pts. C. Harwood
Prerequisite: three years of college Russian or instructor's permission. Close reading, in the original, of representative works by the twentieth-century Russian writer Andrei Platonov. Discussion, in English, of the meaning, style and context of Platonov's writings.
V3595. Senior seminar 4 pts. R. Stanton
Required of all Barnard Slavic majors and any Columbia majors who are writing a thesis. A research and writing workshop designed to help students (1) plan and execute a major research project, and (2) communicate their ideas in a common scholarly language that crosses disciplinary boundaries. Content is determined by students’ thesis topics; also includes general sessions on how to formulate a proposal and how to generate a bibliography. Students present the fruits of their research in class discussions, culminating in a full-length seminar presentation and the submission of the written thesis.
V3596. Supervised individual research 2-4 pts. Staff
Prerequisites: senior standing and the instructor's permission. Supervised research culminating in a critical paper.
W4014. Introduction to Russian Poetry and Poetics. 3pts.
An Introduction to Russian poetry, through the study of selected texts of major poets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, primarily: Pushkin, Lermontov, Pavlova, Tiutchev, Blok, Mandel'shtam, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Prigov, and Brodsky. Classes devoted to the output of a single poet will be interspersed with classes that draw together the poems of different poets in order to show the reflexivity of the Russian poetic canon. These classes will be organized according either to types of poems or to shared themes. The course will teach the basics of verisification, poetic languages (sounds, tropes), and poetic forms. Classes in English, poetry read in Russian.
W4025. The Russian Memoir 3 pts. R. Belknap
A sampling of family, political, travel, prison, literary, theatrical, military, court, religious, and other memoirs from several centuries, with attention to the characteristics of the different subgenres and literary periods; the interplay between the memoir and other literary genres.
G4026. Nineteenth-Century Russian Opera: Musical and Literary Discourses 3 pts. B. Gasparov
Prerequisite: either a reading knowledge of Russian or the ability to read scores. Six Russian operas: Glinka’s Ruslan and Liudmila, Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh are examined as an interplay between trends in Western musical theater and Russian popular musical culture (romances, folk songs, liturgical music). Emphasis on music’s relation to its literary sources and contemporary ideological discourses.
W4032. History of Russian Film 3 pts. Staff
Survey course on the history of Russian film (in translation) from the pre-revolutionary period to the present. Explores roles of cinema in Russian society and in creation of Russian national identity. Films include October, Bed and Sofa, Mirror, and Burnt by the Sun.
W4056. The Brothers Karamazov 3pts. R. Belknap
Prerequisite: the ability to read sixty pages of Dostoevsky's Russian per week. A careful reading of the text in the original, with attention to historical, literary, religious, political, psychological, and other questions.
W4075. Survival and Renewal: Russian Poetry of the Societ Period. 3 pts.
Examines how Russian poetry continued to evolve in the Soviet period even as the government attempted to control all means of literary expression and exploit the popularity of verse as a vehicle for party propaganda. Russian poets of 1930 - 1990.
W4200. Russian Theatre--Hands On 3 pts. M. Kashper
The study and staging, in the original, of a Russian play. Concentrates on exploration of character and style through language, phonetics, detailed textual analysis, and oral presentation.
W4331. Chteniia po russkoi literature: Turgenev. 3pts. C.Popkin.
The course is devoted to reading shorter works by Nikolai Gogol. The syllabus includes selection from his collections "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" and "Mirgorod," all of his Petersburg Tales, and "The Inspector General." Classes are conducted entirely in Russian.
W4332. Chteniia po russkoi literature: Gogol. 3pts. I Reyfman.
The course is devoted to reading shorter prose works by Ivan Turgenev. The reading list includes stories from his collection "Sketches of a Hunter" as well as such masterpieces as "The Diary of a Superluous Man", "First Love", and "Asia." Classes are conducted entirely in Russian.
W4338. Chteniia po russkoi literature: Voina i mir. 3 pts. I. Reyfman.
The course is devoted to reading and discussing of Tolstoy's masterpiece. Classes are conducted entirely in Russian.
W4339. Chteniia po russkoi literature: Pushkin. 3pts. T. Smoliarova.
A survey of Alexander Pushkin's poetry and prose in the original. Emphasis on the emergence of a new figure of the poet in Russia in the 1820s - 1830s. Linguistic analysis of poetic texts (vocabulary, metrics, versification) will be combined with the study of Russian history and culture as relected in Pushkin's writing.
W4344. Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture: Advanced Russian Through History. 3pts. F. Miller. Three years college Russian or the equivalent. A language course designed to meet the needs of those foreign learners of Russian as well as heritage speakers who want to develop further their reading, speaking and writing skills and to be introduced to the history of Russia.
