Pennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBois · Courses
RUS
33 courses with the subject RUS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
RUS 100Russian Culture and Civilization3
This course acquaints students with the general contours of Russian culture and civilization, tracing its evolution from ancient origins to the recent past. It explores the development of the Russian state, as well as Russian language, literature, folklore, religion, music, art, and film. While the primary focus is on culture, key historical contexts are integrated throughout to provide a deeper understanding and interpretation of Russia's cultural legacy. The course also features selected readings from some of the most renowned works of Russian literature. No prior knowledge of Russian is required, as all lectures, discussions, and readings are conducted in English.
This course surveys filmmaking in pre-Revolutionary, Soviet, and post-communist Russia as well as other regions of the USSR from the avant-garde era to the years following the Soviet Union's collapse. It highlights major works by renowned directors such as Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov, Mikhail Kalatozov, Sergei Parajanov, Andrei Tarkovsky, and others mapping cinematic developments onto key historical events and cultural trends. Special attention is given to the portrayal of ethnic minorities and cultural "others" in Soviet and modern Russian cinema. The course also serves as an introduction to film analysis and criticism. It is taught entirely in English, and no prior knowledge of Russian history, culture, or film is required.
RUS 141Y19th-Century Russian Literature in English Translation3
During the nineteenth century, Russia emerged as a powerhouse of World Literature. Russian novelists aspired to nothing less than to teach their readers how to live. Political, social, and historical constraints propelled them into figures of witness, prophecy, and moral instruction. Yet far from being limited to the vast, dark novels of legend, nineteenth-century Russian literature offers a great deal of variety, including much humor, lyricism, and fantasy. This course pays special attention to the intersection of literature and Russian imperial context: it examines how some authors glorified the Empire while others shed a critical light on Russian tyranny and imperialism. It surveys classic works by authors such as Aleksandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lev Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, and others.
RUS 142YSoviet and Post-Soviet Russian Literature in English Translation3
For most of the time since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Russia has existed under some form of dictatorship, with the paradoxical effect that literature continued to matter as it does in few other countries. While the government tried to mobilize writers as state propagandists, the best of them have possessed the power to enrage tyrants and to speak for the suffocating conscience of their country. Not limited to political themes, their books also offer a great deal of variety, including modernist experimentation, grotesque humor and dark fantasy. This course surveys crucial works by mainstream Soviet authors, members of the dissident underground, Russian émigrés, and the contemporary diaspora of writers who have fled from Vladimir Putin's regime.
This course, which is cross-listed between Russian and German, aims to acquaint students with an important and troubling chapter of 20th-century culture. The regimes of Stalin and Hitler have had a decisive impact not only on life in Russia and Germany, but in much of Europe and the world at large. Espousing a comparative perspective, the course explores the culture produced by Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany, considering both the culture of daily life and selected works of "high culture," including literature, the visual arts, architecture, music, and film. A knowledge of Russian or German is not required, as class lectures and discussions as well as all reading assignments are in English.
RUS 144Multicultural Russia: Narratives of Race and Ethnicity in Russian Literature and Culture3
Russia, even today, is more accurately described as an empire than a nation, encompassing over 170 ethnic, racial, linguistic, and religious groups. For most of the past two centuries, this empire was even larger and more diverse. During the early Soviet era, this diversity was celebrated as part of the "friendship of peoples" in the Communist state. However, this policy was later reversed, leading to the suppression of many literary works that provide invaluable insights into the lives of these diverse peoples. This course examines key works by authors from ethnic minorities within modern Russia, as well as writers from former Soviet and Russian colonies. No prior knowledge of Russian culture or history is required, and the course is taught in English.
The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union led Russia toward political, economic, and cultural liberalization. However, post-Soviet Russia evolved into an authoritarian state defined by crony capitalism and historical revanchism, culminating in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Why did Russia's transition fail, and how did Vladimir Putin's regime rise and endure? This course explores these questions through creative and analytical works by writers, filmmakers, journalists, and activists in Putin's Russia. No prior knowledge of Russian culture or history is required; the course is taught in English.
