This course provides an introduction to the culture of the Eastern Slavs from the ninth century until the seventeenth and also looks at the continued employment of elements drawn from that culture in post-enlightenment Russia. It requires no special historical or linguistic knowledge and is intended to be of interest to anyone curious about medieval and early-modern culture. While the primary emphasis will be on Old Russian literature, the course will also examine art, architecture, folklore, and other cultural forms. The course will help students to develop the analytical skills required for the examination of medieval and early-modern cultures (including basic tools of textual criticism and instrumentation to read symbolic languages very different from ours) and to develop an understanding of cultural premises radically different from those on which post-Enlightenment Europe has relied. The course will look at the East Slavs of Rus’ and Muscovy in comparison with the peoples around them and will also look at how post-Petrine Russia has turned again and again to “Old Russia” and, indeed, has, in some areas, shown remarkable continuity with that Old Russian past. Students will also develop skills in analytical writing, in treating both very specific, materials-based topics and broader, conceptual issues.All assigned materials will be available in English.

Course Requirements:

Three short papers (1,500 words each), and a final, longer paper (2,500-3,000 words).

Intended Audience:

Students interested in pre-modern Eastern Europe

This course welcomes entirely online participation. Section 001 is for students who are able to attend in-person class meetings. Students who are unable to return to campus or be present in person should register for section 002.

Class Format:

Students unable to participate in person will be offered the option of synchronous participation. Asynchronous access to lectures will be offered to accommodate potential health-related absences.

While it is anticipated that most students will participate on campus, it will be possible to participate online. The weekly lectures for this course will be recorded and made available asynchronously; it is possible that they will also be available through live streaming. Students who are unable to participate in person will have the option of a further, separate zoom meeting each week.

All grading for this course will be based on written assignments and student participation in informal discussions (for asynchronous learners, this will be during zoom meetings).

Students registered for Russian 551 will attend an additional section meeting.