RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Professor: Priscilla Meyer

Associate Professors: Susanne Fusso, Duffield White (Chair), Robert H. Whitman

Adjunct Associate Professor: Irina Aleshkovsky

Visiting Russian Emigré Writer: Yuz Aleshkovsky

Major program. The major is designed to provide students with an advanced level of fluency in the Russian language, a knowledge of Russian literature (with emphasis on the l9th and 20th centuries), and a basic understanding of the historical and cultural context in which it developed. To be accepted into the major, the student must have an average of B in Russian-related courses.

Russian language classes are conducted in small groups that meet from four to five times per week with required work in the language lab. Survey courses in Russian prose (205, 206, 251, 252, etc.) are offered in translation. Two half-courses (211-212) accompany 205 and 206, designed for majors who are able to read short selections from the course material in the original Russian. Students in advanced seminars conducted in Russian do close readings of poetry and prose.

Requirements: Eight courses in Russian language and literature beyond the third-year level of language study. These must include Russian 205 and 206, one seminar on Russian poetry, and one seminar in Russian prose or drama (conducted in Russian). Students are also encouraged to take Russian 211 and 212, the short courses accompanying Russian 205 and 206. Students may receive credit toward the major for some course work done in the former Soviet Union (FSU) to be determined in consultation with the major adviser.

Russian House: Students may choose to live in the Russian House, whose inhabitants organize department events, cooperative dining, and Russian conversation hours, with the participation of native speakers.

Intensive summer study: Students are encouraged to accelerate their learning of Russian by attending intensive summer programs, including intensive courses in elementary and/or intermediate Russian, which Wesleyan offers from mid-May to late June.

Study in the FSU: Russian majors are encouraged to spend a summer and/or a semester studying in the FSU, after completing at least two years of language study or the equivalent. Some scholarship money is available for this purpose, and academic credit (under Russian 465) will be given for successful completion of Wesleyan-sponsored programs. These include the Consortium's Exchange Program with the FSU, which yearly allows two Wesleyan students to spend an academic year at an FSU university or institute of their choice, while two FSU students study at Wesleyan.

Departmental honors: To qualify to receive honors or high honors in the Russian Department, a student must write a senior thesis to be submitted for evaluation to a committee consisting of the tutor, a second reader with expertise in Russian literature or history, and one additional faculty reader. This committee makes the final decision on departmental honors.