2026-2027 Catalog

BCSN 10103-10203-10303. First-Year Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian I-II-III.

The major objective of the sequence is to build a solid foundation in the basic grammatical patterns of written and spoken Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, while simultaneously introducing both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. This sequence is complemented with cultural and historical media from the Balkans and is designed for students with a wide range of interests. Screenings of movies and other audio-visual materials are held in addition to scheduled class time. Knowledge of a Slavic language and background in linguistics not required.

BCSN 20103-20203-20303. Second-Year Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian I-II-III.

The second-year sequence in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian languages and cultures is a continuation of first-year BCS and therefore assumes one year of formal study of the target language(s) or equivalent course work elsewhere. The sequence is focused on spoken and written modern BCS, emphasizing communicative practice in authentic cultural contexts. The language(s) are introduced through a series of dialogues gathered from a variety of textbooks published in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia, as well as newspaper articles, short biographies, poems, and song lyrics in both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. A vast archive of audiovisual materials, representing both high and popular culture, constitutes an integral part of every unit. Simultaneously, aural comprehension, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary are reinforced and further developed throughout the year. Mandatory drill sessions are held twice a week, offering students ample opportunity to review and practice materials presented in class.

BCSN 21101. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media I. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 21101, REES 31104, BCSN 31104

BCSN 21102. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media II. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): BCSN 31102, REES 21102, REES 31102

BCSN 21103. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media III. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 31105, REES 21103, BCSN 31105

BCSN 21300. (Re)Branding the Balkan City: Comtemp. Belgrade/Sarajevo/Zagreb. 100 Units.

The freedom to make and remake our cities (and ourselves) is one of the most precious yet most neglected of the human rights," argues David Harvey. In this course, we use an urban studies lens to explore the complex history, social fabric, architecture, infrastructure, and cultural transformation of the former Yugoslav capitals. Since their inception, these cities have relied on multifaceted exchanges of peoples and political projects, forms of knowledge, financial and cultural capital, means of production, and innovative ideas. Among others, these exchanges produced two phenomena, Yugoslav architecture, embodying one of the great political experiments of the modern era, and the Non-Aligned Movement, as explored in recent documentary films (Turajlić 2023), museum exhibits (MoMA 2018, "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948-1980"), and monographs (Tito in Africa: Picturing Solidarity). Drawing on anthropological theory and ethnography of the city, we consider processes of urban destruction and renewal, practices of branding spaces and identities, metropolitan citizenship, arts and design, architectural histories and styles, and the broader politics of space. The course is complemented by cultural and historical media, guest speakers, and virtual tours. Classes are conducted in English.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 21333, REES 31303, ARCH 21300, REES 21300, HIST 24008, GLST 21301, BCSN 31303, ARTH 31333

BCSN 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

No description available.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

CZEC 10103-10203-10303. First-Year Czech I-II-III.

First-Year Czech

CZEC 20103-20203-20303. Second-Year Czech I-II-III.

The main goal of this sequence is to enable students to read Czech proficiently in their particular fields. Conversation practice is included. The program is flexible and may be adjusted according to the needs of the students.

CZEC 20403. Third-Year Czech I. 100 Units.

This course is the first part of the third-year Czech language sequence intended for students who wish to continue advancing their Czech through exposure to diverse forms of communication. Through work with literary texts, films, newspaper articles, and other authentic materials, students will further develop their ability to interpret and discuss spoken and written Czech while broadening their vocabulary and refining their command of the language. Class activities emphasize active communication in Czech through discussions and presentations that build speaking confidence and fluency. A variety of writing assignments will help students strengthen their written communication and improve accuracy. Alongside language development, the course encourages engagement with contemporary cultural and social issues in Czechia. Classes are conducted entirely in Czech.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn

CZEC 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

No description available.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

CZEC 29900. BA Paper. 100 Units.

No description available.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year students who are majoring in Slavic Languages and Literatures with consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course must be taken for a quality grade.

POLI 10103-10203-10303. First-Year Polish I-II-III.

This sequence teaches students to speak, read, and write in Polish, as well as familiarizes them with Polish culture. It employs the most up-to-date techniques of language teaching (e.g., communicative and accelerated learning, and learning based on students’ native language skills), as well as multileveled target-language exposure.

POLI 20103-20203-20303. Second-Year Polish I-II-III.

This sequence includes instruction in grammar, writing, and translation, as well as watching selected Polish movies. Selected readings are drawn from the course textbook, and students also read Polish short stories and press articles. In addition, the independent reading of students is emphasized and reinforced by class discussions. Work is adjusted to each student’s level of preparation.

POLI 20403-20503-20603. Third Year Polish I; Third-Year Polish II-III.

Third-Year Polish

POLI 21600. Polish for Heritage Learners. 100 Units.

This course is designed for students who possess some proficiency in Polish, typically colloquial spoken Polish used at home. It serves as an entry-level course for students who have spoken Polish at home and/or attended Polish community schools, introducing them to the study of Polish at the college level. Students who place into this course may receive credit for first- and second-year Polish. In this course, students will develop all four language skills, including reading and writing. Additionally, they will gain knowledge of Polish grammar to help them further develop their language abilities in academic contexts. The course aims to introduce students to the Polish language, its structure, and Polish culture, preparing them to continue their studies in third-year Polish courses or beyond. Through the use of authentic materials such as podcasts, news articles, short stories, and other media, students will not only acquire the necessary linguistic skills but also develop a deeper understanding of Polish culture beyond the language spoken at home. This course is the first in a sequence preparing students for the Practical Proficiency Certificate. The course counts toward the REES minor or major.

Instructor(s): Izolda Wolski-Moskoff     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the instructor.

POLI 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

TBD

Instructor(s): Izolda Wolski-Moskoff     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

REES 20000. Tolstoy's Late Works. 100 Units.

This course examines the works written by Tolstoy after Anna Karenina, when he abandoned the novel as a form and gave up his copyright. Readings include his influential writings on non-violence and vegetarianism, his challenges to church and state authority, as well as later literary works, which some believe surpass the famous novels he had renounced. We will also explore the particularities of Tolstoy's charisma in these years, when he came to be viewed as a second Tsar in Russia and as a moral authority throughout the world.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 28501, REES 30000, FNDL 22850, RLIT 32900

REES 20001. War and Peace. 100 Units.

Tolstoy's novel is at once a national epic, a treatise on history, a spiritual meditation, and a masterpiece of realism. This course presents a close reading of one of the world's great novels, and of the criticism that has been devoted to it, including landmark works by Victor Shklovsky, Boris Eikhenbaum, Isaiah Berlin, and George Steiner. For this iteration of the course, we will also include material on the writing of the novel and consider its place in the field of genetic criticism, so that we could perhaps rename the course, Reading and Writing War and Peace. All readings are assigned in translation with an option (pending enrollment) to participate in a Russian-language section through Languages across the Curriculum (LxC).

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23704, CMLT 22301, ENGL 32302, ENGL 28912, FNDL 27103, CMLT 32301, REES 30001

REES 20002. Tolstoy: Anna Karenina. 100 Units.

TBD

Equivalent Course(s): REES 30002, FNDL 27102

REES 20004. Nabokov: Lolita. 100 Units.

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul, Lolita." Nabokov's "great American novel" is often misread. Vanity Fair, for example, made the grand pronouncement that it was the 'most convincing love story' of the 20th century. And in the 21st century, the name Lolita is invoked, with a calculated slyness, as shorthand for a cunning debauchery, the sexual tutelage of prepubescents and adolescents, the girl as seducer. In this text-centered and discussion-based course, we look into the psychosexual profile of the ostensible first person narrator in order to overrule his graphomania and to better contemplate the work of the novel as art beyond his grasp, concerning ourselves with the novel's language in all its complexities: as failure, as mania, and as conjuration.

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 24900, ENGL 28916, SIGN 26027, FNDL 25300

REES 20012. Dead Souls. 100 Units.

Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls" (1842) is a satire, epic, travelogue, picaresque and tragicomedy wrapped in one hilarious novel. The petty scammer Chichikov, our protagonist, devises a get-rich-quick scheme, buying up recently deceased serfs ("souls") in order to appear wealthier than he really is, and offering a fascinating window into the beauty, as well as the depravity of Imperial Russia. Due to Gogol's dueling commitments to Ukrainian and Russian culture, Dead Souls is one of the only novels still read today in schools on both sides of the frontlines of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Does that make Gogol a faithful servant of empire, or a figure of cultural resistance and revival? We will read this beloved classic in English translation, paying close attention to the text's significance in explosive contemporary debates around identity, empire, and education.

Instructor(s): Oliver Okun     Terms Offered: Spring

REES 20020. Pale Fire. 100 Units.

This course is an intensive reading of Pale Fire by Nabokov.

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30020, GNSE 39610, GNSE 29610, ENGL 22817, FNDL 25311

REES 20027. Dostoevsky's Demons. 100 Units.

Mikhail Bakhtin's description of Dostoevsky's novels as polyphonic works, in which characters are free of ideological subordination to the author and thus more fully embody radically different points of view, has been highly compelling as a model for novelistic discourse particularly in the West. There are other views of Dostoevsky, however. In Russia, more attention has been paid to his faith in Orthodox Christianity, which he believed could resolve the intense conflicts that dominate his novels, and to his view that the Russian national character might have the power to unite humanity under universal values. In this course we will read the novel Demons against the backdrop of these ideas, but also in the context of contemporary Russia, where notions of national destiny and sovereign ideals have been used to justify repression and invasion. Our method of reading will be straight out of Dostoevsky and Bakhtin, as students will be invited to adopt the most diverse perspectives and to argue their ideas as if possessed.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 20027, REES 30027

REES 20030. Short Russian Novels. 100 Units.

