Slavic Courses Fall 2022

(4 credits)

• Section 001: MTWRF 9:55-10:45 am
• Section 002 (FIG): MTWRF 11:00-11:50 am
• Section 003: MTWRF 12:05-12:55 pm
• Section 004: MTWRF 1:20-2:10 pm

Course Description: Five hours a week focusing on speaking, listening, reading and writing Russian, with an introduction to Russian culture. No previous knowledge of Russian expected.

Prerequisites: Section 002 requires FIG authorization. Sections 001, 003, 004 require none.

(4 credits)

• MTWR 11:00-11:50 am          Instructor: Krzystzof Borowski

Course Description: Introduction to Polish language focusing on speaking, listening, reading and writing  with an introduction to Polish  culture.

Prerequisites: None.

(4 credits)

• MTWR 12:05 – 12:55 pm          Instructor: David Danaher

Course Description: The course is designed to develop communicative skills in Czech: speaking, reading, listening, and writing. It is thematically organized; the themes we will be working on include: the Czech alphabet and sound system, greetings/introductions, classroom Czech, family and friends, food and drink, weather and clothing, numbers, days of the week, months. These themes are presented in units 1-4 of the online textbook Reality Czech, which is keyed to our Canvas site. By the end of the course, students should be able to: (1) Hold conversations in Czech that reflect comfort with the communicative themes that we have treated; (2) Understand texts on these themes by applying what they have learned (vocabulary and grammatical structures) to the reading and also by bringing to bear their own knowledge of the world to make educated guesses about words and structures with which they are not yet familiar; (3) Exhibit familiarity with aspects of Czech culture relating to these themes as well as to certain authors, works, and films.

Prerequisites: None.

(4 credits)

• Section 001: MTWRF 11:00 – 11:50 am
• Section 002: MTWRF 1:20-2:10 pm

Course Description: Five hours a week focusing on speaking, listening, reading and writing Russian, with continued study of Russian culture.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 102.

(4 credits)

• MTWR 12:00 – 12:05 pm          Instructor: Krzysztof Borowski

Course Description: Development of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in Polish, with continued study of Polish culture.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 112.

(3 credits)

• TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm          Instructor: Łukasz Wodzyński

Course Description: What constitutes heroism in the absence of universally shared moral frameworks? Who are we as individuals? What responsibility do we have for the way we represent reality to ourselves and to others? What constitutes “good life”? Engage with these questions and examine Polish cinematic tradition from the Polish Film School to the present. Explore key works, themes, and creators of Polish cinema, and probe the ethical and existential dimensions these films open up.

Prerequisites: None

(3 credits)

• TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm          Instructor: Maksim Hanukai

Course Description: In this course we will take a literary journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, following the shifting cultural and political currents in Russia from the years preceding the 1917 Revolution to the rise of Stalinism in the 1930s. Topics will include: revolutionary violence and terror, civil war and emigration, Futurism and the birth of Russian avant-garde art, Soviet feminism and the engineering of the “New Man,” technological utopias and totalitarian dystopias, literature and early Soviet economic policy. We will supplement our readings of literature with material from other media—e.g. the visual arts, architecture, film, theater—reflecting on the Revolution’s challenge to traditional norms and boundaries. Among the questions we shall reflect on will be: How did Russian writers and artists respond to the energies unleashed by the Revolution? How did perceptions of the Revolution change over time? What are the legacies of the Russian Revolution? How can reading revolutionary literature help us navigate our own highly unstable times?

Prerequisites: None.

(3 credits)

• TR 2:30-3:45 pm          Instructor: Łukasz Wodzyński

Course Description: How do we define adventure and who gets to experience it? What role has it played in modern culture? What do adventure stories tell us about our values and changing attitudes to risk and violence? We will address these and similar questions on our intellectual journey through some of the most iconic adventures in Western cultural tradition, from The Odyssey to Indiana Jones, and beyond. The course meets Literature requirement and has no prerequisites.

Prerequisites: None.

(3 credits)

• MW 4:00 – 5:15 pm          Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk

Course Description: Coming soon!

Prerequisites: None.

