Literature in Translation Courses – Spring 2026

(4 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Discussion 301: R 9:55 – 10:45 am
• Discussion 302: R 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Discussion 303: R 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Discussion 304: R 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Andrew Reynolds

Course Description: Examines Russian prose fiction, Anton Chekhov to the end of the 20th century. More writing intensive than LITTRANS 202.

Prerequisites: Not open to students with credit for LITTRANS 202

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Instructor: Kirill Ospovat

Course Description: In this course, we read Tolstoy’s lengthier and shorter masterpieces, from War and Peace to The Strider, alongside some of his nonfictional manifestoes. We explore his techniques of representation and ethical stances and traced their evolution through Tolstoy’s long literary career. What were Tolstoy’s objections to sexuality and political reform? What is moral and beautiful? How does civilization and education relate to nature?  What does death say about life? These were some of the questions that we have investigated while reading Tolstoy’s manifold work.

(4 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 2:25 – 3:15 pm
• Discussion 301: T 2:25 – 3:15 pm

(3 credits)

• Lecture 002: MWF 2:25 – 3:15 pm

Instructor: Jennifer Tishler

Course Description: Postrevolutionary Russian and Soviet visual arts, architecture, music and cinema; provides an inside view of life under socialism with the help of selected readings in Soviet literature.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing

(Meets with LITTRANS 266/SLAVIC 266)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Łukasz Wodzyński

Course Description: Poland and Europe 1914-1945. Even as we emerge from a devastating global health crisis and face the uncertain future, with the world on the edge, we find that the traumas, issues, and concepts engendered by two World Wars continue to haunt us, even a century later. We once again find ourselves in difficult times, marked by social, cultural, religious, and economic tensions. In this course, we will examine how cultural texts – including literature, film, theatre, painting, and sculpture – produced during, between, and after the two wars – deal with the extreme and everyday experiences, with shattered worlds of individuals, ethnicities, and nations. This course concentrates on 20th -century Polish culture. All the readings and materials are available in English.

Prerequisites: None.

(Breadth: Literature, Humanities; Honors option available)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 002: TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am

Instructor: Krzysztof Borowski

Course Description: Get CREDIT for watching and discussing MOVIES! No final paper, no final exam, no prior knowledge required — instead, a multimedia final project and a series of video assignments. All course content and materials provided by the instructor and in English or with English subtitles.

What makes comedy a powerful political tool? Can laughter become a weapon against totalitarian regimes? How do comedy and humor help subvert power relations in society?

We explore these and similar questions by analyzing political comedy in various formats (film, television, literature, music, internet memes, etc.) using examples from modern Polish culture.

Due to its strong tradition of political comedy amidst a turbulent history — wars, communism, totalitarian rule, and social protests — Poland is uniquely positioned to serve as a cultural case study of how individuals and societies can embrace and survive change, political turmoil, and an uncertain future.

This course is open to students at all levels. All reading and materials will be available in English. No purchase of textbooks or other learning materials required.

No background in Polish or Slavic studies, or languages necessary — everyone interested in comedy and/or politics is welcome!

(3 credits) 

• Lecture 003: MW 2:30 pm – 3:45 pm

Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk

Course Description: Since the early 1990s, there has been an explosion of women’s writing in Central and Eastern Europe greater than in any other cultural period. This is due to the fact that women in this region have experienced more cataclysmic transformations than most of their contemporaries in Western Europe. This course focuses on the question of how women writers have responded to the collapse of communism, searching in their work for new forms of posttotalitarian identities – national, cultural or sexual, creating the new empowered female voices. We will read a number of contemporary Central and Eastern European women writers and trace narrative manifestations of the women’s struggle against different forms of authority: political regimes, religion, cultural hegemony, and patriarchy. In addition to works of fiction, we will read articles, interviews, and other secondary sources to achieve a general understanding of contemporary politics, cultural conflict, and gender roles in Central and Eastern Europe.

Prerequisites: Open for everyone. No knowledge of the German language is required for this class.

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 1:20 pm – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Sara Karpukhin

Course Description: ELEMENTARY SPECIAL TOPICS IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE & CULTURE. Exploration of various topics – periods, genres, individual writers, themes, problems, etc. in Russian and Eastern European literature.

(Cross listed with SLAVIC 266.)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm

Instructor: Sabine Mödersheim

Course Description: “Climate Fiction “ is an emerging genre of literature, graphic novels, and film exploring the consequences of climate change in the age of the “Anthropocene”, the epoch in which human impacts on the planet’s ecological systems reach a dangerous tipping point. The aim of this course is to discuss the human experience of climate change on a global scale through analyses of works by German authors such as Lutz Seiler, Yoko Tawada, Ilija Trojanow, Christa Wolf as well as writers from around the world, including Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, Amitav Ghosh, and others. We will explore dystopian, and apocalyptic stories but also works that imagine a more just future of resilience and social equality.

All materials will be in English translations or with English subtitles. Lectures and discussions will be in English. Prior knowledge of German is welcome but not required.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement

(Level: Intermediate. Breadth: Literature. L&S credit type: Counts as LAS credit (L&S). Cross listed: GERMAN 276, LITTRANS 276)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 002: MW 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk 

Course Description: SPECIAL TOPICS IN GERMAN AND WORLD LITERATURE/S. Exploration of diverse world literary traditions with an emphasis on German and German speaking cultures.

Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: MWF 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff 

Course Description: American literature has never been written in one language. While English has become dominant in the United States, there has been a long tradition of American literary and cultural production in other languages. This class focuses on the Jewish immigrant experience in Yiddish—a fusion language that brings together German, Hebrew, English, Russian, Latin, and more. We will follow Yiddish culture from the beginning of the twentieth century until today as it has been alternatingly supported, neglected, and imbued with nostalgia. The questions driving our inquiry will be: What does it mean to translate America into Yiddish and what does it mean to translate Yiddish for America? Major terms to be discussed include: cultural translation, ethnicity, migration, “Melting Pot,” multilingualism, and assimilation. Themes include: Jewish-Christian difference, ethnic American humor, race and Jewish culture.

Prerequisites: None

(This course counts as a cognate course for the German major. This course fulfills the General Education requirement in Ethnic Studies.)

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 2:25 – 3:15 pm
• Discussion 301: W 3:30 – 4:20 pm
• Discussion 302: W 4:35 – 5:35 pm
• Discussion 303: 5:40 – 6:30 pm
• Discussion 304: 1:20 – 2:10 pm
• Discussion 305: 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Discussion 306: 3:30 – 4:20 pm
• Discussion 307: 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Discussion 308: 12:05 – 12:55 pm
• Discussion 309: 1:20 – 2:10 pm

Course Description: Explores the development of the vampire legend in folklore, rumor, literature, cinema, television, and popular culture and in relation to topics such as colonization, race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing

(3 credits)

• Lecture 001: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm

Instructor: Dean Krouk

Course Descriptions: Often considered “the father of modern drama,” the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is a major figure of world literature whose dramatic works remain fascinating and globally influential, both as texts and through performance and adaptation. Students read and discuss Ibsen in English translation, with a focus on Ibsen’s historical contexts, dramatic techniques, social and political thought, and the reception and adaptation of his work in modern culture.