In 19th century Russia, the printed book was an emergent technology offering a new form of shared intelligence, challenging the Bible (which at that time was still primarily experienced liturgically) as the authoritative Book of life. In this course we begin by thinking about the book as a new medium and read some of the best examples of the short novel in 19th and 20th century Russia, considering how they create explanatory and moral authority by reflecting reality and imagining new ways of being. We will observe traditions established at that time, reading books printed on paper and discussing them in a public forum, the classroom, as they were discussed then in coffeehouses, intellectual circles, and salons. We will consider the functions of literature and the roles played by authors, printers, critics, and readers. And we will read some of the best works in the Russian tradition, finding throughlines from the golden age of Russian literature (Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy) to 20th century socialist realist and science fiction dystopias (Platonov, Solzhenitsyn, Strugatsky Brothers), and considering how Panaeva and Chukovskaya chart a distinct path for women writers and express alternative perspectives on Russian realities and potentials. All readings are assigned in translation with an option (pending enrollment) to participate in a Russian-language section through Languages across the Curriculum (LxC).

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course fulfills the GATEWAY requirement for REES majors matriculating in AY 2025-26.
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 30030, ENGL 20030, REES 30030, FNDL 20030, CMLT 20030, CMLT 30030

REES 20200. Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. 100 Units.

We will read and interpret The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Among major themes are the relation to God and religion to the larger society and state; the problem of evil; and the nature of sin and how it enters into religious beliefs; human "freedom," and what the word might have meant to Dostoevsky; and love.

Instructor(s): S. Meredith     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Required of new Fundamentals majors; open to others with consent of instructor.
Note(s): Fundamentals majors get first priority
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 20200, RLST 28206

REES 20205. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. 100 Units.

A murder mystery where the riddle is not "Who?" but "Why?"---Why did the expelled student murder a pawnbroker? Why were innocents punished and exploiters vindicated? Why is justice out of reach, compassion rare, and even communication difficult? And, given these disappointments, why have readers and writers around the world been obsessed with Crime and Punishment since its publication over 150 years ago? Dostoevsky's novels "claw their way into us" (Iser), "we are drawn in, whirled around, suffocated…" (Woolf). Although he was "a messenger" to James Baldwin, "more human, better than human" in Akira Kurosawa's estimation, and "the only psychologist" worth learning from according to Friedrich Nietzsche, the real-life Dostoevsky was a desperate gambler, cheater, and chauvinist, not unlike some of the worst characters in his novels. He was recently heralded as both an example of Russian humanism (by Pope Francis) and the "father of Russian fascism" (by a Russian intellectual). Reading Crime and Punishment, we will endeavor to make sense of Dostoevsky's--and the novel's--failures and triumphs. Topics we explore will include historical events and the reception of the novel; religion, race, class and gender; and questions of politics and ethics.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30205, ENGL 20306, FNDL 20201, ENGL 30306

REES 20210. Narrative Doubles. 100 Units.

Dostoevsky's early novel "The Double" leads the readers on a descent into the madness of the main character as his double takes over his life. From uncanny usurpers to empathic gateways into alternative identities, in this course doubles teach us about our selves. We will consider how narratives conceptualize the human self and its reality, and how they conjure alternatives. We also ask about the political power of these alternative selves and doubling temporalities - from subversive possibilities to dystopian political nostalgias.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 30210, CMLT 20210, REES 30210

REES 20215. Writing with Dostoevsky. 100 Units.

This course combines close reading of Dostoevsky's The Idiot with analysis of the drafts for the novel and exploration of the author's writing process. We will pursue techniques of the French school of genetic criticism, in which manuscripts are treated with the same attention and respect as finished works in an effort to better understand the creative process, as well as a Russian variant of this practice, in which drafts were published to complete publication of canonical authors and were analyzed to better understand canonical/final versions of a work. To these traditions we will add a third variant, as we consider the possibility of reading the final and earlier drafts together as a polytext, entering the final version into dialogue with alternatives and abandoned ideas, considering the novel both as a finished work and as a complex of creative potentials. Russian language is not required for the course, as the drafts were translated by former University of Chicago professor Edward Wasiolek.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30215

REES 20702. Third-Year Russian through Culture I. 100 Units.

RUSS 20702 is the first of the three-quarter sequence designed for the third-year students of Russian (intermediate low, intermediate, intermediate high level of proficiency). RUSS 20702 covers various aspects of Russian grammar which are studied in context. It emphasizes four communicative skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in culturally authentic context. It expands students' knowledge of language, culture, history, and daily lives of the Russian-speaking people. Vocabulary building is strongly emphasized. We build on existing skills and develop our abilities to analyze increasingly complex texts for their meaning; to identify different styles and registers of the language and to provide their neutral equivalents; we also work on developing our abilities to paraphrase, narrate, describe, support opinions and handle linguistically challenging situations (in spoken and written format). Classes conducted in Russian with some aspects of grammar explained in English. Grammar sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): RUSS 20300 (two years of Russian) or equivalent, consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 20702

REES 20802. Third-Year Russian through Culture II. 100 Units.

This course is intended for third-year students of Russian and covers various aspects of Russian grammar in context. It emphasizes the four communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) in a culturally authentic context. Classes conducted in Russian; some aspects of grammar explained in English. Grammar sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): RUSS 20702 or equivalent/consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 20802

REES 20902. Third-Year Russian through Culture III. 100 Units.

This course is intended for third-year students of Russian and covers various aspects of Russian grammar in context. It emphasizes the four communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) in a culturally authentic context. Classes conducted in Russian; some aspects of grammar explained in English. Grammar sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Russian 20802 or consent of instructor.
Note(s): Drill sessions to be arranged.
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 30902, RUSS 20902, REES 30902

REES 20905. Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project. 100 Units.

[Volume 3 of] Harvard's majestic annotated edition of the essays and fragments includes reflections on Brecht, Kafka and the collector Eduard Fuchs, an early version of the famous analysis of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (here more accurately translated as 'technological reproducibility') and the equally exhilarating inquiry into the nature of narrative, 'The Storyteller.' You feel smarter just holding this book in your hand."-Michael Dirda, The Washington Post. In this course, we hold the book in our hands for extended periods of time to read it and discuss its contents. Extracurricular carriage of the book is encouraged.

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to Fundamentals students and upperclass students in other majors.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30905, FNDL 20905

REES 21001. Greece and the Balkans in the Age of Nationalism. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to the history of Southeastern Europe since the 1790s. Each week's work will examine a key topic in the Balkan affairs through a combination of lectures, readings and discussion of associated issues. The class will not follow the history of any one Balkan country comprehensively. Instead, the course will direct students' attention to relevant developments which address questions like these: 1. How does Balkan history related to European history? 2. What is a nation, a nationality, and an ethnic group? 3. What has nationalism meant in the Balkans? The curse emphasizes the history of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia, with some attention to events in the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy and Hungary as appropriate. The course aims to offer a historical background that will enable students to better understand the recent history of Greece and the Balkans.

Instructor(s): Stefanos Katsikas     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): MOGK 31001, NEHC 21002, HIST 23613, MOGK 21001

REES 21101. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media I. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): BCSN 21101, REES 31104, BCSN 31104

REES 21102. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media II. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): BCSN 31102, REES 31102, BCSN 21102

REES 21103. Advanced BCS: Language through Fiction and Media III. 100 Units.

The three-quarter sequence advanced course in BCS is designed for both students who have completed two years of language training at the University of Chicago or equivalent formal study elsewhere, and heritage learners. While the pedagogical needs of heritage learners differ from those of second-language learners, they collectively inform central tenets of the course. The objective is to accelerate the process of language acquisition through reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills, and cultural information. The course curriculum combines selected pieces of fiction with media-film adaptations of literary works featured in the textbook, or films addressing the weekly topic. Other materials, such as interviews with writers, directors, and humanities scholars also complement the course. Both reading passages and cinematic works, representing various subjects and styles, engage the language structure on every page and in every piece of footage. Issues of language structure and grammar are reinforced throughout the course as they arise in the textbook.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): BCSN 20303 or consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): BCSN 21103, REES 31105, BCSN 31105

REES 21205. The Third Way: Yugoslavia and the Making of the Non-Aligned Movement. 100 Units.

This course explores a history of internationalism that largely receded from view after the collapse of socialism in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. At its center stands socialist Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito, whose dramatic break with Stalin opened space for a distinctive vision of global cooperation beyond the Cold War binary. The course traces Yugoslavia's pivotal role in the emergence of the Non-Aligned Movement, from the 1955 Bandung Conference to the 1961 Belgrade Summit, examining how the country positioned itself between East and West while forging political, economic, and cultural alliances with newly decolonized states across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Through case studies of developmental aid, medical missions, cultural exchange, and military support, students will explore how a relatively small socialist state sought to express solidarity with anticolonial struggles while simultaneously expanding its global influence. Special attention is given to Yugoslavia's engagement with Africa, where Tito's image as a different kind of European-shaped by antifascist struggle, fragile sovereignty, and a non-racialized vision of internationalism-was often met with fascination and respect. Situating the Non-Aligned Movement within broader histories of Cold War internationalism and postcolonial globalization, the course invites students to rethink global connections and to consider alternatives to the bipolar political order of the twentieth century.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 33619, MAPS 21205, HIST 23619, REES 31205, MAPS 31205

REES 21300. (Re)Branding the Balkan City: Comtemp. Belgrade/Sarajevo/Zagreb. 100 Units.

