Courses

The Russian Studies program offers two interrelated tracks:

1. Russian language courses
2. Courses in English on topics in Russian history, literature, and culture

All students who have studied Russian previously or who are heritage speakers take a placement test to determine with which course to begin their Russian language study at Washington University. Please contact Mikhail Palatnik (palatnik@wustl.edu) for more information about the placement test.

Courses in English do no require knowledge of Russian and many of them have no prerequisites.

L83 3350 Out of the Shtetl: Jews in Central & Eastern Europe Between Empire, State and Nation
Is there an East/West divide in Jewish history (perhaps more than one)? What did it mean to emerge from the small market towns and villages of Central and Eastern Europe to confront modern states, empires, and nations? This course examines the Jewish historical experience in the countries that make up Central and Eastern Europe (the Bohemian lands, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Romania) from the sixteenth century to the collapse of the Soviet empire. It looks at patterns in Jewish culture, society, and politics as well as the changing dynamic of Jewish interactions with state, society and community. This course satisfies the modern course requirement for the history major. PREREQUISITE: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE.

L22 History 301R Historical Methods: European History - Nation and Religion in Russia
Through the prism of Russian Orthodoxy, Islam and Judaism, students will explore the role of nation and religion in shaping political, cultural and social developments in Russia in the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century. We will investigate how historical actors have articulated national and religious affiliation to maintain - or undermine - the viability of a vast, ethnically diverse, multi-confessional state. Meaningful and critical discussion constitutes the heart of the course experience. Beyond our inclass meetings, the course is geared towards the completion of a research paper. In the last two meetings, students will be asked to summarize the progress of their research paper at each class and to offer feedback to classmates. Modern, transregional. PREREQUISITE: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE

L22 History 3371 Modern Eurasia: Afghanistan and Central Asia
This course offers an introduction to the political, religious, cultural and social history of Russian Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Xinjiang in modern times, with a focus on the last century. Students will consider the complex relationship between historical notions of Islam and modernity as a central analytical lens for understanding this region´s contemporary history, and in particular, highlight the central role of the Muslim faith as a source of inspiration, consternation and anxiety among rulers, reformers, conquerors, and modernizers. Modern, Transregional. PREREQUISITE: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE

L97 IAS 364 Anarchism: History, Theory, and Praxis
This course analyzes the origins, historical trajectories, and influence of anarchism from its classical period (1860s - 1930s) until the present.  It examines the major personalities, complex ideas, vexing controversies, and diverse movements associated with anarcho-collectivism, anarcho-communism, individualist anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarchist feminism, green anarchism, lifestyle anarchism, and poststructuralist anarchism.  In doing so, it explores traditional anarchist concerns with state power, authority, social inequality, capitalism, nationalism, imperialism, and militarism.  It also analyzes anarchism's conception of individual and collective liberation, mutual aid, workers' organization, internationalism, direct democracy, education, women's emancipation, sexual freedom, and social ecology.  Special attention will be given to past and contemporary globalizing processes and their relation to the dissemination and reception of anarchism in the global South.
This course counts for the following IAS concentrations: DevSt, EuSt, GCS and SD.

L97 IAS 374 Russian Literature and Empire
In this course, we explore Russian literary works (from the nineteenth century to the present day) that address issues of empire. We consider the building of the Russian empire during tsarist times with the conquest of Siberia, Ukraine, the Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Far East; then we look at the remaking of the Russian empire as the Soviet Union under the 'anti-imperialist' communist regime; we conclude with a glance at the legacy of empire in contemporary Russia, with a focus on the Chechen Wars. Some of the topics we discuss include the poetics of space, orientalism, authority and rebellion, imperial bureaucracy, religious identities, migration and deportation, and multiculturalism. We will do close readings of works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel, Platonov, Iskander, Aitmatov, Petrushevskaya, and others. Primary readings are supplemented with critical articles and several films. This is a discussion-based course.

L97 IAS 488 A Cultural History of Mobility: How the Transportation Revolution Changed East Central Europe
The long 19th century was a time of radical changes in all spheres of society.
Numerous innovations ushered in an irrevocable acceleration of globalization. The
revolution in transport and communication - which started with improved mail services, the construction of a modern road network, the steam ship and the telegraph - would eventually cumulate in the development of a European railroad system. Railroads proved to be important carriers of globalization, contributing to a dramatic boost of worldwide economic exchange. The rising mobility of ever larger population groups was followed by an international exchange of ideas, technical and cultural innovation, workforce and tourists as part of a "fundamental experience of modernity" (W. Kaschuba). This course deals with the impact of the mobility revolution on social and cultural changes in East Central Europe before the First World War - focusing on Prussia/the German Reich and the Russian Empire. After a brief introduction into the concept of mobility history and the Prussian and Russian societies of the long 19th century we will discuss mobility opportunities before the railroad revolution. Thereafter we will focus on the emergence of railroad nets in Prussia and Russia. A focus will be on the role of mobility in literature/arts and for changing urban and rural landscapes. In a last step the students will work on the international aspects of railroad travel, especially tourism.

For a current listing of courses, please see WebSTAC.