(3 credits)

• MWF 1:20 – 2:10 pm          Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk

Course Description: Ukrainian is the official language of one of the largest countries in Europe. Surviving centuries of repression, it is now spoken by 50 million people around the globe. Learn the language of resistance!

Prerequisites:
GNS 270 = None.
GNS 370 = Sophomore Standing.

(3 credits)

• MWF 9:55 – 10:45 am          Instructor: Alexandra Walter

Course Description: A thorough review of several major aspects of Russian grammar, focusing on the use of complex syntax in speech and writing. Read and discuss literary works and other Russian-language texts. Students will develop writing proficiency through compositions on a variety of topics.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 118 or 204.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm          Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 208.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm          Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 277.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: Slavic 304.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: Slavic 305.

(3 credits)

• TR TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm        Instructor: Anna Tumarkin

Course Description: Emphasizes speaking and listening skills, helping students to converse on different stylistic levels, with varying degrees of formality, according to the rules of Russian speech etiquette.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 118  or SLAVIC 204.

(4 credits)

• MWF 1:20-2:10 pm          Instructor: Sara Karpukhin

Course Description: This course will focus on development of all four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in the interpretative (interpreting written and audio/video materials), interpersonal (speaking with others), and presentational (oral presentations to the class and written compositions) modes. The title of the textbook we will be using, Kagan et al.’s Russian: from Intermediate to Advanced, reflects the course goal: to enable students to progress in language proficiency from the Intermediate to the Advanced level in reading and listening, and to the Intermediate High level in speaking and writing. In addition, the course will enrich students’ cultural knowledge through reading and discussion of classical literary texts from Rosengrant’s The Golden Age.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 276.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: Slavic 278.

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: Ewa Miernowska

Course Description: In this course, students explore both traditional and evolving notions of culture in Poland, review grammar, and build vocabulary related to the cultural topics studied. The course has a strong emphasis on reading and speaking. The reading assignments are based on short stories, press articles, poetry, and a novel. Assignments will contain discussion questions, reading/listening comprehension activities, lexical, and grammar exercises.

Prerequisites: Slavic 331.

(3 credits)

• MTWR 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: David Danaher

Course Description: The course is designed to develop communicative skills in Czech: speaking, reading, listening, and writing. It is thematically organized; the themes we will be working on include: the Czech alphabet and sound system, greetings/introductions, classroom Czech, family and friends, food and drink, weather and clothing, numbers, days of the week, months. These themes are presented in units 1-4 of the online textbook Reality Czech, which is keyed to our Canvas site. By the end of the course, students should be able to:(1) Hold conversations in Czech that reflect comfort with the communicative themes that we have treated; (2) Understand texts on these themes by applying what they have learned (vocabulary and grammatical structures) to the reading and also by bringing to bear their own knowledge of the world to make educated guesses about words and structures with which they are not yet familiar; (3) Exhibit familiarity with aspects of Czech culture relating to these themes as well as to certain authors, works, and films. Students enrolled in the 351 meets-with section, who typically have existing knowledge of another Slavic language, will complete extra work designed to quickly develop receptive competence (mainly reading) in the language.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

(3 credits)

• Time: TBD        Instructor: TBD

Course Description: This is a methods course useful for all involved in teaching and learning, including foreign languages. It offers an introduction to philosophy, methodology, and practice of the use of drama and performance techniques in any educational or recreational setting. The focus is on creativity and embodied and contextual learning, based on current neurological, psychological, and sociological research.

This course is considered a CBL course: Community Based Learning, and it includes demonstration and practice with children.

This section is open to both undergraduates and graduate students. Graduate students who demonstrate an affinity of working with children and complete the course successfully are eligible to teach this course as a TA.