The freedom to make and remake our cities (and ourselves) is one of the most precious yet most neglected of the human rights," argues David Harvey. In this course, we use an urban studies lens to explore the complex history, social fabric, architecture, infrastructure, and cultural transformation of the former Yugoslav capitals. Since their inception, these cities have relied on multifaceted exchanges of peoples and political projects, forms of knowledge, financial and cultural capital, means of production, and innovative ideas. Among others, these exchanges produced two phenomena, Yugoslav architecture, embodying one of the great political experiments of the modern era, and the Non-Aligned Movement, as explored in recent documentary films (Turajlić 2023), museum exhibits (MoMA 2018, "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948-1980"), and monographs (Tito in Africa: Picturing Solidarity). Drawing on anthropological theory and ethnography of the city, we consider processes of urban destruction and renewal, practices of branding spaces and identities, metropolitan citizenship, arts and design, architectural histories and styles, and the broader politics of space. The course is complemented by cultural and historical media, guest speakers, and virtual tours. Classes are conducted in English.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 21333, REES 31303, ARCH 21300, BCSN 21300, HIST 24008, GLST 21301, BCSN 31303, ARTH 31333

REES 21302. Advanced Russian I. 100 Units.

This is the first/second/third part of the three-quarter sequence course (which could be taken in any order) designed for advanced students of Russian. This course is also suitable for heritage and native speakers of Russian. It covers various aspects of advanced Russian stylistics and discourse grammar in context. Language skills: This course emphasizes the four communicative skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It builds trans-cultural competence by expanding students' knowledge of the language, culture, history and daily lives of the Russian speaking people. Vocabulary building is strongly emphasized. We add to the existing skills and develop our abilities to analyze increasingly complex texts for their meaning; to identify various styles and registers of the Russian language and to provide their neutral equivalents in standard Russian; we also work on developing our abilities to paraphrase, narrate, describe, support opinions, hypothesize, discuss abstract topics, and handle linguistically unfamiliar situations (in spoken and written format).

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Three or more years of Russian, or interview and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30102, RUSS 21302, RUSS 30102

REES 21402. Advanced Russian II. 100 Units.

This is the second part of the three-quarter sequence course (which could be taken in any order) designed for advanced students of Russian. This course is also suitable for heritage and native speakers of Russian. It covers various aspects of advanced Russian stylistics and discourse grammar in context. Language skills: This course emphasizes the four communicative skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It builds trans-cultural competence by expanding students' knowledge of the language, culture, history and daily lives of the Russian speaking people. Vocabulary building is strongly emphasized. We add to the existing skills and develop our abilities to analyze increasingly complex texts for their meaning; to identify various styles and registers of the Russian language and to provide their neutral equivalents in standard Russian; we also work on developing our abilities to paraphrase, narrate, describe, support opinions, hypothesize, discuss abstract topics, and handle linguistically unfamiliar situations (in spoken and written format).

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Three or more years of Russian, or interview and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30202, RUSS 30202, RUSS 21402

REES 21502. Advanced Russian III. 100 Units.

This is the third part of the three-quarter sequence course (which could be taken in any order) designed for advanced students of Russian. This course is also suitable for heritage and native speakers of Russian. It covers various aspects of advanced Russian stylistics and discourse grammar in context. Language skills: This course emphasizes the four communicative skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It builds trans-cultural competence by expanding students' knowledge of the language, culture, history and daily lives of the Russian speaking people. Vocabulary building is strongly emphasized. We add to the existing skills and develop our abilities to analyze increasingly complex texts for their meaning; to identify various styles and registers of the Russian language and to provide their neutral equivalents in standard Russian; we also work on developing our abilities to paraphrase, narrate, describe, support opinions, hypothesize, discuss abstract topics, and handle linguistically unfamiliar situations (in spoken and written format).

Instructor(s): Valentina Pichugin     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Three or more years of Russian, or interview and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): REES 30302, RUSS 21502, RUSS 30302

REES 22009. Kafka's The Trial. 100 Units.

This very close reading of Kafka's arguably most well known unfinished novel means to move away from megalithic glosses of Kafka as a writer of allegory-of bureaucratic oppression, social alienation, and a world abandoned by God, etc.-instead to look deeply at Kafka's precision, and strategic imprecision, of language, language as trauma, wound, and axe. Knowledge of German is not necessary.

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): open only to Fundamentals majors. all other majors need consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 21650, GNSE 21650

REES 22100. Lacan: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. 100 Units.

This course is designed to be a discussion-rich seminar in which we carefully read through Lacan's Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. The original mode of the work was as lectures over the university (École Normale Supérieure) spring term of 1964; it was published in book form nine years later in French and translated into English in 1978. It continues to be the best resource for thinking through Lacan's interpretations of the pillar concepts of psychoanalytic theory: the Unconscious, Repetition, Transference, and the Drive. Work required: close textual analysis and six response essays of 300-750 words each.

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): None
Note(s): Fundamentals majors only: all others must petition instructor
Equivalent Course(s): REES 32100, FNDL 22610

REES 23015. Cinema and Poetry: The Modern City. 100 Units.

TBD

Equivalent Course(s): CMST 14502

REES 23017. Wild" Easts. 100 Units.

Imaginaries of the "wild" have long been employed as part of colonial projects, from the conquest of lands of the Great Eurasian Steppe to modern conservation initiatives. In this course, we examine ideas about the "wild" with a focus on the easts of "Europe" and easts of Russia, whether Ukraine, Qazaqstan, or Bulgaria, and ways in which these lands have been constructed as "wild" territories. We discuss ecologies and cultures of the steppe, nuclear and (post)industrial wastelands, and contemporary practices of re-wilding to study the violence of being framed as "wild", as well subversive and liberatory potentials of (re)claiming all things "wild". The course takes on an interdisciplinary approach, examining works of fiction alongside history books, and films alongside memoirs; additionally, a possibility of a field trip to Site A/Plot M Disposal Site, where the world's first nuclear reactor is buried, is to be confirmed.

Instructor(s): Darya Tsymbalyuk     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 33017, CEGU 23017, CHST 23017, CEGU 33017

REES 23108. Contact Linguistics. 100 Units.

This seminar focuses on current research in contact linguistics in a global perspective, including but not limited to the impact of languages of wider communication (e.g. English, Russian) in contact with other languages. Topics to be covered include the following: language/dialect contact, convergence and language shift resulting in attrition and language endangerment and loss. Other contact-induced linguistic changes and processes to be considered include borrowing, code-switching, code-shifting, diglossia, loss of linguistic restrictions and grammatical permeability, and the impact of language contact in the emergence and/or historical development of languages.

Instructor(s): Lenore Grenoble     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LING 20001 or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): LING 36310, LING 26310

REES 23118. Word, Image, Ritual: Early Russian Culture in Its Historical Context. 100 Units.

The course examines elements of Pre-Modern Russian material and non-material culture through a selection of Old Russian (early East Slavic) texts and church buildings. Topics will include hesychasm, iconography and fresco painting, church architecture, epic songs, chronicles, lives of saints, and Novgorodian birch bark documents, explored in their historical and social contexts. All readings are in English.

Instructor(s): Yaroslav Gorbachov     Terms Offered: Spring Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 33118, HIST 34010, HIST 24010

REES 23154. XCAP: The Commune: The Making and Breaking of Intentional Communities. 100 Units.

Any class is an intentional community of sorts: people gathered together with a sense of collective purpose. But often the hopes of students are not met by the content or the methods in the classroom. Can we do better by making the process more intentional-clarifying and developing a collective sense of purpose at the outset? We will start by forming a collective plan on topics to be explored-anything from iconic American communities and Russian communes to memoir studies and economics. Possible projects include creating an intentional community in an off-campus location, designing a communal space, rewriting manifestos, or creating a new communal charter. We can cover anything from economics, space, and gender to the problem of leadership and secular belief systems. We may also want to utilize alternative modes of learning, besides reading and discussing texts, such as roleplaying. A few students in the class have some experience in intentional communities, and we will welcome their input and suggestions

Instructor(s): William Nickell      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 29975, GNSE 29975, REES 33154

REES 23310. Modern Ukraine Through Culture. 100 Units.

The 2022 escalation of Russia's war on Ukraine to a full-scale invasion was a wakeup call which exposed how little had been known about Ukraine globally. While for many in the world Ukraine's ongoing resistance has been a surprise, for those familiar with Ukraine's history in the 20th and 21st century, the resistance is rooted in Ukraine's longer culture of civic mobilization and Ukraine's complex relationship with Russia. In this course, we revisit major political and cultural events of the 20th and 21st centuries that have shaped today's Ukraine: the revolutionary period of 1917-1921 to the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe, to the Orange and Maidan revolutions. One third of the course focuses on Russia's war on Ukraine starting with the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. While addressing major historical turning points, the course engages literary texts (poems, novels, memoirs), films (feature, short, documentary), and other forms of cultural production (visual artwork, music, multimodal digital projects), testimonies and historical debates. No prior knowledge of Ukraine or knowledge of Ukrainian language is required. The assignments include a choice between a traditional paper or a critical-creative project (video essay, poster, other creative forms).

Instructor(s): Darya Tsymbalyuk     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 33310, GLST 23310, HIST 23618, HIST 33618, MAPH 33310

REES 23617. Identities Decolonized: Eastern European Architecture and Art. 100 Units.

This course re-examines the cultural heritage of Eastern Europe. This goal is driven by recognition that the region has been deeply influenced by historical and political forces, often resulting in the suppression or distortion of diverse cultural identities. The course explores architecture and art through the concept of decolonization of identities after the long-standing influence of the Soviet Union. This influence led to the suppression of local traditions and the imposition of a monolithic cultural identity, architectural style, and art in the region. The topics will cover the cases of artists forced into exile by the socialist regime and working worldwide. "Identities Decolonized" will investigate the post-1991 era, analyzing how artists and architects have competed with inherited legacies, reasserted national identities, and navigated global artistic trends. The course examines architecture as a decolonizing tool. The course also explores arts and crafts in the Soviet Union, the appropriation of ethnic crafts and symbols by Soviet design and mass production, and the revival of arts and crafts in the post-Soviet period. This course is designed to foster critical thinking about identity, representation, and the power dynamics through the lens of art and architectural history.

