COURSE OF STUDY, 18 CREDITS

All courses apply toward the Certificate of Advanced Study in Russian as well as toward the Russian Studies Concentration and the major in Russian. The applicability of credit may differ for individual students depending on level and categories within the major and concentration to be fulfilled. You are advised to consult with the department. All students will register for 9 credits of language courses, which meet from six to nine periods per week and are taught by members of the Philological Faculty of Moscow State University. Students at all levels of Russian experience will also register for a spring break reading course prior to the seminar as well as for the “Russia: East and West" course.

RUSSIAN 290-17: READING FOR RUSSIA

(3 credits)

TBA

Instructor: Professor Nemec Ignashev

RUSSIAN 227: RUSSIA: EAST AND WEST

(6 credits, AL, RAD)

Students will read non-fiction and fiction that explores and illuminates Russia's dual identity as European and Asian. Literary readings will include fairy tales, saints' lives, and short prose and poetry by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Rasputin, Vampilov, and others. Through readings, excursions, and travel in European and Asian Russia students will place the readings in the larger cultural context of contemporary Russian, both historical and contemporary. The evaluative exercise for this course will include a project and/or a final examination.

Instructor: Professor Nemec Ignashev

STUDENTS CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BLOCKS:

RUSSIAN 307-07 ADVANCED GRAMMAR: 4 credit
RUSSIAN 308-07: ADVANCED

PHONETICS AND INTONATION : 2 credits

RUSSIAN 309-07 ADVANCED COMPOSITION: 3 credits

These three courses combine advanced work in Russian grammar, composition, and phonetics. Conversational Russian will be practiced throughout the homestay environment as well as in meetings with Russian students. Students who register at this level will have completed at least 6 credits beyond Russian 205 and/or 206 and may already have studied in Russia.

-OR-

INTERMEDIATE LANGUAGE BLOCK

RUSSIAN 207-07: INTERMEDIATE GRAMMAR: 4 credits

RUSSIAN 208-07: INTERMEDIATE PHONETICS: 2 credits

RUSSIAN 209-07: INTERMEDIATE CONVERSATION: 3 credits

These courses are for students at the intermediate level who have completed Russian 205 and/or 206. Focus at this level will be on vocabulary enrichment, grammar, and phonetics. Conversational Russian in class will be supplemented throughout the homestay environment as well as in meetings with Russian students.

-OR-

BEGINNING LANGUAGE BLOCK

RUSSIAN 107-07: BEGINNING GRAMMAR: 4 credits

RUSSIAN 108-07: BEGINNING PHONETICS: 2 credits

RUSSIAN 109-07: BEGINNING CONVERSATION: 3 credits

These courses are for students who have just recently begun their study of the Russian language, having completed or tested beyond elementary Russian 101 or 102. At this level students work on a combination of grammar, conversation practice, reading, and phonetics.

EXCURSIONS

Barring unanticipated changes in visa regulations or radical fluctuations in the Russian economy, we will travel by train to St. Petersburg for 4-5 days over the traditional May 1-May 9 holidays. If time and finances allow, we will travel to the Lake Baikal region in Eastern Siberia for a week in late May. In addition, course work within Moscow will be supplemented by travel in and around the city’s suburbs. Students who intend to travel in Russia after the program’s completion should be advised that their visa will be valid for ninety days beyond the day of our arrival; at the time of this writing, visa extensions are very difficult (read: impossible) to obtain, unless you are willing to register (for reasonable tuition rates) as a summer-school student with our Moscow State University affiliate.

PREREQUISITES

Students with sophomore, junior or senior status during 2008-2009 who will have completed at least two terms of Russian (101–102) at Carleton, or the equivalent, by the end of winter term 2009 are encouraged to apply.

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

Students will reside with host families located throughout the city of Moscow with ready access to public transportation. Families, screened by Carleton staff members, will provide students breakfast and supper daily. Students will lunch on their own with an allowance provided by the program. The program will provide transit passes valid on all forms of mass transportation within the city of Moscow.