Spring 2025
Select Courses in Russian, East European,
and Eurasian Studies
 

Note: The courses listed below are not an exhaustive list of courses being offered on the REEE region. Please see course explorer for additional classes.

*Check with Advisor or FLAS Coordinator whether the course will fulfill area studies course requirements

 

EURO 418: Language & Minorities in Europe*

Zsuzsanna Fagyal

Same as GER 418/FR 418/ITAL 418/LING 418/PS 418/SLAV 418/SPAN 418

Sec 1G - 4:00PM-5:20PM, T, R, 321 Gregory Hall/Online;

Sec 1U – 4:00PM-5:20 PM, TW, R, Location Pending/online

Introduction to political, judicial, linguistic, and cultural issues concerning indigenous and migrant/immigrant languages in the countries of the European Union. Focuses on political and judicial issues, such as legal aspects of bilingual education and minority language use, as well as linguistic and cultural aspects, such as assimilation, language-mixing, and language change. Taught in English.

Language & Minorities in Europe. Credit: 3 or 4 hours. Survey of regional and immigrant minority language use, policies, and planning across Europe. Focus on political and social issues, such as language regimes, education, loss, and maintenance. Two immigrant languages, Turkish and Arabic/Berber, and four indigenous language families: Balto-Slavic with Estonian, Celtic, Romance with Basque, and Slavic with Hungarian.

 

EURO 500: Dialogue on Europe*

Amanda Smith

1:00PM-2:50PM, T, Location Pending

This graduate level seminar is a roundtable discussion exploring a variety of topics related to Europe, transatlantic relations, the European Union, and the peripheries. Students will have an opportunity to participate in regular conversations about current issues ranging from cultural policies, migration, economic policies, bureaucratic politics, labor, electoral processes, sports, popular culture, and other topics of high salience to Europe and the European Union. The seminar aims to improve students’ analytical skills by applying relevant theories from European Union Studies to current events and ongoing European narratives. Students are encouraged to explore their research interests in relation to these issues. Undergraduates need prior approval from instructor to register for this course.

 

EURO 502: The EU in a Global Context*

Markian Dobczansky

12:00PM-2:50PM, R, Location Pending

Introduces students to the role of the EU in international affairs.

European Union history, politics, law, culture and identity. Undergraduates need prior approval from instructor to register for this course. Not intended for Undergrad.

 

HIST 142: Modern Europe and the World*

TBD

12:30PM-1:50 PM, TR, 311 Gregory Hall;

Fundamental developments - social, economic, cultural, intellectual, and political - in the history of mankind and Western society since 1660; includes the rise of modern science, the French and Industrial revolutions, the Romantic movement, the growth of nationalism and socialism, imperialism, urbanization, the Russian Revolution, Nazi Germany, the world wars, and the West and the developing world.

 

HIST 209: World War II: A Global History*

Stefan Djordjevic

Sec AD1, 2:00PM-2:50PM, W, 219 David Kinley Hall;

Sec AD2, 12:00PM-12:500, F, 329 Gregory Hall;

Sec AD3, 3:00PM-3:50PM, W, 329 Gregory Hall;

Sec AD4, 10:00 AM-10:50AM, F, 1062 Lincoln Hall;

AL1 12:00PM-12:50PM, MW, 1000 Lincoln Hall;

Traces the political, military, social, and economic history of the Second World War. Key themes include the collapse of the Versailles system, the Interwar crisis of democracy, the rise of totalitarian regimes, the civilian experience of war, the intersection of ideology and violence, and the onset of the Nuclear Age. By the end of this course, students will have improved their ability to analyze primary sources and develop source-based historical arguments.

 

HIST 251: Warfare Milit Insts & Soc*

John A. Lynn

Same as GLBL 251

1:00PM-1:50PM, MWF, 384 Armory;

History of warfare and its relationship to changing technologies, tactics, and political structures, with an emphasis on the ways that military institutions are integrated with society as a whole.