Instructor(s): O. Chabanyuk     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 33617, ARCH 23617, HIST 23617, REES 33617

REES 23701. Soviet-Era Architecture in Ukraine. 100 Units.

This course discusses architecture in Ukraine during the 20th century with a focus on Architecture of Ukraine in Soviet Era. The course explores various influences that shaped Soviet Ukrainian architecture. The course highlights foreign expertise and the flow of technologies from the US and Europe during early Soviet industrialization in eastern Ukraine. Soviet politics and economy shaped the conceptualization of planning, standardization, and the urban environment. The course will analyze the architecture of the 1930s in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipro that marked the development of constructivism in the region. The course covers the architecture of eastern and western Ukraine from constructivism and Ukrainian modern to Stalinist architecture to post-modernism and post-Soviet architecture. We will emphasize the value of architectural monuments in Ukraine as UNESCO heritage sites. This study of architecture in Soviet Ukraine will convey an understanding of the current situation in architecture in this region. The course comprises the workshops History of Architecture Beyond the Classroom: Archival materials study; Special Collections materials study; Talks with invited speakers - mainly online with Ukrainian historians and architects.

Instructor(s): O. Chabanyuk     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course requires students to plan three Fridays for museum/library visits: Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago, Newberry Library and UChicago Library.
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 33701, ARCH 23701, HIST 23701, REES 33701

REES 23706. The Soviet Union. 100 Units.

This lecture course surveys the making and unmaking of the Soviet Union as a society, culture, economy, superpower, and empire from 1917 to 1991. The Soviet Union began as an unprecedented radical experiment in remaking society and economy, ethnic and gender relations, personal identities, even human nature, but in the course of its history, it came to resemble other (capitalist) societies, sharing, in turn, their violence, welfare provisions, and consumerism. The story of this transformation-from being unique and exhilarating to being much like everyone else, only poorer and more drab-will be at the center of our exploration. The main themes of the course include social and cultural revolutions; ideology and the role of Marxism; political violence from the birth of the socialist state to the end of the Stalin terror; origins, practices, aesthetics, legacies, and critiques of Stalinism; law, dissent, and human rights; nationality policies and the role of ethnic minorities; the economy of shortages and the material culture it created; institutions of daily life (communal apartments, courtyards, peasant markets, dachas, and boiler rooms); socialist realism and the Soviet dreamworld.

Instructor(s): E. Gilburd     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23706

REES 23708. Soviet History through Literature. 100 Units.

This course explores key topics in Soviet history through Soviet and anti-Soviet literary classics. We consider social and cultural revolutions; war and political violence; the economy of shortages and the material culture it created; institutions of daily life-communal apartments, courtyards, peasant markets, dachas, and boiler rooms; socialist realist dreamworlds and the underworld of the Gulag; Soviet internationalism and Russian imperialism; generational dynamics and dissident subcultures; emigration and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. We trace these topics through key genres (the sketch, the short story, the novel) and aesthetic movements (modernism, socialist realism, postmodernism). While the Soviet Union is our focus in its own right, we also use it as a case study to reflect on broader humanistic questions of progress and its darker side, utopian social engineering, creativity under censorship, self-expression in conditions of physical duress, cultural mainstream and underground, propaganda and literature. All readings are in English.

Instructor(s): E. Gilburd     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23708

REES 23807. History of the Jews in the Russian Empire (1772-1918) 100 Units.

Following the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772, 1793, 1795), the Russian Empire transformed from a country with almost no Jewish population to the home of the largest Jewish community in the world. This transformation, as well as additional territorial expansions of the Empire, left its imprint on modern Jewish culture globally and participated in the shaping of multiple modernities in areas that today belong to Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, and the Russian Federation (all of which possess territories formerly belonging to the Commonwealth), but also in the Republic of Moldova (annexed from the Ottoman Empire), Caucasus areas annexed from Persia, and the Republic of Georgia. During the course, we will review major landmarks in the tempestuous history of the Jewish community in the Russian Empire. The discussions will unfold along two interconnected trajectories: the relationships between Jewish traditional patterns of organization and the innovations induced by Russian conditions, as well as the influence of various aspects of those conditions (legal, social, political, cultural) on Jewish life. In addition to historical and theoretical literature, we will read multiple primary sources, including belle-lettres, autobiographies, archival documents, and more.

Instructor(s): S. Natkovich     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 33807, HIST 33807, HIST 23807, JWSC 23807

REES 24010. Ecocide: Reckoning with Environmental Destruction. 100 Units.

Ecocide is defined as a crime against the environment, originating from legal debate in the context of the Vietnam War. Taking Vietnam as our starting point, this course engages with a wide range of materials (from novels to poetry to ethnographic studies) and different places (Ukraine, Vanuatu, Iraq, Palestine, and many others) in order to examine the broader context in which the campaign to criminalize environmental destruction emerged. We discuss what forms of environmental justice we can envision and pursue today, and debate possibilities and limitations of legal accountability. The readings are inter- and multidisciplinary, drawing from environmental humanities, anthropology, legal studies, history, and other fields. The assignments include a possibility to develop one's own research topic, which could take the form of a traditional paper or a critical-creative project (video essay, poster, other creative forms).

Instructor(s): Darya Tsymbalyuk     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 34010, GLST 24010, CEGU 24010, CEGU 34010

REES 24220. Anxious Spaces. 100 Units.

This course explores built (architectural), filmic, and narrative spaces that disturb our bearings, un-situate us, and defy neurotypical cognition. In the sense that "angst" is a mode that can be understood as both stalling and generative, we analyze spaces and representations of spaces such as corridors, attics, basements, canals, viaducts, labyrinths, forests, ruins, etc., spaces that are 'felt' as estranging, foreboding, in short, anxiety-provoking, in order to understand why-despite or because these topoi are hostile-they are produced, reproduced, and craved. We will pay special attention to abject spaces of racial and sexual exclusivity, sites of spoliation, and of memory and erasure. Among our primary texts are films by Kubrick, Tarkovksy, and Antonioni, and Chytilová, short fiction by Borges, Kafka, Nabokov, and selections from the philosophical/theoretical writings of Bachelard, Deleuze & Guattari, Debord, Foucault, Kracauer, and the edited volume, Mapping Desire, Geographies of Sexuality.

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Spring Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 24220, GNSE 24220, REES 34220, GNSE 34220

REES 24404. Theater in East and Central Europe: Between Power and Powerlessness. 100 Units.

National independence movements, revolutions, authoritarian regimes, and the decline of empire: playwrights in East and Central Europe wrote major works of world literature in response to these events - and sometimes in prescient anticipation of them. This seminar introduces students to the plays that, from Chekhov to Havel, shaped the fates of nations. Topics include: the avant-garde, theater of the absurd, acting methods, performance art, and documentary theater.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): TAPS 25214, TAPS 35214, REES 34404, CMLT 26040

REES 24425. Invasion Culture: Russia through its Wars. 100 Units.

This course looks at contemporary culture through Russia's invasions, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Broadly, this course explores how war shapes cultural life. How do the policies and strategies of war, and the art and literature of wartime, convey ideas about power and the state, traditional vs. modern values, civilizational mission vs. cultural pluralism? Beyond Russian literature and film, we consider voices from Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Chechnya, Syria, Belarus, and Ukraine, asking, How are Russia's wars fought and resisted in the domain of culture?

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 24009, MAPH 34425, CMLT 24425, GLST 24424, REES 34425, HIST 34009

REES 24426. The Witch Craze in 17th-Century Europe: Scotland, Poland-Lithuania, Russia, and Moravia. 100 Units.

In this course, we look carefully at the reasons for and repercussions of the "witch craze" in the long 17th-century, focussing on primary texts such as trial reports, legal literature, pamphlets, woodcuts, scholarly dissent, and other paraphernalia. The course follows a sweep of the craze from Lancashire in Scotland, where trials began in the 1590s, to Poznań in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to the Russian village of Lukh on the outskirts of Moscow, where between 1656 and 1660 over twenty-five individuals, most of them male, were tried and several executed, and finally to Northern Moravia under Habsburg rule where inquisitor Hetman Boblig presided over the burning of almost 100 "witches." In each region, trials followed different customs-Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic-and answered to different legislative discourse-ecclesiastical, laic, secular-yet all can be said to be the product of a common desire and collective fear. To supplement our understanding of the multifaceted anxieties that are expressed in works such as King James' Daemonologie (1597), and to ask more questions of the intersectional phobias around gender, sexuality, religion, and class (rural-urban; colony-metropole), we take up theory from Foucault, Federici, and Mbembe, and others.

Instructor(s): Malynne Sternstein     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 22315, GNSE 34426, HIST 32315, GNSE 24426, REES 34426

REES 25001. Introduction to the Musical Folklore of Central Asia. 100 Units.

This course explores the musical traditions of the peoples of Central Asia, both in terms of historical development and cultural significance. Topics include the music of the epic tradition, the use of music for healing, instrumental genres, and Central Asian folk and classical traditions. Basic field methods for ethnomusicology are also covered. Extensive use is made of recordings of musical performances and of live performances in the area.

Instructor(s): Kagan Arik     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30765, NEHC 20765, MUSI 33503, ANTH 25905, MUSI 23503, REES 35001

REES 25005. History of International Cinema II: Sound Era to 1960. 100 Units.

