In addition to a full curriculum of language courses conducted entirely in Russian, the program regularly offers courses in English translation devoted to the region’s literary giants and its rich cultural history. Especially popular are seminars on Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, as well as a tutorial on The Brothers Karamazov and courses on the history of Russian and Soviet film.
Why Study Russian?
Studying Russian supports students’ personal and professional development and creates opportunities for a wide range of potential career paths in our globalized world. No matter what you pursue, you’ll also develop a lifelong appreciation for the influential literacy and rich cultural history of the region.
The Major
The Russian major provides a solid foundation in the Russian language while imparting an understanding of the cultural history of Russia in its European, Eurasian, and global contexts. The department offers courses that provide knowledge of Russia’s rich cultural tradition and the country’s enduring role as a major player on the world stage. Our courses explore Russian literature, music, performance, politics, history, and cultural studies, as well as the interrelationships between these. Associated courses taught in other departments, such as History and Sociology, complement the department’s offerings.
Required Courses
Russian majors are required to complete a minimum of 10 courses:
- Six courses conducted in Russian, including:
- at least two at the 300-level
- at least one at the 400-level
- Up to four related courses offered by other departments and taught in English. Examples of appropriate courses in other departments are:
- HIST 233 The Soviet Union and Its World
- SOC 248 Post-Soviet Paradoxes
- HIST 334 The Environmental History of the Russian and Soviet Empires
- ECON 107 Inequality in a Classless Society
Students selecting the major must typically complete Russian 202 or the equivalent by the end of the junior year. Majors will normally be expected to take the 400-level seminar offered in their senior year, even if they have previously taken another version of it. Russian majors may receive major credit for summer language study (in consultation with the department) and for up to four courses taken during study abroad.
Honors
At the beginning of the second semester of the senior year, students may nominate themselves to candidacy for the degree with honors. By the end of the junior year at the latest, however, they will have established in consultation with the department their qualifications for embarking on the project, the pattern of study to be followed, and the standards of performance. Students earn a degree with honors by submitting a senior thesis of honors quality.
The Certificate
The certificate in Russian enhances a student’s educational and professional profiles by providing a useful tool for using the language across a wide variety of disciplines. The sequence of language and culture courses is designed to supplement a student’s major by enabling them to expand their knowledge in a related field.
Required Courses
The certificate in Russian requires seven courses:
- Four language courses: RUSS 101, 102, 103, 104
- One additional course conducted in Russian
- At least one elective course on Russian cultural history
- At least one elective course on Russian intellectual, political, or social history, or post-Soviet economics
Students who enter Williams with prior training in Russian may substitute more advanced courses for all of the 100-level courses; they can also be exempted from up to two of the required courses. Thus, in order to earn a certificate a student must take no fewer than five courses (including three courses in Russian) after enrolling at Williams. Students must receive a minimum grade of B in each course taken in the sequence.
Featured Courses
An introduction to contemporary standard Russian, this course provides opportunities to acquire basic proficiency in all five language skills–listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, and culture.
This course surveys history of the twentieth-century Russia and the Soviet Union through the prism of the cinematic medium. We will watch and analyze key films of this period–films by Eisenstein, Vertov, Tarkovsky, Shepit’ko, Balabanov, and Fedorchenko among others–from a double perspective.
This course surveys the works of the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, whose oeuvre represents a life-long quest to uncover the meaning of life. Readings include Dostoevsky’s major novels, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov, as well as several shorter works, including Notes from Underground.
Learning Objectives
The objective of the Russian major is to provide a solid foundation in the Russian language and to impart an understanding of the cultural history of Russia in its European, Eurasian and global contexts. The objective of the certificate in Russian is to enhance students’ educational and professional profiles by demonstrating their ability to use the Russian language in a variety of disciplines and contexts.
Students should be able to:
- Read and understand unabridged literary, journalistic, and colloquial Russian texts with the aid of a dictionary and to comprehend a wide range of audio-visual texts.
- Converse and communicate in writing with Russian speakers on a variety of non-technical topics.
- Navigate and negotiate the Russian Internet, as well as journalism and media in Russian.
- Function independently in a Russian-speaking environment.
- Demonstrate a broad understanding of the people, movements, and events shaping Russian cultural history.
- Demonstrate familiarity with representative works of Russian literature, fine arts, music, and performance.
- Demonstrate cultural competence in Russian, including historical, political, social, and aesthetic awareness.