Description: History 251 addresses the history of warfare and military institutions during the last two centuries, from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the present day. Subjects include the impact of the influence of military theory (including the works of Clausewitz and Mao), advances in weapons, tactics, and doctrine, the creation of general staffs, new motivations for conflict, the phenomenon of total war, the character of insurgency, the rise of global terrorism, and the course and dangers of current wars. Conflicts studied in some detail include the U.S. Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Arab-Israeli Wars, the “war” on terrorism, and the Ukraine War. The material presented is specifically designed to interest a wide range of students who simply want to know more about the nature and history of warfare. Learn about this inescapable, though regrettable, side of human experience.

 

HIST 352: Europe and the World*

Anna Whittington

10:00AM-11:20AM, MW, 206 David Kinley Hall;

Colonial encounters between Europe and today's Third World viewed in comparative historical perspective. Equal emphasis placed on (colonizing) Europe and colonial experience of Asia, Africa, and South America.

War and Peace in Central Asia. Description: Europeans and other western observers have long been fascinated by Central Asia. From romantic invocations of the Silk Road and isolated nomads to medieval barbarisms of the Taliban, Western media and popular culture often portray Central Asia as a region out of step with time. Central Asia, however, has long been a center for culture, innovation, and political power. This course traces the transformation of Central Asia from Genghis Khan’s thirteenth century conquests to the present, covering the territories of former Soviet Central Asia (Qazaqstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), Western China (Xinjiang), and Afghanistan. Although the course covers a millennium of history, it emphasizes imperial schemes and transformations over the past 300 years, particularly the comparative imperialism and colonialism of Russia, the Soviet Union, Britain, and China. We move beyond predominantly external views to understand Central Asia on its own terms, through the eyes of Central Asians themselves.

 

HIST 443: Byzantine Empire AD 284-717*

Ralph W Mathisen

Same as MDVL 443

Sec G4, 2:00PM-3:20PM, TR, 115 English Building;

Sec U3, 2:00PM-3:20PM, TR, 115 English Building;

Examination of the political, social, economic, military, institutional, religious and cultural development of the early Byzantine Empire from the reign of Diocletian (AD 284-305) through the Heraclian Dynasty (AD 610-717).

 

HIST 461: Russia – Peter the Great to Rev

John Randolph

Sec G2, 12:30PM-1:50PM, TR, 207 Gregory Hall;

Sec G4, 12:30PM-1:50PM, TR, 207 Gregory Hall;

Sec U3, 12:30PM-1:50PM, TR, 207 Gregory Hall;

Culture, society, and politics in Imperial Russia, focusing on power and resistance, the lives and culture of ordinary Russians, and competing ideas about the state, the individual, community, nation, religion, and morality.

 

HIST 462: Soviet Union Since 1917

Anna Whittington

Sec G2, 1:00PM-2:20PM, MW, 108 English Building;

Sec G4, 1:00PM-2:50PM, MW, 108 English Building;

Sec U3, 1:00PM-2:20PM, MW, 108 English Building;

Political, social, and economic development of the USSR since the 1917 revolutions that brought the Bolsheviks to power; social change and social engineering; political struggles among Stalin and his rivals; the "Stalin revolution" from above and economic modernization; the USSR's emergence through World War II and the Cold War as a world power; "developed socialist" society.

This course explores the social and cultural history of what was for seventy years the largest and most diverse country in the world. We begin with an overview of state and society on the eve of imperial collapse and trace Soviet history from the October Revolution, which brought the Bolsheviks to power, to the collapse and its aftermath, exploring both the allure of and the antipathy toward the Soviet Union. Major political events and policies serve as the organizing framework for lectures, but we principally consider how people across a wide geographic and cultural spectrum experienced, understood, and remembered their lives in the Soviet Union. We grapple with key themes, including the impact of war and revolution, how leaders grappled with the diversity of their populace, the horrors of Stalinist terror, the constant tension between maintaining and reforming the system, and the (re)interpretation of the Soviet past.