W4345. Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture: Advanced Russian Through History. 3pts. F. Miller. Three years college Russian or the equivalent. A language course designed to meet the needs of those foreign learners of Russian as well as heritage speakers who want to further develop their reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills and be introduced to the history of Russia.
W4346. Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture: Russian Folklore and the Folkloric Tradition. 3 pts. F. Miller.
The purpose of this course is to acquaint structure with traditional folk beliefs that are part of Russian life today. Readings will include descriptions of character ritual folk beliefs as well as narratives about personal experiences concerning supersition, sorcery and the supernatural. Also included will be folktales that most Russian know and contemporary Russian folk narratives.
W4347. Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture: Contemporary Social Science. 3 pts. A. Smyslova.
Prerequisite: five semesters of college level Russian and participation in a study abroad program in a Russian speaking country and instructor's permission. The course is designed to meet the needs of advanced undergraduate and graduate students across several fields - the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts, business, law and others - who wish to focus on acquisition of high proficiency reading skills that will allow them to conduct research using written Russian-language academic sources.
W4348. Chteniia po ruskkoi kul'ture: Advanced Russian Through the Media. 3 pts. I. Kun.
Prerequisite: Three Years of college Russian or the equivalent. This course is designed to meet the needs of advanced students of Russian across several fields - the humanities, social sciences, law, arts, and others - who want to further develop their speech, comprehension, reading, and writing and be introduced to the contemporary Russian media. This addition to our series of courses in Advanced Russian through cultural content provides training for research and professional work in Russian.
W4349. Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture: Advanced Russian Through Song. 3 pts. I. Kun.
This
is a concept based course designed to develop students' ability to
understand fluent Russian speech and express their opinions on various
social and cultural topics in both oral and written form.
See also Comparative Literature--Russian [CLRS].
V3224. Nabokov. 3 pts.
This course examines the writing (including major novels, short stories, essays and memoirs) of the Russian-American author Vladimir Nobokov. Special attention to literary politics and gamesmanship and the author's unique place within both the Russin and Anglo-American literary traditions. Knowledge of Russian not required.
V3027. Truth, Justice, and the Novel of the Nineteenth Century. 3 pts. L. Knapp.
A reading of novels by Russian, English, and American writers who, in the second half of the nineteenth century, put realism to the tasks of revealing truth, documenting injustice, witnessing suffering, extending sympathy, promoting reform, expressing outrage, mustering protest, celebrating the human spirit, and developing the moral imagination. Authors include: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Dickens, Gaskell, Stowe, James, and Crane. All works will be read in English; no knowledge of Russian required.
W4011. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and the English Novel. 3 pts. L. Knapp.
A close reading of works by Dostoevsky (Netochka Nezvanova; The Idiot; "A Gentle Creature") and Tolstoy (Childhood, Boyhood, Youth; "Family Happiness"; Anna Karenina; "The Kreutzer Sonata") in conjunction with related English novels (Bronte's Jane Eyre, Eliot's Middlemarch, Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway). No knowledge of Russian is required.
W4012. Russian, French, and American Novels of Adultery. 3 pts. L. Knapp.
Adultery is a driving concern of the works read. Authors include Pushkin, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Chekhov; Lafayette, Flaubert; Hawthorne, Chopin. As we study the nineteenth-century novels that define the novel of adultery as a literary category, as well as some precursors and later offshoots, we articulate a morphology of the novel of adultery. We also focus on the narrative technqiues used to represent the consciousness of the protagonists, in an effort to determine how the subject matter and the poetics of the novel of adultery interact. No knowledge of Russian is required; all works read in English.
W4015. Dostoevsky and Nabokov: Narratives of Transgression and Madness. 3 pts. D. Martinsen
A close reading of works by Dostoevsky (The Double, Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, "The Meek One," The Brothers Karamazov) and Nabokov (Despair, Lolita). Paying particular attention to narrative strategies, the course will prepare students to apply their knowledge of Dostoevskian plot, thematics, and literary technique to two novels by the great Dostoevsky-denier Nabokov.
W4020. Slavic Literary Theory 3 pts. B. Gasparov
A survey of Russian and Central European theories of poetic language, literary evolution, and codes of special behavior from the turn of the twentieth century to the 1980's. Their relation to European twentieth-century intellectual history.
W4032. Emancipation of the Self in (Early 20th Century) Russia and the European Modern. 3pts. J. Wermuth-Atkinson.
A survey of the conceptual commonalities in 20th century Russian and Western European literature, art, architecture, theater, and music. Emphasis will be on the views of the Self, the relationship between matter and psyche, and reality and appearance, discussed in the context of Russian Symbolism, analytical psychology, and the Modern.
