Slavic Languages & Literatures
- Congratulations to Prof. Valleri Robinson (Theatre), who has received a 2025-2026 U.S. Scholar Fulbright to develop the book, “Directing in Context: Javor Gardev’s Theatre of Vulnerability, 1994-2024.” Gardev’s theoretically robust theatrical contributions began with his daring directorial... Read full story Robinson wins Fulbright
Events
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- The annual Slavic talent show and awards ceremony on May 1 showcased a large number of awards won by Slavic language students, from national awards and honor society memberships to local scholarships and fellowships. ...
- "The Hamlet Syndrome," an award winning documentary by Polish filmmakers Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski, was featured in a screening event on campus on February 6, sponsored by the Slavic Department and library's...
- Congratulations to Professor Harriet Murav, who was awarded the 2024 Heldt Prize for best book introducing new, innovative, and/or underrepresented perspectives into any area of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian...
SLAV 452/CWL 453 Kyiv: A Biography of a City
This course traces the historical, social, and artistic development of Kyiv as a city and as an idea from the medieval period to the present day. As we read a variety of literary works and watch several films in which Kyiv figures prominently, we will think about what makes up this city’s “text” and pay special attention to its frequently competing Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, and Jewish versions. The course is conducted in English, and all the texts will be available in English translations. Prof. Sobol
SLAV 452/CWL 453: Diasporic and Exilic Literature
This course examines one hundred years of Jewish, Ukrainian, and Russian exilic and diasporic experiences through literature, art, and cinema. The course materials approach the topics of war, violence, displacement, nostalgia, memory, postmemory, trauma, and identity, as represented in the literary works by Dovid Bergelson, Jonathan Safran Foer; Ihor Kostetskyi, Askold Melnyczuk, Alexander Motyl, Bohdan Boychuk, Emma Andijewska; Ivan Bunin, Marina Tsvetaeva, Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky and more. The course is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. All texts will be studied in English. Prof. Khometa
RUSS 219 Soviet/Russian Film: Propaganda and Otherness
The course focuses on propaganda and cinematic representation of the Other (regarding race, class, and gender) in Soviet and Russian film tradition. You will analyze the mechanisms of propaganda and see how it works by depicting "good" and "evil" and how it changes with a new political agenda of the Soviet/Russian state. You will broaden your knowledge of the main historical events in Russia during the 20th and 21st centuries. During class discussions, you will compare the Western paradigms of propaganda and alterity to Soviet and post-Soviet. Upon completing the course, you will learn about prominent film directors and the major masterpieces of Soviet and post-Soviet cinema of the 20th century. During the course, we will analyze how the major historical events were represented on the screen and what message they delivered to the audience. No knowledge of Russian required. No class prerequisites.