 

IS 461: Russian, East European, and Eurasian Bibliography & Research Methods

Kit Condill

Sec ACG, 1:00PM-3:50PM, F, 131 Grad Sch of Lib & Info Science;

Sec ACU, 1:00PM-3:50PM, F, 131 Grad Sch of Lib & Info Science;

With a focus on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia, students will investigate this fascinating part of the world, how it has been studied and represented by generations of scholars, scientists, writers, artists, government officials, and others, and how the many fruits of their labors are (or are not) accessible to us today.

This course is intended to provide all necessary tools for the conduct of effective research in the field of Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies for both scholars and librarians. Relying on the rich bibliographic tradition of Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, the latest techniques, strategies, databases and full-text options will be explored and explained. Topics include national bibliography, archival materials, émigré publications, rare books, open-Web resources, citation management tools, and web archiving, with particular emphasis on the transliteration systems, abbreviations, bibliographic and cataloging conventions, and constant troubleshooting that are essential to efficient REEES research. Attention is also paid to information architecture in general and the ways that historical, political, intellectual and technological phenomena affect access to published and unpublished research materials.

 

JS 201: History of Antisemitism*

Eli Rosenblatt

Same as REL 212

11:00AM-12:20PM, TR, 1136 Literatures, Cultures & Ling;

Studies the negative representations of Judaism and Jews from antiquity to the modern world. Topics include: Greco-Roman concepts of the Jewish religion; medieval Christian symbolization of the demonic Jew; Jews and negative attitudes to capitalism; blood purity and blood libel; the rise of racial prejudice in the modern nation state; totalitarianism and genocide; antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

 

JS 501: Grad Intro to Jewish Culture*

Anastasiia Strakhova

3:00PM-5:00PM, T, 109A English Building;

What is a history of emotions? How does the environment shape history? Can smell serve as a historical source? Can you write a contemporary history of a place where Jews no longer live and still present a Jewish perspective? “Historical Methods in Jewish Studies” covers these and many more research methodologies, concepts, and categories of analysis, covering territories from the Far East to the United States and from South Africa to Great Britain. Although the main focus is Jewish history and culture, the course will be of interest to all graduate students in humanities preparing to work on their dissertations. Fulfills the requirement for the Graduate Certificate in Jewish Studies.

 

MUSC 449: Word Music Performance Ensembles – Balkanalia

Donna Buchanan

6:00PM-8:50PM, T, 0061A Music Building;

Instruction and experience in the performance of various non-Western and vernacular music traditions. Topics vary according to available instructors.

 

POL 115: Intro to Polish Culture

George Gasyna

Same as REES 115

12:30PM-1:50PM, TR, 219 Gregory Hall;

Introduction to Polish culture and literature from a broad historical perspective. Drawing on novels and plays, film, the visual arts, and works of historical research, the course provides students with the basic concepts, methodologies and theories of literary and cultural interpretation, with an emphasis on modern Polish culture (1800-2010) within a broader European context.

 

PS 397: Authoritarian Regimes*

Yun Yang

9:30 AM-10:50AM, TR, 0036 Campus Instructional Facility;

Examines the various aspects of the politics in authoritarian regimes: their emergence and breakdown, the policy choices and institutions typically adopted, leadership change, and the theories that explain them. Historical case studies and statistical data will be used to examine real-world cases.

 

REES 496: Contemporary Autocracy in Theory, Law, and Practice

Maksim Krupskii

3:30-4:50 PM, T, Lincoln Hall

Based on case studies from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia, this class explores contemporary legal, media, and political practices used by autocratic actors to assert their power. The course analyzes the impact of these practices on the rule of law, human rights and freedoms, sustainable development, and democracy in general, both in the region and globally. It provides a historical overview of the development of autocratic practices, an introduction to its scholarly analysis using concepts from law, philosophy, and politics, and an investigation of specific contemporary examples. The course will be delivered in a seminar format.  There are no prerequisites, although familiarity with political context in the region is helpful.

 

REL 120: A History of Judaism*

Dov Weiss

Same as HIS 168/JS 120

9:00AM-9:50 AM, MTWR, 331 Armory;

Examines the social, political, economic, and intellectual history of the Jews from Abraham to the present-day, with particular attention to Jewish thought and society.

