To Join the Program
Interested students who have no background in Russian or any other East European language are advised to begin language training (with RUS 10a) in their first year. Appropriate placement of those with some knowledge of Russian can be arranged by consultation with the German, Russian, and East Asian Languages and Literature department. Progress toward the minor will also be facilitated by early enrollment (usually in the sophomore year) in HIST 147a (Imperial Russia). For more information, contact the Program Chair, Prof. David Powelstock, at powelstock@brandeis.edu.
Requirements for the Minor
A. Students must complete the following courses: HIST 147a (Imperial Russia) and HIST 147b (Twentieth-Century Russia); and four semesters of Russian language, or the equivalent.B. Completion of any three courses listed below, in at least two separate disciplines.
Courses of Instruction
REES 98a Independent StudySignature of the instructor and the program chair required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
REES 98b Independent Study
Signature of the instructor and the program chair required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
Core Courses
HIST 147aImperial Russia
HIST 147b
Twentieth-Century Russia
Elective Courses
The following courses are approved for the minor. Not all are offered in any one year. Please consult the Schedule of Classes each semester.HIST 148b<
Central Asia in Modern Times
NEJS 136a
History and Culture of the Jews in East-Central Europe to 1914
NEJS 137b
A History of the Jews in Warsaw, Lodz, Vilna, and Odessa
POL 129a
East European Politics
POL 213b
Graduate Seminar: Selected Topics in Comparative Politics
RECS 130a
The Russian Novel
RECS 134b
Chekhov
RECS 135a
From Pushkin to Chekhov: The Short Story in Russia
RECS 137a
Women in Russian Literature
RECS 146a
Dostoevsky: Gods and Monsters
RECS 147b
Tolstoy: Freedom, Chance, and Necessity
RECS 149b
The Rise and Fall of Russian Modernism: Cultural and Political Revolutions 1900-1934
RECS 154a
Nabokov
RECS 155a
From Witches to Wood Spirits: Russian Culture Past and Present
RECS 160a
Contemporary East European Literature
RUS 150b
Masterpieces of Russian Literature: Shedevry russkoi literatury
RUS 153a
Russian Poetry in Russian: Undergraduate Seminar