The center of this course is film style, from the classical scene breakdown to the introduction of deep focus, stylistic experimentation, and technical innovation (sound, wide screen, location shooting). The development of a film culture is also discussed. Texts include Thompson and Bordwell's Film History: An Introduction; and works by Bazin, Belton, Sitney, and Godard. Screenings include films by Hitchcock, Welles, Rossellini, Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni, and Renoir.

Instructor(s): James Lastra     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Prior or concurrent registration in CMST 10100 required. Required of students majoring or minoring in Cinema and Media Studies.
Note(s): CMST 28500/48500 strongly recommended
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 28600, REES 45005, CMLT 32500, CMLT 22500, ARTH 38600, MAPH 33700, ARTV 20003, ENGL 29600, CMST 28600, MADD 18600, ENGL 48900, CMST 48600

REES 25010. Immersive Poetics and Permeable Screens. 100 Units.

What does it mean to call a book, a film, or an artwork "immersive"? What do we gain when we lose ourselves in a work of art, and what is it that we lose? Whereas Diderot lauded the feeling of "delicious repose" elicited from pastoral paintings, literary theorist Victor Shklovsky claimed that art exists "to return sensation to life, to make us feel objects, to make a stone feel stony." Are these reactions opposed or related? What are the dangers of this kind of attraction in the age of mass spectacle or of its use for the ends of an autocratic or fascist ideology? In this seminar, we will examine literary, film and media theories of immersion in international perspective. Case studies in world cinema and literature, from 19th century second-person narratives to recent VR experiences. Students will introduce works from their own area of specialization over the course of the term. Advanced undergraduates may enroll with permission of instructor.

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates by consent only
Equivalent Course(s): REES 35010, ARTH 35013, CMLT 35010, CMST 35010

REES 25030. The Writing I. 100 Units.

How do personal and lived experiences shape our understanding of social and cultural phenomena? What is the role of the self in the practice of academic writing? In this course we will examine the self as a method through which we interpret the world and as a repository of knowledge. We will study different academic genres in which personal and lived experiences constitute an integral component of knowledge-making, such as autoethnography and autotheory, discussing their relation to feminist thought. We will also practice and share academic writing that engages the self as a method to understand, interpret and theorize the world around us. The readings will include Lauren Fournier, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa, Shushan Avagyan, Stephanie D. Clare, Donna Haraway, among many others. There will also be workshops/talks by practitioners of autoethnography and autotheory.

Instructor(s): Darya Tsymbalyuk     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 35031, GNSE 25031, REES 35030

REES 25603. Narratives of Power. 100 Units.

For the past four years we've been transfixed by the news-but also by the way the news has been reported. Longstanding practices have been questioned or abandoned as our media have grappled with how to cover a changing political landscape. A similar situation unfolded in late and post-Soviet Russia, where it seemed that newspapers and TVs were not only reporting, but also carrying out, a regime change. This course will examine media regimes in both the U.S. and Russia (and the U.S.S.R.), with careful attention to historical and theoretical frameworks that will help us better understand current media events. On the Russian side we will explore how political and cultural regimes have systematically exploited the gap between experience and representation to create their own mediated worlds-from the tight censorship of the imperial and Soviet periods to the propaganda of the Soviet period and the recent use of media simulacra for strategic geopolitical advantage. We will compare this tradition with that of the United States, where freedom of expression has been privileged, but has also been shaped and distorted by the economic and cultural markets that constitute our media.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: TBD
Note(s): A companion to Media and Power in the Age of Putin and Trump, this course covers different material and does not require the former as a prerequisite. Together the courses consider how form and content shape the spread of information.
Equivalent Course(s): SIGN 26029, REES 35603, PARR 25600, CMLT 25603, CMLT 35603, MAPH 35603

REES 25604. Russian Media at War. 100 Units.

In this course we will form a collective to follow and respond to Russian media coverage of the war in Ukraine and its larger context. We will consider the impact of tightened control over journalistic free speech and the increasingly top-down control of representations of Russia's role in the region, with a primary focus on Ukraine. We will analyze the main narratives that have been used to justify the actions of the Russian state, and the methods that have been used to undermine counternarratives. While we will find tools of analysis through background reading in theory, we will spend most of our time looking at current media content coming out of Russia, Ukraine, and their neighboring countries, with some attention also to American and other western sources. Russian, Ukrainian, and other language skills will be highly useful, but are not required.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 35604, KNOW 35604, KNOW 25604

REES 25605. Media and Revolution: CEERES Signature Course. 100 Units.

Through guest lectures and case studies, this course will explore the relationship between contemporary media practices in Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia and the histories of communication and information technology in the USSR. One of the primary goals of the course will be to survey the current scholarship on tactics of disinformation and censorship coming out of the region and assess ways of understanding its origins and methods. The course is aimed at giving emerging scholars in different disciplines the means to engage critically with contemporary media practices. Enrollment by instructor consent only. Priority to graduate students with a focus on the CEERES region and reading competency in one of the languages of the region, but REES majors or minors in the Slavic department are also invited to contact the instructor for consent. This course is supported by the Center for Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia Studies and a development grant from the Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression.

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): REES 35605

REES 25800. Language, Empire, and Power. 100 Units.

What does it mean to write in the language of empire? And what possibilities, aesthetic and ethical, emerge from the refusal, remaking, and reclaiming of the imperial language? This course examines how writers from different post-imperial contexts negotiate identity and literary belonging through the choice of language. It brings together four authors who made this question central to their work: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o from Kenya, Arundthati Roy from India, Yuri Andrykhovych from Ukraine, and Dubravka Ugrešić from Croatia. Through close reading and engagement with critical theory, we situate their works within their specific historical, social, and political conditions. By placing postcolonial, post-Soviet, and post-dependence critical frameworks in dialogue, we ask what these imperial aftermaths share and where comparisons break down.

Instructor(s): Ola Sidorkiewicz     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 35800

REES 26011-26012-26015. Introduction to Russian Civilization I-II-III.

This three-quarter sequence, which meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, provides an interdisciplinary introduction to Russian civilization. The first quarter covers the ninth century to the 1870s; the second quarter continues on through the post-Soviet period. Working closely with a variety of primary sources—from oral legends to film and music, from political treatises to literary masterpieces—we will track the evolution of Russian civilization over the centuries and through radically different political regimes. Topics to be discussed include the influence of Byzantine, Mongol-Tataric, and Western culture in Russian civilization; forces of change and continuity in political, intellectual and cultural life; the relationship between center and periphery; systems of social and political legitimization; and symbols and practices of collective identity.

REES 26034. Russian Poetry. 100 Units.

What should poetry do-should it have any tasks (personal, literary, political)? In this course, we read short texts that stun, adore, inspire, grieve, mobilize, berate, forgive or forget their addressees and subjects, that reach (or fail to reach) us, their almost-certainly unintended, contemporary readers. Meeting both canonical and forgotten authors across three centuries and many countries of Russophone writing, this course *has* a task: to find what the poems conceal and reveal about their worlds--and ours. If you love poetry, or you have some knowledge of Russian, or you have taken the Russia and Eurasia Civ Core sequence, this class is a good fit for you. The syllabus is finalized with students' preferences and curiosities in mind. Assignment options include creative projects, independent research, journaling or essays. Discussion of texts will focus on gender, religion, race, imperial subjectivity, and dissent.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36034, GNSE 36034, GNSE 26034

REES 26070. Post-Soviet Ukraine. 100 Units.

This course focuses on the cultural life of Ukraine after the Soviet collapse. In a guided process, students will co-facilitate this syllabus, deciding on topics and readings in (translated) Ukrainian literature and film as well as the history of Ukraine. Possible topics include: memory of Soviet wars, the capitalist transition, Chornobyl, artistic movements, subcultures, the Maidan Revolution, Russia's war, language politics, ethnicities, and gender relations. Reading options include Andryukhovich, Zabuzhko, Plokhy, Zhadan. No prior knowledge required.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36073, HIST 33615, HIST 23615

REES 26072. The Roots of War: Historical and Cultural Causes of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. 100 Units.

Since the beginning of Russia's war on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and his entourage have created false historical constructions that serve as the basis for their aggressive policy. The main question of this course is: to what extent is Putin's retro-policy historically grounded, traditional and natural? An analysis of the rhetoric and historiosophy of the modern Russian elite will reveal the sources they been drawn upon. Is there a connection between Muscovite Russia, the Russian Empire and modern Russian neo-imperialism? What role does the legacy of the USSR play in the political system, state structure and foreign policy of the modern Russian Federation? Where do historical trends, national interests and the new imperial ideology coincide and contradict each other? We will also discuss the modern history of opposition to Putin's authoritarianism and trace the history and cultural significance of democratic institutions in Russia. Finally, we will use the history of Ukrainian statehood and the processes of formation of the Ukrainian nation to shed alternative perspective on recent Russian views of Ukraine.

Instructor(s): Sergei Shokarev      Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23808, REES 36072

REES 26077. Russian Modernist Theater. 100 Units.

Russian Modernist Theater explores the theory and practice of the new stage forms developed in Russia from 1900 to 1940. The course begins with the Stanislavsky school, and then delves deeply into the more experimental work of Meyerhold and his generation and the first attempts to create a revolutionary Soviet theater in the 1920s. The course will include a production, which will be scaled to the number and ambitions of the enrolled students. Course requirements can be met through the writing of a conventional paper, or through the production, via set or costume design, dramaturgy, performance, or staging. Each of these production assignments will require a write-up relating the work to the course materials and discussions.

Instructor(s): William Nickell     Terms Offered: TBD
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36077

REES 26085. Tarkovsky: Cinema as Philosophy. 100 Units.

TBD

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36085

REES 26500. Slavic literary languages: formation and development. 100 Units.

