As ever, Russia comes to the European table late but its contribution to the world arts is extraordinary. In the last 200 years Russia has given the world striking modernist pictorial works (think Shagal, Kandinsky, Malevich), astonishing ballet (think Dyagilev and Pavlova); amazing symphonic and operatic music (think Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich); world-famous performers and stage directors (think Shalyapin, Rostropovich, Stanislavsky, and Meyerhold); and leading contributions to the most significant movements in modern art (think the avant-garde, socialist realism, sots-art, and postmodernism). Yet before the18th century, Russia’s art was exclusively religious (think Rublyov, Russian icons, church music, and architecture). How did it happen? Who/what brought secular art to Russia? How did it manage to raise a whole pantheon of artists in such a short time? This course will survey the history and development of Russian visual, performing, and decorative arts, paying particular attention in the last three centuries to its major cultural and artistic figures, masterpieces, museums, and collections. The goal of this course is to use and advance language skills by researching in depth a Russian cultural topic through course readings, video viewings, class discussions, and writing short academic essays, and giving presentations, all in Russian.

Course Requirements:

Evaluation is based on attendance and participation, weekly homework reading/viewing assignments, multi-media presentations and essays, chapter quizzes, and a final partial proficiency exam.