Introduction to Russian grammar through oral, written, and reading exercises; special emphasis on oral expression. Three periods.

Survey of Russian fiction from the Age of Pushkin (1820s-1830s) to Tolstoy's mature work (1870s) focusing on the role of fiction in Russian history, contemporaneous critical reaction, literary movements in Russia, and echoes of Russian literary masterpieces in the other arts, especially film and music. Major works by Pushkin (Eugene Onegin, "The Queen of Spades"), Lermontov (A Hero of Our Time), Gogol (Dead Souls), Pavlova (A Double Life), Turgenev (Fathers and Children), Tolstoy (Anna Karenina), and Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment) will be read.

Students will become experts in one of the overarching themes of Russian and Georgian culture: the city of Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia.
We will explore the cultural history of Tiflis/Tbilisi in the Russian Empire, in the Soviet Union, and as part of the Independent Republic of Georgia. We will use Diverse Russian: A Multicultural Exploration, a free, online, interactive textbook. Supplementary readings will be drawn from classical Russian literature (Griboedov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Mayakovsky) and from Georgian poetry (Rustaveli, Baratashvili, Tabidze) in Russian translation.
We will examine the representation of Tbilisi and Georgia in film, music, songs and the visual arts.
Students will present a final project on a topic of their choice in the context of the cultural history of Tbilisi from 1800 to the present. Taught in Russian.