Course Description:

This course will introduce students to the short fiction (in English translation) of some of Russia’s greatest writers, including Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Turgenev. Along the way, we’ll weave in history and culture and explore the ways in which these have influenced Russian ideology and literature. In addition to reading, analyzing, and discussing a variety of short stories, students will hone their writing skills with lessons and short assignments designed to help strengthen their grasp of key aspects of academic writing (including thesis statements, effective use of evidence, and analysis). They will then have the opportunity to pull together all they have learned in a culminating essay on a topic of their choosing, using resources and texts from the course.