W4001. Contemporary East European Literature: When the Wall Came Down 3 pts. Staff
A course focusing on the changes in the literary situation in East European countries that have accompanied and followed the end of communist rule. The reading list includes works by representative authors from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine.
W4004. Introduction to Twentieth-Century Central Europena Fiction. 3 pts. I. Sanders.
This course introduces stuents to the works of literature that offer a unique perspective on the temptestuous twentieth century, if only because these works for the most part were written in "minor" languages (Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Serbian), in countries long considered part of the European backwaters, whose people were not makers but victims of history. Yet the authors of many of these works are today ranked among the masters of modern literature. Often hailing from highly strasfied, conservative societies, many Eastern and Central Europena writers became daring literary innovators and experimenters. To the present day, writers from this "other" Europe try to escape history, official cultures, politics, and end up redefining them for their readers. We will be dealing with a disparate body of literature, varied both in form and content. But we will try to pinpoint subtle similarities, in tone and sensibility, and focus, too, on the more apparent preoccupation with certain themes that may be called characteristically Central European.
W4005. Construction of Gender and Sexuality in East European Writing 3 pts. Staff
A seminar focusing on the changes in the literary situation in Eastern European countries that have accompanied and followed the end of the Communist rule. The reading list includes works by authors from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Readings in translation.
W4030. How to Do Things with Literature 3 pts. C. Popkin, J. Dauber.
Knowledge of Russian or Yiddish not required; readings available in the original for students with requisite language proficiency. Explores the multiple tasks assumed by, or thrust upon, Russian and Yiddish literatures as each strove to establish a distinctive prose tradition in a shared cultural space.
W4100 Central Europe and the Orient in the Works of Yugoslav Writers. 3pts.
The course addresses the confrontation between East and West in the works of Vla Desnica, Miroslav Krleza, Mesa Semilovic, and Ivo Andric. Discussion will target problems inherent in shaping national and individual identity, as well as the trauma caused by occupation and colonization among the South Slavs.
W4120 The Polish Short Story in Comparative Context. 3pts.
The course examines the beginnings of the Polish short story in the 19th Century and its development through the late 20th century, including exemplary works of major Polish writers of each period. It is also a consideration of the short story form--its generic features, its theoretical premises, and the way these respond to the stylistic and philosophical imperatives of successive periods.
W4995 Central European Jewish Literature: Assimilation and Its Discontents. 3pts.
Examines prose and poetry by writers generally less accessible to the American student written in the major Central European languages: German, Hungarian, Czech and Polish. The problematics of assimilation, the search for identity, political commitment and disillusionment are major themes, along with the defining experienceof the century: the Holocaust; but becasue these writers are often more removed from their Jewishness, their perspective on these events and issues may be different. The influence of Franz Kafka on Central European writers, the post-Communist Jewish revival, and defining the Jewish voice in an otherwise disparate body of works.
LING W4108. Language History. 3 pts. Staff.
The nature and mechanisms of change in language, including the topics of comparative reconstruction, analogy, semantic change, language in space and time, prehistory and migration.
LING W4120. Language Documentation and Field Methods. 3 pts. D. Kaufman.
With the predicted loss of up to 90% of the world's languages within this century, it is becoming increasingly urgent that more linguists take an active role in documenting and conserving endangered languages. In this course, the fundamental skills and technology required for this will be taught as we work with a native speaker to document and describe their endangered language.
LING W4170. Language and Symbol: The Semiotics of Speech, Literature & Culture. 3 pts. B. Gasparov
Reading and discussing scholarly literature on various aspects of meaning, structure, and functioning of signs in language, art and society. All the reading for the course is drawn from original scholarly literature, some of it of highly specialized nature. At some points (for instance, while discussing dimensions of the linguistic signs, or parameters of structural portics), theoretical reading will be supplemented by brief practical assignments.
LING W4190 Discourse and Pragmatics. 3pts.
Prerequisites: LING W3101. How discourse works, how language is used: oral vs. written modes of language, the structure of discourse, speech acts and speech genres, the expression of power, authenticity, and solidarity in discourse, dialogicity, pragmatics, mimesis.
LING W4202 Cognitive Linguistics. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: LING W3101, previously or concurrently reading and discussion of scholarly literature on the cognitive approach to language, including: usuage-oriented approaches to language, frame semantics, construction grammar, theories of conceptual metaphor and mental spaces; alongside of experimental research on language acquisition, langugae memory, prototypical and analogous thinking, and the role of visual imagery in language processing.
LING W4204 Linguistic Theory. 3 pts. B. Gasparov.
In-depth treatment of the structure and use of language (especially syntax, semantics and discourse), with attention to theoretical issues. Discussion of scholarly literature representing various fields of linguistics.
LING W4376 Phonetics and Phonology. 3 pts.