 

REL 344: Jewish Intellectual History: Encounters with Islam and Christianity*

Dov Weiss

Same as JS 344/MDVL 344

3:00PM-5:30PM, MW, 104 English Building;

Study of the distinctive religious ideas, movements, and figures of pre-Modern Judaism [500 CE-1700 CE] with an emphasis on how Judaism’s encounter with medieval Islam and Christianity influenced these new Jewish expressions. Topics include theology, philosophy, Biblical interpretation, mysticism, Jewish-Christian polemics, and law.

 

RUSS 122: Russia and Black America

Richard Tempest

Same as CWL 122/AFRO 122

Sec AD2, 3:00PM-4:50 PM, F, 156 English Building;

Sec AD3, 3:00PM-4:50 PM, F, 309 English Building;

Sec AL1, 3:00PM-4:50PM, MW, 156 Henry Administration Bldg;

A survey of the interactions and intersections between key African American figures and cultural practices, and Russian imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet culture, in a historical, social, and political context, with emphasis on Russian-sourced cultural transfers that influenced and sometimes shaped the Black American experience and which functioned as the currency and medium of the African American–Russian connection.

This course explores the Russian-sourced cultural transfers that influenced the Black American experience; and examines the impact of that experience on people and events in Russia. Who were the Black artists, activists, and adventurers who lived and worked there, and what did they discover? A New York bellhop becomes a millionaire in tsarist Moscow; a Ford Motor Company worker spends four decades as a captive of the Soviet regime; a child actor grows up to win fame as a cult poet; and a young female writer witnesses the decline of Soviet communism as she dodges and outwits the KGB

 

RUSS 219: Russian Cinema Survey

Tetyana Dzyadevych

2:00PM-3:20PM, MW, Location Pending;

Survey of Russian and Soviet film, from Eisenstein to the present. Weekly film screenings. No knowledge of Russian required.

 

RUSS 225: Russian Lit and Revolution

Instructor TBD

Same as CWL 249

12:30PM-1:50 PM, TR, G20 Literatures, Cultures & Ling;

Major works from 1900 to the present; futurism, modernism, Stalinism, post-modernism, and after; writers may include Mayakovsky, Babel, Olesha, Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstaya, and others; readings and discussion in English.

 

RUSS 290: Readings in Russian

Independent Study

Individual topics or projects chosen in consultation with a Slavic Department representative.

 

RUSS 320: Russian Writers – Solzhenitsyn

Richard Tempest

Same as CWL 321

12:00PM-1:20PM, MW, 219 David Kinley Hall;

Focused study of the work of a single Russian writer, or the comparison of that writer with another major author, in translation. No Russian required.

 

RUSS 323/523: Tolstoy

Valeria Sobol

Same as CWL 323/ENGL 323

2:00PM-3:20, TR, 108 Bevier Hall;

Introduction to the major works of Lev Tolstoy. No Russian required.

No knowledge of Russian is necessary. This section meets with RUSS 323 and ENGL 323. This course will provide an overview of Tolstoy’s oeuvre, the personal and historical context for his works and their literary and cultural significance. The course will combine a discussion of Tolstoy’s moral, religious and aesthetic views with an analysis of his literary techniques and artistic innovations.

 

RUSS 520: Russian Writers

Richard Tempest

12:00PM-1:20PM, MW, 219 David Kinley Hall;

Study of a Russian author's works in the original Russian, historical and philosophical contexts, current critical approaches.

 

SLAV 525: Problems in Slavic Literature – Slavic Folklore

David Cooper

2:00PM-4:20PM, M, 1140 Literatures, Cultures & Ling;

Selected subjects in Russian and Slavic prose, poetry, drama, and literary criticism. Topics vary.

This course covers major genres of folk songs and prose connected to calendar and life rituals, folk beliefs, and entertainment in Slavic cultures, along with significant analytical and theoretical approaches to their study. Students will read folkloric texts in the original for Slavic languages they know and in translation for others.

