Fall 2012

Language Courses

Comprehensive introduction to spoken and written literary Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian.
No prerequisites

This three-term sequence (401-402-403), running from Autumn through Spring, is intended as an intensive introduction to the Czech language. Because of the small size of the classes, courses move at a faster pace than the normal introductory language sequence. The general objective is that at the completion of the one-year sequence students should be able to be creative with the language at the sentence level, handle basic everyday life situations, read simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs, write short simple letters, postcards, diary entries, take down simple notes (e.g., phone messages), etc. The goal is to move from Novice to Intermediate Low/Mid level on the ACTFL Proficiency Scale.

The second-year sequence in Czech language is designed as a completion of the formal study of the grammar of the language, supplemented by extensive readings from a variety of areas, emphasizing cultural and ethnic heritage. Emphasis is placed upon oral and compositional skills. The student is expected to write brief reports and to prepare oral classroom presentations. Prerequisite: 403 or permission of instructor.

Polish 401-403 is a three-quarter sequence of first-year Polish. The objective of the course is that after the whole year’s sequence the students should be able to be creative with the language at the sentence level, handle basic everyday life situations, read simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs, write short simple letters, postcards, diary entries, take down simple notes (e.g. phone messages), etc. The goal is to move from Novice to Intermediate Low/Mid level on the ACTFL Proficiency Scale.There are field trips to the Polish Hall, the Polish store, and the Polish Film Festival. There are also opportunities to volunteer at UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee events.
Please note that first-year and second-year Polish language courses are taught alternate years.
Second-year Polish will be offered Fall 2013.

During this course students will learn the basic skills necessary for communicating in Russian (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Students will also learn about the Russian culture and increase their ability to use effective strategies for language learning and communication. In addition to becoming proficient speakers of Russian, students taking this course will become skilled language learners as they develop a curiosity about Slavic cultures. No prerequisites.

The second-year sequence in Russian (RUSS 201-202-203) is a comprehensive review of grammar with continuing oral and compositional practice. Emphasis on oral presentation, composition, and conversation with careful attention to grammatical and idiomatic usage and vocabulary development. Prerequisite: RUSS 103, 150, or permission of instructor.

The third-year sequence in Russian (RUSS 301-302-303) is intended to provide the student with extensive practice in spoken and written Russian based on a variety of prose readings. Intensive review and supplementation of strategic grammatical concepts, such as verbal prefixation, aspect, impersonal sentences, conditional mood, word order, indefinite pronouns, and reflexive verbs. Conducted in Russian. Prerequisite: RUSS 203, 250 or permission of instructor.

Translation techniques with emphasis on development of vocabulary and reading skills. Primarily for Russian regional studies majors. Credit/no-credit only. Prerequisite: either RUSS 203 or RUSS 250.

The fourth-year program in Russian (RUSS 401-402-403) begins the analysis of styles in the literary language. Readings are chosen from a variety of classical and contemporary works, from belles-lettres and poetry, and from journalism and non-artistic prose. Attention is especially paid to syntax, particularly the composition of compound and complex sentences and peculiarities of word order. Rhythm and intonation are stressed in oral recitation. One day per week is devoted to developing advanced written comprehension and translation skills. Prerequisite: RUSS 303, 350 or permission of the instructor.

Introduction to spoken and written Slovene language. First in a two-course sequence. Prerequisite: either BCS 403, BULGR 403, CZECH 403, POLISH 403, ROMN 403, RUSS 103, RUSS 150, UKR 403, or status as a heritage speaker of Slovene.

Consolidates knowledge of Slovene language through advanced grammatical topics, exercises, reading, composition, listening, and conversation. Prerequisite: SLVN 404

Literature and Culture in English Translation

Why are Polish theater directors stars of the most important international festivals? Why has Polish theater become one of the most interesting phenomena in European culture? Are there any successors of Jerzy Grotowski or Tadeusz Kantor in contemporary Polish theater? During this course we will watch and analyze recordings of works of such theater directors as Krystian Lupa, Krzysztof Warlikowski and Grzegorz Jarzyna and try to reconstruct the difficult evolution of Polish theater during the last twenty years. We will discuss the political and economic factors that shaped it in a new reality following the overthrow of the communist government in 1989. All recordings used during the course have English subtitles.

