2025 Spring SLAVIC R5A 002 LEC 002

Spring 2025

SLAVIC R5A 002 - LEC 002

Reading and Composition

Illness in Slavic Literature

Zachary Samuel Johnson, Ros Herling

Jan 21, 2025 - May 09, 2025
Mo, We, Fr
10:00 am - 10:59 am
Class #:22713
Units:4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0
Enrolled: 17
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 17
Waitlist Max: 3
No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

9 hours of outside work hours, and 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials.

Other classes by Zachary Samuel Johnson

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

What is the measure of individual health in societies with severe social problems? What does disability, the inability to work, mean for the individual in a workers’ revolutionary state? Can disability itself be a form of political action? On the other hand, is it possible that mankind’s bodily fragility could be overcome by thinking really hard? Can illness be controlled by fostering a culture of exercise and self-care? Or by fostering a culture of interconnection and collective care? Would we get better results by instituting a series of political and administrative reforms to increase access to medicine, or by literally running away from the body itself? Maybe illness cannot be controlled at all? What about by playing video games? Have we tried that? In this course you will learn to approach and interpret text with new confidence, as well as to produce analytical text of your own that addresses all of these questions and more. In this class we will read works written in several different historical and national contexts, from 19th-century Imperial Russia to the 21st-century Republic of Poland. Some of the authors with whom you will become acquainted include: Aleksandr Pushkin, Lev Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Lesya Ukrainka, Friedrich Chernyshov, Galina Rymbu, Ivan Turgenev, Varlam Shalamov, Olga Tokarczuk, and the game studio IcePick Lodge. All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the first half, or the “A” portion, of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Class Notes

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 cl.. show more
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

  • Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills

First half of the Reading and Composition Requirement

Reserved Seats

Current Enrollment

No Reserved Seats

Textbooks & Materials

See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.

Textbook Lookup

Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials

eTextbooks

Associated Sections

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