(3-4 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm        Instructor: Andrew Reynolds

Course Description: Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) is generally considered to be one of the greatest novelists in world literature. His insights into human psychology and his analysis of the political and spiritual climate of 19th-century Russia (and of European thought more broadly) have influenced many major writers and philosophers, from Freud and Nietzsche to Faulkner and Camus. Our main focus will be on the seminal Notes from Underground, one of the most important proto-existentialist works, and three of Dostoevsky’s greatest novels: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. Crime and Punishment is perhaps the most accessible of all Dostoevsky’s works and develops the critique of rationalism and utilitarianism begun in Notes from Underground on three of his greatest novels. The Idiot provides particularly revealing insights into human psychology and sexuality and foregrounds many of the complex and problematic elements of Dostoevsky’s religious thought. His masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov, among many other things, foretells the rise of totalitarianism, and is considered by many to be the greatest novel ever written. This course should be of interest and relevance to anyone studying Russian society or history, or indeed for anyone with an interest in literature. Dostoevsky’s works are also, of course, direct encounters with the “accursed questions” of life, love, evil, violence, sex, death and the other usual suspects. As always in my classes, the main focus will be on the individual reader’s close encounter with the aesthetics and ethics of these works.

Prerequisites: Contact instructor for permission to enroll. Professor Reynolds: awreynolds@wisc.edu

(3 credits)

• MWF 12:05-12:55 pm          Instructor: Sara Karpukhin

Course Description: The primary aim of the course, the first one in a two-course sequence, is to offer an overview of those aspects of Russian history and culture which are most relevant in Russia today. The course will include a survey of the most important historical events of Russian history up to the end of the 18th century. The goal is to introduce you to the discussion of Russian culture in Russian, but the instructor will only occasionally correct your grammar in conversation, when your meaning is not communicative. We will continually practice all four skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing), but always in application to historical and cultural knowledge.

Prerequisites: SLAVIC 321.

(3 credits)

• TR 1:00 am-2:15 pm          Instructor: Maksim Hanukai

Course Description: This seminar will introduce students to the more advanced study of Russian literature and culture through the close examination of three major plays by Anton Chekhov: The Seagull, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. We will analyze the linguistic and literary aspects of these plays, learn about their cultural and historical contexts, discuss their production histories, and watch available adaptations for theater and film. All materials and discussions will be in Russian. Prerequisites: Slavic 322 and one 400-level course in Russian literature or culture, or consent of instructor.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

(3 credits)

• M 2:30-5:00 pm          Instructor: Kirill Ospovat

Prerequisites: Graduate or professional standing.

(1 credits)

• T 2:30 – 3:45 pm          Instructor: Irina Schevelenko

Course Description: The purpose of this course is three-fold: 1) an introduction to literary studies as a field and to research methods in literary studies; 2) an introduction to the faculty in our program; 3) an introduction to the field of Slavic studies in general and its institutional structure and functioning in the US in particular. On Slavic faculty presentation days, each faculty member will talk about his/her research interests and his/her vision of our academic field, as well as cover other topics specified in the syllabus.

Prerequisites: Graduate or professional standing.

(2 credits)

• TR 1:20 – 2:10 pm          Instructor: Karen Evans-Romaine

Course Description: Students will investigate the history of foreign language instruction, various models of adult foreign language acquisition, methods for teaching Russian, the creation of testing instruments, issues relevant to course design, and criteria for textbook selection.

Prerequisites: Graduate or professional standing.

(1 credits)

• R 2:30 – 4:00 pm          Instructor: Anna Tumarkin

Course Description: This course is designed and required for current Slavic Department Russian-language Teaching Assistants and provides important professional development in course design, lesson planning, and assessment. Course participants work cooperatively to develop course activities and assessment instruments, and will learn how to identify and solve problems in the classroom.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

(1 credits)

• W 2:30 – 5:00 pm          Instructor: Kirill Ospovat

Prerequisites: Graduate or professional student.

(3 credits)

• F 2:30-5:00 pm          Instructor: Andrew Reynolds

Course Description: The main purpose of the course is practical and two-fold – to investigate through translating the different ways of understanding and recreating texts and also to study closely some of the most canonical works of Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. Hopefully by the end we will have produced, through collaborative and individual work, some fine translations of poetry, prose, and plays, but in any event, we will have learnt much about the theories and practices of translation and about the work of the writers we’ll study. We shall see how translation – as arguably the closest and/or most creative reading possible – gives us clues to help us understand these works more fully, or perhaps makes them more magical and mysterious still. We shall also explore wider issues in translation to understand better the interplay of cultures, aim to provide a historical overview of translation theory and practice in Russia, study some of the most important works on translation theory, and look at the most important instances of translation from and into the Russian language.

Prerequisites: Graduate or professional student.