We will take a sweeping journey through Russian literature and culture (including music and the visual arts) from the 1960s to the present. Authors include Venedikt Erofeyev, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Yurii Trifonov, Sasha Sokolov, Viktor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin, Tatyana Tolstaya and Lyudmilla Petrushevskaya. Lectures and discussion will focus on important literary texts of the 20th/21st centuries, relevant films, music and paintings, as well as impart vital information to aid your appreciation of this literature.

What is folklore and how is it related to modern culture and experience? What connection do fairytales and myths have to evolving ideas of Russian culture and nationality? What is the relationship between traditional folklore, modern “urban legends” and literature? This class will explore these ideas through an examination of the Russian folktale, its roots in ancient, pre-Christian Slavic religious tradition, its connections with other forms of folklore such as myth and legend, and its transformation in modern Russian literature. In addition to Russian fairytales, we will be reading works of Russian literature (Gogol’, Pelevin, Kharms, et al) that make use of folkloric themes and motifs, and we will look at the study of folklore as a discipline. No prerequisites

We will take a sweeping journey through Russian literature and culture (including music and the visual arts) from the 1960s to the present. Authors include Venedikt Erofeyev, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Yurii Trifonov, Sasha Sokolov, Viktor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin, Tatyana Tolstaya and Lyudmilla Petrushevskaya. Lectures and discussion will focus on important literary texts of the 20th/21st centuries, relevant films, music and paintings, as well as impart vital information to aid your appreciation of this literature.

A selective survey of Russian art and architecture from the middle ages to the twentieth century, emphasizing the place of the visual arts in Russian culture, the influence on it of the many different visual cultures with which it interacted, and the reception of Russian art in Europe. There will also be some exploration of the complex relationship between visual and verbal art, which is particularly important in the context of Russian culture. Illustrations will be available for study outside class on a course website.

From the early experimental films of the 1950s that are still being studied in film schools all over the world, such as the famous Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958) — which Roman Polanski directed as a second-year-student — to the 2002 The Pianist, a winner of the Academy Award for the Best Director, and his newest The Ghost Writer (2010) and Carnage (2011), the films of Roman Polanski have attracted a world-wide audience and made Polanski himself one of the most well known and best regarded contemporary directors. This course will explore Polanski’s remarkable and cosmopolitan oeuvre which by now spans more than five decades. We will focus on Polanski’s most successful films, starting with his experimental Polish shorts, proceeding to his highly acclaimed English productions such as Repulsion, his Hollywood classics like Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown, his post-Hollywood multinational productions which include films such as The Tenant and Frantic, his 1990s’ Bitter Moon and Death and the Maiden, his acclaimed The Pianist, and his most recent films. The course will look into how Polanski’s movies adopt a number of different genres and different aesthetic approaches to deal with some of Polanski’s recurrent themes, such as solitude, victimization, the separation from the society, and the idiosyncratic worldview of an isolated individual.

Slavic Linguistics

SLAV 351, required for all EELLC majors and Slavic Language minors, and RUSS 451, required for all RUSSIAN majors, now have a prerequisite: LING 200 available in the Linguistics Department. RUSS 451 is offered each Winter quarter. SLAV 351 is offered each Spring quarter. If you are planning on enrolling in RUSS 451 or SLAV 351, you will need to have taken the prerequisite LING 200 before being admitted to either course.
Visit http://depts.washington.edu/lingweb for information on LING 200.

This course introduces the basic concepts of Slavic linguistics, addresses the origin of the Slavs and the major stages of their linguistic history, and considers the Slavic languages and their peculiarities in detail. Course taught in English.

Independent Undergraduate Study

Graduate Courses

This course explores contemporary theoretical works that do not follow a unified theoretical meta-narrative (i.e., post-structuralism or new historicism), but instead explore literature itself as the foundational terrain of theoretical practice. We will look into the creation of theory from literature, such as in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, whom we will study throughout this course, Gerald Bruns, who focuses on the contemporary philosophers’ interest in literature as the originator of theory, and Martha Nussbaum, who discusses ethical questions posed by ancient texts. Part of the course will focus on Slavic writers who explore various literary genres (such as diary or fictional book reviews) as the primary ground of theory. Texts will include selections from the books by (or on) Bakhtin, Bruns, Nussbaum, and Auerbach, and also writings by “creative writers” Lem, Gombrowicz, Kundera, and Kiš.