 

TRST 502: Applied Literary Translation II*

Robert Jenkins

Same as SLAV 502/CWL 512/EALC 512/GER 512

3:00PM-5:20PM, M, G96 Literatures, Cultures & Ling;

Focuses on the practice and strategies of literary translation through the study of what prominent and successful translators have written about their own experience and through comparative analysis of prize-winning translations. Students will be exposed to reader response theory and the role of the translator as cultural agent while learning how to produce paratext for their translations (prefaces, notes, etc.) and developing skills in translation, editing, grant-writing, and participation in professional associations.

 

TURK 270: Language and Culture in Turkey

Ayse Ozcan

Eman Saadah

Same as GLBL 272/ANTH 272/SAME 272

11:00AM-12:20PM, T, 1110 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling;

11:00AM-12:20PM, R, Online;

As a country located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, Turkey has always been under the spotlight. In this course, we will study the dynamic relationship between language and culture in Ottoman and modern Turkey through a timely analysis of its transition from a long-lasting empire to a young "secular" nation-state. We will examine the complexities of Turkish modernity from a holistic perspective to better comprehend how central Asian and Middle Eastern cultural influences, continuities, and transformations gave birth to modern Turkish language. The course should help you not only in developing an understanding of the Turkish language within a cultural framework, but also in gaining insight into Turkey's history, politics, literature, and media. No former knowledge of Turkey or the Turkish language is required.

 

UKR 498: Problems in Ukrainian Lit

Olha Khometa

9:30 PM-11:50AM, F, 1140 Literatures, Cultures & Ling;

Critical survey of major works in Ukrainian literature from the beginnings to the modern period in light of their historical and cultural background; lectures and readings in English.

The course focuses on major works in Ukrainian literature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Among the authors included in the readings are Lesia Ukrainka, Olha Kobylianska, Pavlo Tychyna, Mykola Khvyliovyi, Valerian Pidmohylnyi, Iryna Vilde, Vasyl Barka, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Askold Melnychuk, Yuri Andrukhovych, Oksana Zabuzhko, Marianna Kiyanovska, and Oleksandr Averbuch. The concluding topic will explore contemporary war literature in Ukraine. The main theoretical concepts of the course include modernism, socialist realism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, decolonization, identity, and trauma. 

No knowledge of Ukrainian required.

 

For other languages and courses available through the BTAA contact 

 

BCS 102 – First Year Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian II

11:00AM-11:50 AM, MTWR, 1126 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

BCS 202 – Second Year Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian II

10:00 AM-10:50 AM, MTWR, 1018 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling

 

CZCH 102 – Elementary Czech II

9:00 AM-9:50 AM, MTWR, 1018 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling

 

POL 102 – Elementary Polish II

10:00AM-10:50 AM, MTWR, 1062 Lincoln Hall

POL 202 – Second Yr Polish II

11:00AM -11:50AM, MTWR, 1026 Lincoln Hall

 

RUSS 102 – First-Year Russian

Sec A, 4:00PM-4:50PM, MTWR, G48 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

Sec B, 10:00AM-10:50AM, MTWR, 1068 Lincoln Hall

Sec C, 11:00AM-11:50AM, MTWR, 1020 Lincoln Hall

RUSS 202 – Second-Year Russian II

11:00 AM-11:50AM, MTWR, G36 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

RUSS 302 – Third Year Russian II

11:00AM-11:50AM, MWF, 1110 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

RUSS 402 – Fourth Year Russian II

12:00AM-12:50 PM, MWF, G30 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

 

TURK 202 – Elementary Turkish II

Lab, 9:00AM-9:50AM, F, 1110 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

Lecture, 9:00Am-9:50AM, MTWR, 1110 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

TURK 404 – Intermediate Turkish II

10:00AM-10:50AM, MTWR, 1046 Literatures, Cultures & Ling

 

UKR 102 – Basic Ukrainian II

10:00 AM-10:50AM, MTWR, 215 Davenport Hall