Time Schedule:
James D West
RUSS 420
Seattle Campus
A special topic in the literary and cultural history of Russia. Topics vary.
Class description
Every nation's culture reflects its physical environment, but the relationship is not a simple one. Geography, ethnography and natural history do not directly determine the characteristics of a culture, although this was a widely held belief in the 19th century. Rather, they interact in complex ways with prevailing ideologies and religions, which are almost always shared with other nations. The result is an array of physical features, plants and animals, some of them mythical, that become cultural emblems for a particular nation. This course explores the situation in Russia, drawing on portrayals of land and people, both visual and verbal. The works to be studied include painting, poetry and prose, both Romantic, Realist, iconographic and folkloric, 19th-century theories of the formative effect of landscape and climate, and some materials on the geography, peoples, flora and fauna of the Russian Federation.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
This is a 400-level lecture/discussion course, based on a number of literary and theoretical texts and works of art, with further reading on the most significant issues raised in them.
Recommended preparation
You'll be expected to come to the discussions with the relevant materials read and thought about, and to do a certain amount of additional reading, either suggested in class, or the result of your own exploration of particular issues.
Class assignments and grading
Aside from general participation in discussions, there will be a number of assigned oral presentations, including presentation of a paper outline. There is one graded assignment: a 12-15pp paper on a topic you will develop yourself.
Grades are based 70% on the paper, 30% on oral presentations and participation in discussion.
