Jens, Benjamin C

Assistant Professor

bcjens@email.arizona.edu
Office Learning Services Building 305

Office Hours

Mondays 3:00 - 4:00 pm, Thursdays 1:00 - 2:00 pm

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

"Oral History in the Russian Language Curriculum: A Transformative Experience." Chapter co-authored with Benjamin Rifkin and Colleen Lucey and accepted for publication in The Art of Teaching Russian, eds. Evgeny Dengub, Irina Dubinina, and Jason Merrill.

“Silence and Confession in The Brothers Karamazov.” Russian Review, vol. 75, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51–66.

Courses Taught:

RSSS150B1 – Eastern European Cinema in a Social Context

RSSS275 – The Balkans: Identity in Crisis

RSSS304 – History of Soviet and Post-Soviet Film

RSSS310 – Red Stars, Cosmonauts, and Robots: Soviet and East European Science Fiction

RSSS315 – Werewolves and Vampires: Slavic Folklore in our Culture

RSSS325 – Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age

RSSS340 – The Pen and the Sword: Russian Writers and Autocracy (1825-1905)

RSSS350 – The Soviet Experiment

Currently Teaching

RSSS 201 – Intermediate Russian I

Third semester Russian.

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RSSS 202 – Intermediate Russian II

Fourth semester Russian.

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RSSS 263 – Russian Media Fluency 1

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.

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RSSS 310 – Red Stars, Cosmonauts, and Robots: Soviet and East European Science Fiction

This course studies a selection of the best and most influential fantastic, marvelous, and uncanny works from the region that brought the world rocketry, Sputnik, and the robot. Students will analyze a variety of media (in translation) from Eastern Europe that posit situations based in a "fantastic" space, time or world to compare how broader cultural concerns are expressed through the genre of science fiction. We will discuss the development of the genre in Eastern Europe from the era of Romanticism to the modern day, with emphasis on the historical-cultural context of the Space Race between the US and USSR and its impact on the genre. This course will explore the view "from the East" of such topics as progress, imperialism, human perfectibility, gender constructs, the nature of communication, human/other identity, and the limits of knowledge as humanity pushes further into the final frontier. Students will read all texts in translation; all films will be available with English-language subtitles.

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RSSS 315 – Werewolves and Vampires: Slavic Folklore in our Culture

The course will examine supernatural figures who find their folkloric and historical origins in the Slavic and East European tradition. Through legends, chronicles, novels, films, and music, the course will consider how and why these creatures come to reflect contemporary fears.

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

A Tier-Two Humanities course with readings and discussion in English or representative Russian literary works of the 19th century.

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RSSS 362 – Russian Phonetics: Pronunciation, Intonation, and Rhythm

This course seeks to: understand the role of vowels, consonants, and the soft-sign in Russian and their effects on spoken Russian language; understand the role and usage of the 7 intonation patterns in spoken Russian; compare and contrast standard speech with dialect variations, Slavic influences, and foreign language influences in the Russian language; understand basic intonation patterns in Russian poetry, lyrics, etc., and build students' understanding of the rhythm of spoken Russian, both in "high" genres (poetry, etc.) and in "low" genres (informal speech, pop music, etc.); develop student skills and experience in the target culture (i.e., Russian).

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RSSS 412A – Treasures of Russian Culture I

Survey of cultural monuments in Moscow and St. Petersburg. (In Russia)

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Currently Teaching

RSSS 201 – Intermediate Russian I

RSSS 202 – Intermediate Russian II

RSSS 263 – Russian Media Fluency 1

RSSS 310 – Red Stars, Cosmonauts, and Robots: Soviet and East European Science Fiction

RSSS 315 – Werewolves and Vampires: Slavic Folklore in our Culture

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

RSSS 362 – Russian Phonetics: Pronunciation, Intonation, and Rhythm

RSSS 412A – Treasures of Russian Culture I