bcjens

bcjens@arizona.edu

Office Hours

Please contact instructor for
office hours

Jens, Benjamin C

Associate Professor of Practice

Dr. Benjamin Jens received his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His main area of research is 19th-century Russian literature – especially the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky – with a focus on the relationship between literature, discourse, and Eastern Orthodoxy. He also has research interests in Eastern European cinema, science fiction, and cultural ties between the Western Balkans and Russia. Dr. Jens is also the director of the Arizona in Russia study abroad program in Moscow, Russia.

Select Publications

Jens, Benjamin, et. Al. “Oral History in the Russian Language Curriculum: A Transformative Experience.” The Art of Teaching Russian, eds. Evgeny Dengub, Irina Dubinina, and Jason Merrill, Georgetown University Press, 2020.
“Silence and Confession in The Brothers Karamazov.” Russian Review, vol. 75, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51–66.

Courses Taught:

RSSS 275 – Eastern Europe & the Balkans (EP-Humanist - World Cultures and Societies, Diversity and Equity)
RSSS280 – Sports and Empire (Building Connections – World Cultures and Societies)
RSSS304 – History of Soviet and Post-Soviet Film (EP-Humanist – World Cultures and Societies, Writing)
RSSS310 - Red Stars, Cosmonauts, and Robots: Soviet and East European Science Fiction (EP-Humanist - World Cultures and Societies)
RSSS315 – Werewolves and Vampires: Slavic Folklore in our Culture (EP-Humanist - World Cultures and Societies, Diversity and Equity)
RSSS325 – Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age (EP-Humanist – World Cultures and Societies)
RSSS335 – Healthy Places, Toxic Spaces (Building Connections - World Cultures and Societies, Diversity and Equity)
RSSS340 – The Pen and the Sword: Russian Writers and Autocracy (1825-1905) (EP-Humanist - World Cultures and Societies, Writing)
RSSS360 – Utopian Visions: East European Visual Culture (EP-Artist – World Cultures and Societies)

Currently Teaching

RSSS 150B1 – East European Cinema in Social Context

East European Cinema in a Social Context (RSSS150) introduces students to a variety of excellent films that have come out of Eastern Europe in the last 100 years or so. Students will learn about the socio-political and cultural contexts of these films, the societies in which they were produced, and the events and situations that they depict. The goal of the course is to increase students' understanding and knowledge of Eastern European societies, cultures, and history while at the same time enhancing their appreciation and understanding of particular film masterpieces and cinema in general. By engaging them in the close study of these films, the course should help students develop analytical and viewing skills. Students should emerge from this course with a strong understanding of cinematic terms, an enriched understanding of diverse cultures of the region, and the tools for further exploration in a variety of academic disciplines (language, film, history, etc.). For purposes of this course, Eastern Europe includes the geographical area bounded by the Czech Republic in the west, Russia in the east; Poland in the north, and the former Yugoslavia & Greece in the south. We will watch a selection of movies from different areas.

View Section Details

RSSS 275 – Eastern Europe & the Balkans: Constructing Identity in Contact and Conflict

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.

View Section Details

RSSS 325 – Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age

This course focuses on the history and doctrine of Eastern Christianity from its origins in the early Church through today, emphasizing the cultural manifestations of Orthodox doctrine: liturgy, iconography, pious practice. We will compare Eastern Orthodoxy to Western Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), and will examine various different national Churches within Eastern Orthodoxy (i.e., Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian, Modern Greek, the older "Oriental" Churches, etc.), with a primary focus on Russia. Eastern Orthodox Christianity is often perceived as being one of the more 'mystical' of Christian traditions, and we will explore the Orthodox vision of 'the mystical life', examining its basis in history and contemporary experience. We will also ask about the significance of Church doctrine and practice for the development of culture as a whole in the areas of the world in which Eastern Christianity predominates, and the ways in which that culture both differs from and relates to what we (perhaps inaccurately) call "Western" civilization. In general, Orthodox practice relies heavily on the senses, and the course is designed to be experiential. To that end, we will make at least one field trip to a local Orthodox Church during the course of the semester.

View Section Details

RSSS 335 – Healthy Places, Toxic Spaces: GeoHumanities & Health in Russia & Eastern Europe

Space, place, and ecology have long played the part of actors - rather than backdrops - for human action in Eastern European arts; by adding the concept of health, this course explores the intersection of the human person, culture, and the environment in Eastern European literature and film. By analyzing the "humanistic geography" created by artists from the region, this course will endeavor to understand how the health (broadly understood) of individuals is affected by place, and vice versa. This course will also explore how authors have contributed to creating a "cultural biography" of some of the major health and environmental issues - the legacy of Chernobyl, migration, accessibility, etc. - facing Russia and Eastern Europe today.

View Section Details

RSSS 340 – The Pen and the Sword: Russian Writers and Autocracy 1825-1905

This course is designed to be an introduction to the "Golden Age" of Russian literature. We will read a selection of classic Russian texts, with representative works from "canonical" authors like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, among others. The writers we will read not only played a key role in the development of Russian literature, but their handling of life's greatest issues (the existence of God, the meaning of life, struggle for gender equality, the organization of society, the mystery of death, etc.) have influenced cultural, intellectual, and political movements throughout the world. The course readings are organized chronologically and by theme, and we will trace the progression of the major literary movements of the era (sentimentalism, romanticism and realism) while exploring the individual style/technique of each author. Works will be considered within their cultural context --historical, social, ideological and intellectual --in order to provide a better understanding of Russian thought, culture, and literature. All readings, discussions and written assignments will be in English.

View Section Details

RSSS 360 – Utopian Visions: East European Visual Culture

Since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution our understanding of East European and Russian art has been defined by utopian ideas of revolutionary transformation. This course will trace the historical development of East European and Russian art from the medieval era to the modern day, focusing primarily on the Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods to reveal the social and cultural forces behind artistic change, transgression, and transformation. We will investigate artists and art movements in Eastern Europe and Russia, critically assessing artistic influence, production, avant-garde experiments, reception, and cultural interaction in their historical context. We will also discuss how the changing ideologies in the 19th-, 20th-, and 21st centuries led to the re-assessment of artistic production in relation to discourses of nationalism, identity, gender, politics, modernity, propaganda, and mass media. The course analyzes the artistic practices, styles, interpretations, and expressions of recurring themes in East European and Russian art and culture more broadly, such as utopia, spirituality, anarchy, satire, and the collective.

View Section Details