Chair(s): 
Edward Cohn

This concentration requires work in literature, history, political science, and economics, with a major emphasis on Russia or other Central/Eastern European countries, particularly the Czech Republic and Poland. Study opportunities are available in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also at sites in Central Europe.

Concentration Requirements: 

Required, 24 or 26 credits as follows:

Russian Literature and Culture Track

1. Literature, 12 credits chosen from the following courses:

  • Russian/General Literary Studies 247 The Russian Short Story
  • Russian/General Literary Studies 248 The Russian Novel
  • Russian 251 The Theme of the African in Russian Literature and Culture
  • Russian 261 History of Russian Film
  • Russian 331 Readings in Russian Literature of the 19th Century
  • Russian 332 Readings in Russian Literature of the 20th Century
  • Russian /General Literary Studies 353 Major Russian Writers
  • Russian 495 Seminar in Russian Culture and Linguistics
  • Russian 498 Seminar in Russian Literature and Linguistics

2. History, 8 credits:

  • History 241 Origins of Modern Russia
  • History 242 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

3. Four or six credits in an interdisciplinary seminar or independent work related to or deriving from a course already taken in the concentration

Russian History and Culture Track

1. Social Sciences, 12 credits chosen from the following courses (eight of these must be from one social science discipline):

  • Economics 225 Marxian Economics
  • History 241 Origins of Modern Russia
  • History 242 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
  • History 244 World War II on the Eastern Front: Ivan and Fritz Go to War
  • History 34X Advanced Studies in Russian History
  • Political Science 250 Politics of International Relations
  • Political Science 251 International Political Economy
  • Political Science 257 Nationalism
  • Political Science 273 Politics of Russia
  • Political Science 357 Diffusion of Democracy
  • The area studies components of the Russian and Central European programs with which Grinnell College is affiliated (4 credits)

2. Eight credits from the literature list

3. Four or six credits in an interdisciplinary seminar or independent work related to or deriving from a course already taken in the concentration

Central and Eastern European Track

1. Twelve credits chosen from the following courses:

  • Economics 225 Marxian Economics
  • History 238 The Making of Modern Germany
  • History 241 Origins of Modern Russia
  • History 242 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
  • History 244 World War II on the Eastern Front: Ivan and Fritz Go to War
  • Political Science 250 Politics of International Relations
  • Political Science 255 Pluralist Systems: Comparative Politics of European Government: East and West
  • Political Science 257 Nationalism
  • Political Science 273 Politics of Russia
  • Political Science 357 Diffusion of Democracy

2. RES/General Literary Studies 291 Perspectives in Modern Central and Eastern European Literature

3. Four credits from the following courses:

  • Russian/General Literary Studies 247 The Russian Short Story
  • Russian/General Literary Studies 248 The Russian Novel
  • German/General Literary Studies 227 Topics in German Literature in Translation
  • Philosophy 234 19th-Century Continental Philosophy
  • The area studies components of Russian and Central European programs with which Grinnell College is affiliated (4 credits)
  • One 300-level (or higher) Russian or German literature course

4. Four or six credits in an interdisciplinary seminar or independent work related to or deriving from a course already taken in the concentration

Courses:

291 Perspectives in 20th-Century Central and Eastern European Literature* Fall or Spring
Credits: 4+
Instructor(s): Todd Patrick Armstrong
Prerequisite(s): None.

Also listed as General Literary Studies 291. This course examines and analyzes a number of 20th-century works in translation from several countries of Central and Eastern Europe (primarily, but not limited to, the former-Yugoslavia, Poland, and the former-Czechoslovakia). Attention is devoted to how writers, artists, poets, and others attempt to understand and respond to major events and issues in specific countries, and in the region in general: war, genocide, revolution, totalitarianism, political repression, clashes of religion and culture, and quests for (self-)identity.

495 Senior Research or Seminar Fall or Spring
Credits: 2 or 4
Instructor(s): Staff

An interdisciplinary senior seminar or senior research project for students completing the concentration in Russian, Central and Eastern European Studies. May be repeated in consecutive semesters by a student pursuing a single research project. Credits earned each semester must fulfill program requirements as specified in program description.

* Indicates courses not offered every year.