This course is a general introduction to the external histories of the Slavic literary languages. It outlines their rise and development with special reference to the contemporary cultural and ideological contexts, such as the processes of ethnic identity formation in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. The essential linguistic information is also provided and patterns of emergence of a standard language are discussed. No prerequisites.

Instructor(s): Yaroslav Gorbachov     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 24011, LING 26501, REES 36500, LING 36501

REES 26600. Materiality and Socialist Cinema. 100 Units.

What constitutes the materiality of film? How do we understand the "material world" in relation to cinema, and how does the film camera mediate it? What does the process of mediation look like when the goal of cinema is not solely to represent but also change the world? This course will pair theoretical readings on new materialist approaches to cinema with select case studies drawn from Chinese and Soviet revolutionary cinema. Our primary aim is twofold: to introduce students to the "material turn" in cinema and media studies, and to reflect on what the specific fields of Soviet and Chinese Film Studies bring to the discussion. We will look closely at works by socialist filmmakers in the twentieth century who argued that cinema had a special role to play in mediating and transforming the material world. How does socialist cinema seek to orient its viewer to a particular relationship to objects? How does it treat the human relationship to the environment? How does it regard the material of film and the process of filmmaking itself? Ultimately, the course will familiarize students with diverse understandings of materiality and materialism and with key figures and works in global socialist cinema. Readings and screenings will range from the Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s to Chinese revolutionary cinema of the early 1970s, and conclude with recent documentary and video experiments that engage with their legacies.

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss and Paola Iovene     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 26611, CMST 36611, EALC 36611, CMLT 36602, CMLT 26602, CMST 26611, REES 36600

REES 26603. Soviet Cinema and the Avant-Garde. 100 Units.

This course examines some of the most ambitious claims about what cinema as a medium can do by early Soviet filmmakers. We look at the extraordinary flourishing of cinema in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s including films by Eisenstein, Vertov, Shub, Pudovkin and Dovzhenko, their theoretical writings, their collaborations with avant-garde artists and theater designers, and their far-reaching influence on film and film theory. We will also consider the political and historical context of the films and their creators.

Instructor(s): Anne E. Moss     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36603, CMST 24507

REES 26700. Nesting (Post-)Colonialisms in Eastern Europe. 100 Units.

In Eastern Europe, the rhetoric of postcoloniality has been deployed strategically and contradictorily - on one hand, in the calls to decolonize from Soviet and Russian imperialism and return to Europe, and, on the other hand, by anti-European nationalists who, inspired by Putin's defense of traditional values, reject the European Union's civilizational tutelage. This seminar investigates how postcolonial and decolonial theories can help us rethink the East European experience. We map the granular re-inscription of symbolic geographies in European peripheries and, because European peripheries are not just passive recipients but also active agents in mobilizing stereotypes, we study the ways peripheral actors deploy civilizational hierarchies strategically to manipulate structures of power. Throughout, we will seek out emancipatory narratives in literature, cinema and art that offer alternatives to civilizational groupness. What kinds of worldmaking does this involve, and how might we, as subjects, recognize ourselves in these stories?

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 36700

REES 26994. Anticolonial Worlding: Literature, Film, Thought. 100 Units.

This course explores anticolonial worldbuilding through literature, film, art, and philosophy. It focuses on the role of the cultural Cold War in shaping anticolonial aesthetics and politics during the twentieth century as well as its impact on our current political moment. The mid-century was characterized by an expansion of anticolonial festivals, exchanges, and congresses and marked by political crises and coalitional solidarity across Vietnam, Palestine, Cuba, Soviet and US imperial expansion, and the May 1968 student protests. We will explore how Pan-Arab, Pan-African, Non-Aligned/Global South, Marxist-Leninist, indigenous land rights, and racial justice movements mobilized class, gender, and language politics. Exploring anticolonial literature, film, and art across a multilingual and transnational archive we will ask how socialist and speculative realisms, engaged literature, third cinema, agitprop, and other aesthetic movements generated powerful internationalist imaginations and networks of resistance.

Instructor(s): Hoda El Shakry     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 26994, CMLT 26994, NEHC 26994, ENGL 26994, RDIN 26994, GNSE 26994

REES 27010. Dead and Undead in Polish Culture. 100 Units.

What makes Polish culture distinctive? How do ideas about death, ghosts, and the undead help express Polish identity? This course explores these questions by examining how Polish writers have used supernatural and symbolic figures to respond to historical change, political struggle, and cultural memory. Through readings from different periods-beginning with Romanticism and continuing to contemporary literature-students will discover how Polish culture has been shaped by shifting borders, occupations, and social transformations. The course focuses on how the motif of the dead and undead appears in different genres, including poetry, short stories, fantasy, and magical realism. Works by authors such as Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, Bruno Schulz, Stefan Grabiński, Andrzej Sapkowski, and Olga Tokarczuk show how these themes help create imaginative worlds that reflect both Polish experience and universal human concerns. Class activities include guided discussions, selected film screenings, and explorations of folklore and popular culture, allowing students to connect literary themes to visual media and contemporary cultural expressions. All required readings are available in English translation; students fluent in Polish are welcome to read selected texts in the original language. No prior knowledge of Polish language or culture is required.

Instructor(s): Izolda Wolski-Moskoff     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 37010, MAPH 37010

REES 27035. Gender, Agency, and Power in 19th C Russian Literature. 100 Units.

This course focuses on scandalous provocations and quieter acts of resistance against normative gender expectations in 19th-century Russian literature. We read narratives of rebellion by individuals and collective actions by groups of women, and consider the surprising agency attributed to women's cooperative work in Russian literature as well as the heavy burdens placed on women by family, state, and church. Readings include primarily short fiction in a variety of genres (sentimental, romantic, realist, and gothic) by canonized male writers and by women writers of the 19th Century who are less often taught and translated, but were widely read in their own day. These works expand our understanding of the narrative possibilities for sexuality and gendered subjectivity in the Russian literary sphere, and of the ways in which possibility itself was made and remade by literary expression. The course also introduces students to methods of literary analysis informed by critical theories of gender, and asks how Russian literary and cultural history may offer new ways of thinking about gendered bodies, performance, and interrelations in the 19th Century and today.

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 37035, GNSE 20118

REES 27203. Žižek, The Sublime Object of Ideology. 100 Units.

tbd

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 27203

REES 27500. Marginal Modernists. 100 Units.

This course introduces twentieth-century modernist Polish literature through figures, identities, and perspectives that have so far been marginalised in literary and cultural narratives of the period. Organised in three parts - gender, ethnicity, and language - it moves from lesser-known authors (Irena Krzywicka, Maria Kuncewicz, Debora Vogel, Zuzanna Ginczanka, Stanisława Przybyszewska, and Eleonora Kalkowska) to more canonical figures (Witold Gombrowicz, Bruno Schulz, and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz), making visible the processes through which the Polish modernist canon has been formed. Combining close reading and theoretical approaches, the course examines how questions of identity shape literary form and how Polish modernism looks different when read from its margins.

Instructor(s): Ola Sidorkiewicz     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 37500

REES 28509. Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civ III: History of Science and Technology in Russia. 100 Units.

In "History of Science and Technology in Russia," students will study the process of entry and formation of Russian science as a part of European and ultimately global science. We will explore how science and scientists fared under different political regimes, ideologies, and social structures. We will also consider the quality of scientific education and the contributions of Russian scientists in the 18th-20th centuries. What has the world given Russian science and what has Russian science brought to the world? What was unique about the constitution of Russian science, and what were the similarities between scientific and educational problems and institutions in Russia (Russian Empire, USSR) and those in Europe and the United States?

Instructor(s): A. Shokareva     Terms Offered: Spring. Offered in Spring 2027
Equivalent Course(s): HIPS 18509, HIST 17405

REES 28800. Politics and Cinema under Authority. 100 Units.

Why do authoritarian regimes take interest in art and culture? How do citizens respond to these efforts? Between authoritarian propaganda and outright contestation of authoritarianism is a wide niche of art and media production that is just independent enough to capture the attention of the citizens and yet subtle enough to not alarm authoritarian rulers. This is relevant for film and television in particular, which cannot function under authoritarian regimes without official approval. In this course, we explore the compromises filmmakers make to continue their creative practice and the concessions state actors grant to accommodate artistic work using the 10-episode television series, Dekalog (1988), by the acclaimed Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski. To answer our questions, we draw on literature and methodology from political science and film and media studies. We investigate what is to be gained by combining approaches from two disciplines that are rarely in conversation with each other.

Instructor(s): Maria Belodubrovskaya and Monika Nalepa     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Enrollment limit: 18
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 28805, CDIN 38800, PLSC 38801, PLSC 28805, CMST 38800, REES 38800, CDIN 28801

REES 28914. New Directions in Slavic Studies. 100 Units.

This seminar examines the recent major works of scholarship in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, taking stock of the current state of the field. It introduces the interdisciplinary research methods (e.g. historical, anthropological, digital studies, etc.) that have driven new developments in SEES.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 38914

REES 29005. East European Folklore. 100 Units.

Folklore is the expressive culture communities make for themselves. In Eastern Europe, a region home to many different ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities, folklore offers a window onto histories of coexistence, difference, and adaptation. This interdisciplinary course explores oral and material traditions among the Slavic, Romanian, Albanian, and other East European groups. We will encounter magical beasts and heroes in oral tales that have fascinated writers from the Brothers Grimm and Goethe to Bram Stoker. We will analyze how folklore genres-from vampire tales and heroic epics to wedding rituals-imagine the individual's place in the community and in relation to the sacred. Texts and practices will be studied through the lenses of anthropology, history, and folklore theory, drawing on thinkers such as Mary Douglas, Arnold van Gennep, Vladimir Propp, and Albert Lord. But folklore is also a participatory culture, so experiential learning is central to the course: students will explore folklore through storytelling, cooking, and hands-on projects, to illuminate how living traditions help build group coherence while making space for individuality and creativity. Local musicians will lead us in the dazzling dance rhythms of the circle dance known by many names in the region.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 39005, CMLT 29005, CMLT 39005

REES 29009. Balkan Folklore. 100 Units.