Prerequisites: LING W3101. An investigation of the sounds of human language, from the perspective of phonetics (articulation and acoustics, including computer aided acoustic analysis) and phonology (the distribution and function of sounds in individual languages).
LING 4800 Language and Society. 3 pts.
How language structure and usage varies according to societal factors such as social history and socioeconomic factors, illustrated with study modules on language contact, language standardization and literacy, quantitative sociolinguistic theory, and history, present and future of language usage in the former Soviet Union.
LING W4903. Semantics and Generative Transformational Syntax. 3 pts. Staff.
Contemporary approaches to the relation between linguistic meaning and form, with special emphasis on work within the Chomskian tradition. Transformational and phrase structure grammar, x-bar syntax, government and binding, lexical decomposition, logical form, minimalist theory.
LING W4800. Language and Society: Power, Ideology, Identity. 3 pts. A. Berezovenko.
W1101-W1102. Elementary Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, I and II 4 pts. R. Gorup
Essentials of the spoken and written language. Prepares students to read texts of moderate difficulty by the end of the first year.
W1201 - 1202. Intermediate Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, I and II. 3 pts. R. Gorup.
Prerequisites: SRCR W1102 or equivalent. Readings in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian literature in the orginal, with emphasis depending upon the needs of individual students.
W3333-W3334. Readings in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian literature, I and II 3 pts. R. Gorup
Prerequisite: SRCR W1102 or the equivalent. Readings in Serbo-Croatian literature in the original, with emphasis depending upon the needs of individual students.
W3998. Supervised individual research 2-4 pts. Staff
Prerequisite: departmental permission.
W4331 - W4332 Advanced Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, I and II. 3 pts. R. Gorup.
Prerequisites: SCRB 1202. Further develops skills in speaking, reading, and writing, using essays, short stories, films, and fragments of larger works. Reinforces basic grammar and introduces more complete structures.
W4100. Central Europe and the Orient in the Works of Yugoslav Writers 3 pts. R. Gorup
Analyzing works of Vladan Desnica, Miroslav Krleža, Ivo Andric and Meša Selimovic. Parallel reading lists will be available in English and Serbo-Croatian
V3159. Survey of East European and Russian Animation. 3pts. Staff.
The course traces the development of animated film as a genre in Slavic lands, with a focus in Russia and Czech Republic, but also dealing with Polish and Croatian examples. The course will try to answer such questions as "What makes animation a separategenre?", "Why did Russian animation experience a renaissance at the same time that literature languished during the Thaw?", and "How was animation successful in promoting counter-ideological ideas of the self?" Films by Kachanov (Cheburashka), Khrianovsky, Lenica, and Norshteyn.
V4041. Cinemas of the Former Yugoslavia. 3 pts. Staff.
This course explores how cinematic narratives and visual styles constructed, questioned, and contested notions of the nation and national identity in the cinemas of the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia). The course first provides a historical perspective on the rich heritage of cinemas of the former Yugoslavia after World War Two, examining in particular the trope of "liberated cinema," and questions of film censorship and ideology. Second, the course explores the influence of modernist movements in Yugoslavian film, including "novi film", "crni film," and the role of the Prague School film makers as well as black humor and political satire in film. Finally, the course critically reevaluates the trope of a "cinema of flames" in the narratives of warfare, looking at the relationships among historical narratives, memory discourses, cinematic spaces, and political and personal (ethnic, class, and gendered) identities. Films (and/or selected clips from films) directed by Kusturica, Manchevski, Makavejev, Tanovic, Paskaljevic, Bresan, Dragojevic, Sijan, Petrovic, Zafrabovic, Grlic, Stiglic, Berkovic, Hladnik, Zilnik, Stojanovic, Cengic, Markovic, and others will be screened and discussed.
W4050. The Hungarian New Wave: Cinema in Kadarist Hungary. 3 pts. I. Sanders.
Hungarian cinema, like film-making in Czechoslavakia, underwent a renaissance in the 1960's, but the HUngarian new wave continued to flourish in the 70's and film remained one of the most important art forms well into the 80's. This course examines the cultural, social and political context of representative Hungarian films of the Kadarist period, with special emphasis on the work of such internationally known filmmakers as Miklos Jancso, Karoly Makk, Marta Meszaros, and Istvan Szabo. In addition to a close analysis of individual films, discussion topics will include the "newness" of the new wave in both form and content (innovations in film language, cinematic impressionism, allegoric-parabolic forms, auteurism, etc.), the influence of Italian, French, German and American cinema, the relationship between film and literature, the role of film in the cultures of Communist Eastern Europe, the state of contemporary Hungarian cinema. The viewing of the films will be augmented by readings on Hungarian cinema, as well as of relevent Hungarian literary works.