2021 Spring SLAVIC R5B 002 LEC 002

Course Catalog Description

Reading and composition course based on works of Russian and other Slavic writers, either written in English or translated into English. As students develop strategies of writing and interpretation, they will become acquainted with a particular theme in Russian and/or Slavic literatures and their major voices. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R5B satisfies the second half.

Class Description

A common justification for the place of the humanities in the contemporary university is their role in fostering the development of ethics. However, as the philosopher Martha Nussbaum has argued, ‘goodness’ is fragile—among other things, it is contingent on political and social contexts that could make any ethical action impossible. What importance do moral principles have under, for instance, serfdom, apartheid, or slavery? What kind of tension exists between freedom and ethical obligations? This course will investigate the relationship between ethics and art by taking as its focus works in which the ethically ‘good’ is either absent, rejected, or otherwise made problematic. In doing so, we will develop writing skills while thinking critically about the relationships between the liberal arts, empathy, and ethics within particular historical and contemporary political contexts. Possible readings will include novels by Turgenev, Coetzee, and Morrison, short stories by Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel, Platonov, and Makanin, essays by Berger and Sontag, and films by Cronenberg and Bodrov. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Required for purchase: Fathers and Children, Ivan Turgenev (trans. Michael Katz, Norton) ISBN: 978-0393927979 Disgrace, J.M. Coetzee (Penguin) ISBN: 978-0140296402 Beloved, Toni Morrison (Vintage) ISBN: 978-1400033416

Class Notes

Synchronous instruction. Time conflicts are not allowed.

This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading & Composition requirement or its equivalent. S.. show more

Synchronous instruction. Time conflicts are not allowed.

This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading & Composition requirement or its equivalent. Students may not enroll in nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

Due to the high demand for R&C courses we monitor attendance very carefully. Attendance is mandatory the first two weeks of classes, this includes all enrolled and wait listed students. If you do not attend all classes the first two weeks you may be dropped. If you are attempting to add into this class during weeks 1 and 2 and did not attend the first day, you will be expected to attend all class meetings thereafter and, if space permits, you may be enrolled from the wait list. show less

Rules & Requirements

Requisites

Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.