Advanced practicum in conversation, reading, and composition. This course is designed as a transition from Intermediate to Advanced level of speaking proficiency. It is taught in Russian and covers topics in grammar in the context of the spoken and written language. Emphasis is placed on verbal morphology, simple and complex sentence structures. Short readings will include original or adapted texts covering a variety of genres and topics. Quizzes, tests, class discussions, individual and small group presentations, short descriptive and expository essays, and internet-based assignments that address current events and illustrate different linguistic usage will be essential means to explore the subject matter and assess students' progress. The course also aims to increase the students' understanding of Russian culture and the Russian way of life.
Advanced practicum in reading, writing, and conversation. This course builds on and expands the language competence acquired in Russian 200 and 401 and is taught entirely in Russian to ensure complete immersion. Students will work with a variety of texts and audio-visual materials on topics of general interest. Upon successful completion of the course, students will acquire basic competence in representing points of view other than their own, defending an argument, and hypothesizing on a more abstract level. The course also aims to increase the students' understanding of Russian culture and the Russian way of life.
RUS 403Advanced Russian Conversation and Composition3
This advanced practicum in conversation and composition includes situational topics and complex academic discourse and is designed to enhance students' oral, listening comprehension, and writing skills in Russian. It is taught entirely in Russian to ensure complete immersion. Students will work with authentic Russian texts and audio-video materials of moderate complexity in various genres and will actively engage in conversations and discussions on a number of topics of personal, community, national, or international interest: current events, culture, history, the arts, and politics. They will gain sufficient control of basic structures and generic vocabulary to be understood by native speakers of the language, including those unaccustomed to nonnative speech. Upon successful completion of the course, students will acquire basic competence in representing points of view other than their own, defending an argument, and hypothesizing on a more abstract level. The course also aims to increase the students' understanding of Russian culture and the Russian way of life.
Advanced Russian Reading and Composition. RUS 404 Advanced Reading and Composition (3) RUS 404 focuses on reading and writing in Russian. Some time is spent on reading strategies, methods of building a working Russian vocabulary, sentence structure, and word order. Reading materials are at the advanced level and for the most part treat the history of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, the Stalinist era and the Thaw. Literary selections complement the historical readings and include works of Blok, Akhmatova, Zoshchenko, Bulgakov and Solzhenitsyn.
Russian 405 is an advanced-level seminar devoted to the in-depth study of selected texts of Russian literature in the original language. The course examines authors and texts that vary from one year to the next. The focus may be on the work of a single writer, the development of a particular genre, time period, or theme. The texts are analyzed both in their socio-historical context and as aesthetically compelling manifestations of verbal art. Explorative analytical writing and class discussions are essential means to explore the subject matter.
This advanced-level seminar, taught in Russian, surveys the development of Soviet and Russian cinema within its historical context. It spans from silent classics and avant-garde to the recent productions reflecting Russia's economic and political transitions. Russian cinema is studied both as a reflection of sociopolitical trends and as an art form. The course covers key historical moments influencing cultural policy along with an analysis of how emotions and ideologies are conveyed through the language of film.
Introductory course for heritage speakers aiming at developing basic reading, writing, and grammar skills in Russian. The course is intended for students who grew up speaking Russian at home but had limited exposure to writing and reading. Study materials include simple original readings (fairy tales, short stories, poems, songs) and visual and multimedia texts. The course is designed to enhance the students' knowledge and understanding of Russian culture. It fulfills the 12-credit foreign language requirement.
RUS 414Advanced Grammar and Linguistic Analysis of Contemporary Russian3
In-depth study of selected grammar topics pertaining to the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Modern Standard Russian with glimpses into the history of the Russian language. The course aims to both enhance students' understanding of linguistic structures in general and at improving their proficiency in Russian.
RUS 420 is a capstone seminar conducted in Russian and devoted to topics in culture, art, and literature. Building on the linguistic competency acquired in the second and third levels of study toward the Russian major, this course is designed to add depth and sophistication to the students' understanding of basic concepts in Russian history and culture and improve their ability to discuss and write about them in Russian. Course materials may vary from one year to the next and include texts from different genres and styles. Major artistic movements are considered in their connection to the respective historic period and their reception today.