Vampires, fire-breathing dragons, vengeful mountain nymphs. 7/8 and other uneven dance beats, heart-rending laments, and a living epic tradition. This course is an overview of Balkan folklore from historical, political, and anthropological perspectives. We seek to understand folk tradition as a dynamic process and consider the function of different folklore genres in the imagining and maintenance of community and the socialization of the individual. We also experience this living tradition firsthand through visits of a Chicago-based folk dance ensemble, "Balkan Dance."

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 25908, NEHC 30568, ANTH 35908, REES 39009, NEHC 20568, CMLT 23301, CMLT 33301

REES 29010. Strangers to Ourselves: Emigre Literature and Film from Russia and Southeast Europe. 100 Units.

Being alienated from myself, as painful as that may be, provides me with that exquisite distance within which perverse pleasure begins, as well as the possibility of my imagining and thinking," writes Julia Kristeva in "Strangers to Ourselves," the book from which this course takes its title. The authors whose works we are going to examine often alternate between nostalgia and the exhilaration of being set free into the breathless possibilities of new lives. Leaving home does not simply mean movement in space. Separated from the sensory boundaries that defined their old selves, immigrants inhabit a warped, fragmentary, disjointed time. Immigrant writers struggle for breath-speech, language, voice, the very stuff of their craft resounds somewhere else. Join us as we explore the pain, the struggle, the failure, and the triumph of emigration and exile. Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, Marina Tsvetaeva, Nina Berberova, Julia Kristeva, Alexander Hemon, Dubravka Ugrešić, Norman Manea, Miroslav Penkov, Ilija Trojanow, Tea Obreht.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): REES 39010, CMLT 26912, CMLT 36912

REES 29013. The Burden of History: The Nation and Its Lost Paradise. 100 Units.

How and why do national identities provoke the deep emotional attachments that they do? In this course we try to understand these emotional attachments by examining the narrative of loss and redemption through which most nations in the Balkans narrate their Ottoman past. We begin by grounding our inquiry in some competing theories and histories of national identities. We then attempt to imagine the parameters that govern national identities for the populations that would eventually emerge from the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire as the interpellated members of modern nation states. Finally, we turn to the mythic temporality of the Romantic national narrative where the national past is retold through the formula of original wholeness, foreign invasion, Passion, and Salvation. With the help of Žižek's theory of the subject as constituted by trauma, we think about the national fixation on the trauma of loss, and the role of trauma in the formation of national consciousness. Specific theme inquiries involve the figure of the Janissary as self and other, brotherhood and fratricide, and the writing of the national trauma on the individual physical body. Special attention is given to the general aesthetic of violence, victimhood, the casting of the victimized national self as the object of the "other's perverse desire." The main primary texts include Petar Njegoš' Mountain Wreath (Serbia and Montenegro), Ismail Kadare's The Castle (Albania), Anton Donchev's Time of Parting.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 20573, NEHC 30573, HIST 24005, CMLT 23401, REES 39013, CMLT 33401, HIST 34005

REES 29021. The Shadows of Living Things: The Writings of Mikhail Bulgakov. 100 Units.

What would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared? After all, shadows are cast by things and people. . . . Do you want to strip the earth of all the trees and living things just because of your fantasy of enjoying naked light?" asks the Devil. Mikhail Bulgakov worked on his novel The Master and Margarita throughout most of his writing career, in Stalin's Moscow. Bulgakov destroyed his manuscript, re-created it from memory, and reworked it feverishly even as his body was failing him in his battle with death. The result is an intense contemplation on the nature of good and evil, on the role of art, and the ethical duty of the artist, but also a dazzling world of magic, witches, and romantic love, and an irresistible seduction into the comedic. Laughter, as shadow and light, as the subversive weapon but also as power's whip, grounds human relation to both good and evil. Brief excursions to other texts that help us better understand The Master and Margarita. All readings in translation, with an option (pending enrollment) to participate in a separate Russian-language section through the Languages across the Curriculum (LxC) program.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 29020, REES 39021

REES 29023. Returning the Gaze: The West and the Rest. 100 Units.

Aware of being observed. And judged. Inferior... Abject… Angry... Proud… This course provides insight into identity dynamics between the "West," as the center of economic power and self-proclaimed normative humanity, and the "Rest," as the poor, backward, volatile periphery. We investigate the relationship between South East European self-representations and the imagined Western gaze. Inherent in the act of looking at oneself through the eyes of another is the privileging of that other's standard. We will contemplate the responses to this existential position of identifying symbolically with a normative site outside of oneself-self-consciousness, defiance, arrogance, self-exoticization-and consider how these responses have been incorporated in the texture of the national, gender, and social identities in the region. Orhan Pamuk, Ivo Andrić, Nikos Kazantzakis, Aleko Konstantinov, Emir Kusturica, Milcho Manchevski.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 39023, NEHC 39023, HIST 23609, NEHC 29023, HIST 33609, REES 39023, CMLT 29023

REES 29024. States of Surveillance. 100 Units.

What does it feel to be watched and listened to all the time? Literary and cinematic works give us a glimpse into the experience of living under surveillance and explore the human effects of surveillance - the fraying of intimacy, fracturing sense of self, testing the limits of what it means to be human. Works from the former Soviet Union (Solzhenitsyn, Abram Tertz, Andrey Zvyagintsev), former Yugoslavia (Ivo Andrić, Danilo Kiš, Dušan Kovačević), Romania (Norman Manea, Cristian Mungiu), Bulgaria (Valeri Petrov), and Albania (Ismail Kadare).

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 29024, CMLT 39024, REES 39024

REES 29026. Loyalties, Friendships, Loves. 100 Units.

The Eastern European experience of surveillance under the police state is most often associated with the sense of betrayal, the invasion of the innermost spaces of intimacy and individual consciousness by the secret all-seeing eye. What is often overlooked, however, is the obverse side of fear - the fierce code of loyalty, the tenacity of friendship and love nurtured in the interstices of surveillance and resistance. How are love and friendship understood in such circumstances? Are they experienced in the same way as we understand them? This class will explore these emotional cultural scripts through an array of East, Central, South-East European literary and cinematic works.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 39026, CMLT 29026

REES 29035. Empathetic Sorrows: Recent Bulgarian Literature. 100 Units.

What does it feel to write from "the saddest place in the world"? In 2010, The Economist published an article entitled "The Rich, the Poor, and Bulgaria," in which Bulgaria bucked the paradigm of predicted correlation between income and happiness. "The saddest place in the world, relative to its income per person," the Economist reported, "is Bulgaria." Storytelling invites us to step outside ourselves and inhabit someone else's way of relating to the world. This course will explore the gentle, melancholic empathy with which Bulgarian post-socialist literature seeks otherness in the (no longer heroic) past and the (even less heroic) present.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: TBD
Equivalent Course(s): REES 39035

REES 29045. Dostoevsky and Critical Theory. 100 Units.

The tormented, obsessed, and sadistic characters of Dostoevsky's novels posed a challenge to positivism and reason too scandalous and compelling to be ignored. The novels inspired some of the most brilliant and influential thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the fields of religion, philosophy, psychology and literary theory. We will read two of Dostoevsky's philosophically challenging novels alongside works by these critics and philosophers, including Nietzsche, Sartre, Freud, Bakhtin, Kristeva, and Levinas. While exploring their ideas about faith and unbelief, madness and reason, violence and torture, society and history, we will also inquire into the relationships among literature, philosophy and biography and examine the processes of influence and adaptation.

Instructor(s): Anne Eakin Moss     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): REES 39045, RLST 28207, CMLT 29045, CMLT 39045

REES 29071. Magic Nations. 100 Units.

As part of the post-colonial turn, magic realism is a hybrid mode of narration rejects, overcomes, and offers an alternative to the colonial, Enlightenment episteme. It mobilizes the imaginations and narrative modes of pre-colonial pasts in the articulation of new, post-colonial, often national, selves. In this course, we will unpack some captivating narratives from Southeast Europe in which the visions of the pre-modern mythic worlds emerge as the magic, transcendent core of the modern nations. We will indulge in the sheer enjoyment of the brilliance of these text while focusing on the paradoxes they embody - for example, the simultaneous rejection and reliance on the realist mode, the colonial worldview, and its civilizational hierarchies and models.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 29071, REES 39071

REES 29700. Reading/Research: Russian and Eastern European Studies. 100 Units.

This is an independent study course which is arranged, planned, and managed by a supervising professor in conjunction with the goals that are proposed by the student, and then refined and approved by the supervising professor. This course involves more student self-discipline and a greater sense of direction than do most courses - the student must be willing to plan and execute his/her activities with much less monitoring and without prompting by fellow classmates. The student and the professor discuss and propose goals, topics, and projects.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

REES 29701. Reading/Research: Russian and Eastern European Studies II. 100 Units.

This is the second part of an independent study course which is arranged, planned, and managed by a supervising professor in conjunction with the goals that are proposed by the student, and then refined and approved by the supervising professor. This course involves more student self-discipline and a greater sense of direction than do most courses--the student must be willing to plan and execute his/her activities with much less monitoring and without prompting by fellow classmates. The student and the professor discuss and propose goals, topics, and projects.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter

REES 29702. Reading/Research: Russian and Eastern European Studies III. 100 Units.

