For almost 100 years, the Soviet Union and Russia have used large sporting events for both geopolitical and domestic purposes. In the Soviet Union sport was not only a means of entertainment, but also a key element of state propaganda. Through sport, the new Soviet person was to be made. By 1956, the Soviet Union took home more Olympic medals than the US team, setting the stage for a rivalry between capitalist and socialist states that would last throughout the Cold War era. This course will explore the birth of sport in Russia and Eastern Europe, trace how the Soviet system created a propaganda machine out of international sporting competition, and how the Soviet legacy continues into the modern day. We will also discuss contemporary sporting issues--such as doping scandals and the hosting of international events--to analyze how sport is used as a projection of identity, resistance and/or power in the global arena.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to Eastern European and Balkan cultures, primarily those of Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, and the former Yugoslavia. When most people think of this region today, images of the most recent wars and chaos of post-Communist times come to mind. However, hidden behind these images is a region rich in history and culture: Viennese cafe culture meets the Mediterranean; world religions meet and intermingle, and the region's contemporary arts have influenced global culture. In this class we will explore this region's turbulent history, cross-cultural interactions, and common traditions and customs.

This is course designed to develop non-native speaker oral skills to achieve at least the Intermediate Low level (based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines). We will focus on skills that are relevant to establishing and maintaining direct conversation and communication with native speakers of Russian. The course focuses on a range of skill sets, including improving listening comprehension, participating in class discussions, understanding conversational strategies, giving group presentations, asking and answering questions, interacting effectively with native speakers, and improving through self-evaluation of speech.

This is course designed to develop non-native speaker oral skills to achieve at least the Novice High level (based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines). We will focus on skills that are relevant to establishing and maintaining direct conversation and communication with native speakers of Russian. The course focuses on a range of skill sets, including improving listening comprehension, participating in class discussions, understanding conversational strategies, giving group presentations, asking and answering questions, interacting effectively with native speakers, and improving through self-evaluation of speech.

This is course designed to develop non-native speaker reading and writing skills achieve at least the Intermediate Low level (using the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines). We will focus on skills that are relevant to establishing and maintaining communication with native speakers of Russian and to retrieving information and making inferences and connections within and across texts. The course focuses on a range of skill sets, including improving grammar and reading comprehension, participating in class discussions, understanding writing strategies, giving feedback through peer editing, framing and answering questions, corresponding effectively with native speakers, and improving through self-evaluation of written language.

This is course designed to develop non-native speaker reading and writing skills achieve at least the Novice High level (using the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines). We will focus on skills that are relevant to establishing and maintaining communication with native speakers of Russian and to retrieving information and making inferences and connections within and across texts. The course focuses on a range of skill sets, including improving grammar and reading comprehension, participating in class discussions, understanding writing strategies, giving feedback through peer editing, framing and answering questions, corresponding effectively with native speakers, and improving through self-evaluation of written language.

For centuries, Latin America has attracted expansionist superpowers. In relatively recent times, Soviet penetration into the region -- which peaked during the Cold War -- affected it economically, militarily, politically, and culturally. Even today, the Russian Federation follows a course set by the USSR, gradually expanding its influence in Latin America. "USSR/Russia - Latin America: Empowerment and Repression" will investigate the complex Soviet/Russian and Latin American strings-attached camaraderie, addressing in particular how the USSR adopted a position in Latin America as a counterweight to US influence, ultimately leaving a strong historicocultural imprint on Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador, as well as (to a lesser but notable extent) on Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and other Latin American countries. Focusing on what many see as an uneven relationship, this course explores the communist superpower's goals, impacts, legacies, and cultural influences in Latin America and subsequent post-Soviet interests in the region.

"Mythic Russia" is an invitation to consider a non-Western--Russian--culture's belief system as expressed in its folklore. This course comprises four major themes, articulated in the following categories of texts, both verbal and visual:(1) a survey of Russian demonology, which illustrates the animistic nature of Russian popular beliefs about the world that persist to this day; (2) a large selection of the best-known Russian fairy tales, to be compared with German and English tales; (3) scholarly articles analyzing the differences between folklore and literature and representing various theoretical/critical schools: Structuralism, Marxism, Freudianism; and feminism; (4) literary fairy tales. Visual materials (film, paintings, graphics, and handicrafts) and music inspired by Russian folklore and fairy tales figure regularly in the course. Through examination of such materials and experiential learning activities, students will develop hermeneutical skills, specifically in analyzing fairy tales in order to understand what underlies their strikingly simple yet enigmatic surface. In addition, they will master the principles of various schools of criticism, in the process assessing their relative explanatory power vis-a-vis sundry texts. Finally, students will develop their understanding and appreciation of the intellectual benefits of diverse perspectives and cross-genre continuities provided by an interdisciplinary, multi-media approach to the cultural phenomenon of the Russian folk tale.

A multimedia examination 20th century utopian visions through the arts in Russia and the Soviet Union.

This course focuses on advancing students' knowledge of spoken Russian and their understanding of linguistic registers. The goal is to expand student's vocabulary and improve students' speaking fluency as well as their ability to speak in Russian with nuanced diverse speech acts. This course will build upon students' foundation of Russian language obtained in RSSS 101-102 Elementary Russian and will teach students to apply the knowledge of Russian grammatical structures to various cultural contexts by involving students in various interactive activities, role plays and class presentations.