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150. First Year Seminar. Only
first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register
for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3).
(HU). May be repeated for a total of six credits.
Section 001 - Cultural Diversity of Russia, Eastern Europe & Eurasia.
This course will explore firsthand the extraordinary cultural diversity
of Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia, where European and Asian cultures
met and often clashed, and whose culture is a unique blend of Western and
Oriental influences. Two papers and short reviews of films, stories, and
articles. (Shevoroshkin)
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151. First Year Seminar. Only
first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register
for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (4).
(Introductory Composition).
Section 001 - Russian Film, Russian Life. In this seminar we will explore
the competition between differing social and cultural values in 20th-century
Russian life by examining how these values have been represented in Russian
film. All of the films to be discussed in the seminar involve events in
Russian history (from life in the medieval period to the collapse of the
USSR) and in contemporary Russian society. Even what the "historical"
films have to say about art, politics, religion, gender, ethnicity, and
social issues is always targeted toward the debates of the periods in which
the films were made. Thus, two time periods are always relevant: the era
the film depicts and the era in which it was produced. Film in Russia was
subject to varying degrees of ideological control. But visual film language
proved in many ways difficulty to censor completely, so that in many periods
ingenious film directors were able to work within the system, balancing
the Communist Party's preferred views on issues with their own, more or
less dissident, views. The end of censorship in the mid-1980s brought a
new, more frank, treatment of many themes: nationalism, religion, youth
culture (rock and roll, punk), women's issues, the role of the artist in
society. In all cases, we will have an eye not only on issues as they were
relevant in the past, but also on their effects on perceptions and debates
within Russia today. Cost:2 WL:4 (Eagle)
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225. Arts and Cultures of Central Europe.
(3). (HU).
The course is an introduction to the rich cultures of the peoples of
Central Europe (Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Jews, Poles, Serbs, and Slovaks)
seen against the background of two world wars, communism and its recent
disintegration. Culturally vibrant, Central Europe reveals the tragic destiny
of twentieth-century civilization which gave rise to two totalitarian systems:
fascism and communism. The course will outline the ethnic complexities of
the region, with special attention to Jewish culture and its tragic destruction
during the Holocaust. The trauma of the war on the civilian population will
be documented by contemporary films. The course will examine the fate of
culture under totalitarianism and study subterfuges used by novelists, dramatists,
and artists to circumvent political control and censorship. Students will
read works by Kafka, Milosz, Kundera and Havel; see movies by Wajda and
others; become acquainted with Czech and Polish avant-garde art and music
and the unique cultural atmosphere of Central European cities: Vienna, Prague,
Budapest, and Warsaw. (Carpenter,
Toman, Eagle).
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