This is the third part of an independent study course which is arranged, planned, and managed by a supervising professor in conjunction with the goals that are proposed by the student, and then refined and approved by the supervising professor. This course involves more student self-discipline and a greater sense of direction than do most courses - the student must be willing to plan and execute his/her activities with much less monitoring and without prompting by fellow classmates. The student and the professor discuss and propose goals, topics, and projects.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

REES 29900. BA Paper Workshop. 100 Units.

Students pursuing honors must write an acceptable BA paper in their final year under the supervision of a faculty member in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. At the latest by the Autumn Quarter, students should begin the BA process by consulting with the director of undergraduate studies. Students may register for the BA Paper seminar (REES 29900 BA Paper Workshop) with the approval of the BA supervisor. This course will confer general College elective credit, but it will not count toward the major. If the completed bachelor's paper is judged by the supervisor and a second faculty member to be a distinguished example of original research or criticism, the student is recommended to the College for graduation with honors in Russian and East European Studies. The final decision regarding the granting of any degree with honors rests with the Collegiate divisional master.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter

REES 29902. The Time of Death. 100 Units.

This course is designed to meet the specific needs of a student in the College, an advanced learner of Serbian language and culture, double majoring in Economics and REES. The curriculum of this one-quarter class focuses on the literary work of 20th-century Serbian writer Borislav Pekić. Through a close reading of his first novel, The Time of Miracles (1965), we plan to uncover not only Pekić's notable artistic skills, but also the variety of his linguistic devices- ranging from highly ornate imitations of biblical diction to expressions bordering on urban slang-adjusted to depict the historical and cultural context of his era. In the novel the Christian myth becomes a vehicle for exposing the moral hypocrisy, cruelty, and futility of modern myths, especially those built around the Communists' ideal of their own "promised land." The inevitable flatness of allegorical presentation is always counterbalanced by an enormous vividness of realistic detail, while implied irony makes this somber book surprisingly light-thus it showcases hallmarks of Pekić's unique style.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Winter

REES 29903. REES Proseminar: Nesting (Post-)Colonialisms in Eastern Europe. 100 Units.

The theme for 2026 Russian and East European Studies proseminar is nesting (post)-colonialisms. We rethink the East European experience in conversation with postcolonial and decolonial theories. We map the symbolic geographies of European peripheries and, because peripheries are not just passive recipients but also active agents in mobilizing stereotypes, we study how peripheral actors deploy civilizational hierarchies strategically to manipulate structures of power. The proseminar introduces students in Russian and East European Studies to debates and problems in the field through a theme. Tailored to students' interests, it offers a space for them to hone their research, writing and presentation skills as they engage critically with multiple internal and external perspectives on the region. It also exposes them to professional opportunities related to their college studies. Offered annually, the proseminar is required of all REES Majors who matriculated in Autumn 2025, is open to non-majors with instructor's consent, and may be taken at any time during a student's career.

Instructor(s): Angelina Ilieva     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter

REES 29976. XCAP: The Narratives and Aesthetics of Contagion: Knowledge Formation in the Time of COVID-19. 100 Units.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event in our lifetimes, one that has permeated our personal, national, and global discourse about health, disease, and dying. From individual fears and anxieties, to community lockdowns, to the steady march of infection and death statistics, the pandemic is everywhere, and we have been inundated with images and information about the virus, its contagious spread, and the impact on our society. Yet what do we make of all of this information? Where does it come from? And how does it help us understand the current moment? This course will explore how (dis)information about the virus and pandemic is created, disseminated, and shapes our perceptions, with a particular focus on narratives and aesthetics within a variety of information ecosystems. We will explore, in a broadly chronological format, important narratives and iconography that emerged and continue to evolve during the course of the ongoing pandemic and that contribute to our individual and collective understanding of social, cultural, political, and scientific aspects of the pandemic. We will further consider how this information relates to personal and collective knowledge formation that subsequently informs our attitudes about and behaviors during the pandemic. In particular, we will discuss how medical knowledge is formed and used to care for patients within a rapidly changing clinical environment. Clinical and public health ethics will provide an important framework for asses

Instructor(s): William Nickell, Brian Callender     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 29976, HIPS 26076, HLTH 29976

RUSS 10103-10203-10303. First-Year Russian I-II-III.

First-Year Russian

RUSS 20103-20203-20303. Second-Year Russian I-II-III.

Second-Year Russian

RUSS 20702-20802-20902. Third-Year Russian through Culture I-II-III.

This course, which is intended for third-year students of Russian, covers various aspects of Russian grammar in context and emphasizes the four communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) in a culturally authentic context. Excerpts from popular Soviet/Russian films and clips from Russian television news reports are shown and discussed in class. Classes conducted in Russian; some aspects of grammar explained in English. Drill practice is held twice a week.

RUSS 21302-21402-21502. Advanced Russian through Media I-II-III.

This is a three-quarter sequence designed for fourth- and fifth-year students of Russian. It is also suitable for native speakers of Russian. This sequence covers various aspects of advanced Russian stylistics and discourse grammar in context. This sequence emphasizes the four communicative skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing in a culturally authentic context. It builds transcultural competence by expanding students’ knowledge of the language, culture, history, and daily lives of the Russian-speaking people. Vocabulary building is strongly emphasized. We add to the existing skills and develop our abilities to analyze increasingly complex texts for their meaning: to identify various styles and registers of the Russian language and to provide their neutral equivalents in standard Russian. We also work on developing our abilities to paraphrase, narrate, describe, support opinions, hypothesize, discuss abstract topics, and handle linguistically unfamiliar situations (in spoken and written format). Classes conducted in Russian. Course-specific grammar issues are covered during drill sessions (weekly) and office hours (by appointment). Oral Proficiency Interviews are conducted in the beginning and the end of the course (Autumn and Spring Quarters).

RUSS 21600. Russian For Heritage Learners. 100 Units.

This course examines the major aspects of Russian grammar and stylistics essential for heritage learners. Students engage in close readings and discussions of short stories by classic and contemporary Russian authors (e.g., Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Platonov, Bulgakov, Erofeev, Tolstaya), with special emphasis on their linguistic and stylistic differences. All work in Russian.

Instructor(s): Maria Iakubovich     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Ability to speak Russian fluently required; formal training in Russian not required
Equivalent Course(s): RUSS 31600

UKRA 10103. First-Year Ukrainian I. 100 Units.

This elementary course introduces modern Ukrainian to students who would like to speak Ukrainian or to use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening comprehension, speaking) are stressed. Students are also introduced to Ukrainian culture through readings, videos, and class discussions. Conversation practice is held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Autumn

UKRA 10203. First-Year Ukrainian II. 100 Units.

This is the continuation of a first-year Ukrainian course and introduces students to spoken and written modern Ukrainian. This course emphasizes communicative practices in authentic cultural contexts, for those who would like to speak Ukrainian or use the language for reading and research. Cultural audio-visual materials and use of Ukrainian websites help to reinforce the link between language and culture. It also includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, elementary composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students from excessive dependence on the dictionary and develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. This yearlong course prepares students for continued study of Ukrainian in second-year courses, and for study or travel abroad where Ukrainian is spoken. Mandatory conversation/ drill sessions are held twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Winter

UKRA 10303. First-Year Ukrainian III. 100 Units.

This is the final quarter of the First-Year Ukrainian sequence. It introduces students to spoken and written modern Ukrainian. This course emphasizes communicative practices in authentic cultural contexts, for those who would like to speak Ukrainian or use the language for reading and research. Cultural audio-visual materials and use of Ukrainian websites help to reinforce the link between language and culture. It also includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, elementary composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students from excessive dependence on the dictionary and develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Mandatory conversation sessions are held twice a week. Students completing this sequence will be prepared to take 2nd Year Ukrainian (UKRA 20103) at the University of Chicago in the following fall quarter, or a 2nd Year Ukrainian course over the summer at another institution, and/or to participate in a study abroad program where Ukrainian is spoken.

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Spring

UKRA 20103. Second-Year Ukrainian I. 100 Units.

This is a second-year Ukrainian course, a continuation of UKRA 10103-10203-10303 or equivalent coursework elsewhere (determined by placement). This course familiarizes students with the final elements of grammar and focuses on spoken and written contemporary standard Ukrainian, emphasizing communicative practice in authentic cultural contexts, for those who would like to speak the language or use it for reading and research. Cultural audio-visual materials and use of Ukrainian websites help to reinforce the link between language and culture. It also includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Mandatory conversation sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Autumn

UKRA 20203. Second-Year Ukrainian II. 100 Units.

This is a second-year Ukrainian course, a continuation of UKRA 10103-10203-10303 or equivalent coursework elsewhere (determined by placement). This course familiarizes students with the final elements of grammar and focuses on spoken and written contemporary standard Ukrainian, emphasizing communicative practice in authentic cultural contexts, for those who would like to speak the language or use it for reading and research. Cultural audio-visual materials and use of Ukrainian websites help to reinforce the link between language and culture. It also includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Mandatory conversation sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Winter

UKRA 20303. Second-Year Ukrainian III. 100 Units.

This is a second-year Ukrainian course, a continuation of UKRA 10103-10203-10303 or equivalent coursework elsewhere (determined by placement). This course familiarizes students with the final elements of grammar and focuses on spoken and written contemporary standard Ukrainian, emphasizing communicative practice in authentic cultural contexts, for those who would like to speak the language or use it for reading and research. Cultural audio-visual materials and use of Ukrainian websites help to reinforce the link between language and culture. It also includes review and amplification of grammar, practice in reading, composition, and speaking and comprehension. Systematic study of word formation and other strategies are taught to help free students develop confidence in reading rather than translating. Readings are selected to help provide historical and cultural background. Mandatory conversation sessions are held twice a week.

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Spring

UKRA 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

TBD

Instructor(s): Erik Houle     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Departmental Adviser