Courses in Russian Language
ARUS 101 Elementary Russian I (3)
A communicative introduction to Russian for beginners, designed to develop basic skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing while mastering the grammatical structures and concepts on which those skills depend. Content focuses on practical survival and social functioning in today's Russian-speaking world as well as aspects of Russian culture, society, and history. Native speakers of Russian may not take this course. Students with only limited Russian gained from growing up in families where Russian was spoken may be allowed to enroll in this course with permission of the instructor. Transfer students who have had one year of Russian-language study are advised to enroll in ARUS 201. Students who have been granted UAlbany in the High School credit for second-year Russian may not enroll in ARUS 101, 102, 201, or 202 for credit. Students who have had two or more years of college-level Russian-language study are advised to consider SUNY study-abroad options for more advanced Russian study. Language courses must be taken in sequence. A student may not earn graduation credit for a lower-level course taken concurrently with a higher-level course or after receiving credit for a higher-level course in the sequence.
ARUS 102 Elementary Russian II (3)
Continuation of ARUS 101. Students refine their ability to express spatial location and the subject matters of their university courses. They are introduced to the system of "motion verbs" in Russian, time expressions, expressing direct action with the accusative case, and expressing possession and nonexistence using the genitive case. Native speakers of Russian may not take this course. Students with only limited Russian gained from growing up in families where Russian was spoken may be allowed to enroll in this course with permission of the instructor. Transfer students who have had one year of Russian-language study are advised to enroll in ARUS 201. Students who have had two or more years of college-level Russian-language study are advised to consider SUNY study-abroad options for more advanced Russian study. Language courses must be taken in sequence. A student may not earn graduation credit for a lower-level course taken concurrently with a higher-level course or after receiving credit for a higher-level course in the sequence. Prerequisite(s): ARUS 101 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
ARUS 201 Intermediate Russian I (3-5)
Continuation of ARUS 102. Students are introduced to verbal aspect in Russian. They develop further skills in "motion verbs" and time expressions. They learn the forms and uses of the dative and instrumental cases, thus completing their introduction to the Russian declension system. Native speakers of Russian may not take this course. Students with only limited Russian gained from growing up in families where Russian was spoken may be allowed to enroll in this course with permission of the instructor. Transfer students who have had one year of Russian-language study are advised to enroll in ARUS 201. Students who have had two or more years of college-level Russian-language study are advised to consider SUNY study-abroad options for more advanced Russian study. Language courses must be taken in sequence. A student may not earn graduation credit for a lower-level course taken concurrently with a higher-level course or after receiving credit for a higher-level course in the sequence. Prerequisite(s): ARUS 102 or permission of the director of the Russian program.
ARUS 202 Intermediate Russian II (3-5)
Continuation of ARUS 201. Students continue mastering "subjectless" constructions and the various devices in Russian for expressing ability and obligation. They gain new tools to express spatial location and motion, and to give and understand directions for finding places. They are introduced to the system of imperatives for Russian verbs. Native speakers of Russian may not take this course. Students with only limited Russian gained from growing up in families where Russian was spoken may be allowed to enroll in this course with permission of the instructor. Transfer students who have had one year of Russian-language study are advised to enroll in ARUS 201. Students who have had two or more years of college-level Russian-language study are advised to consider SUNY study-abroad options for more advanced Russian study. Language courses must be taken in sequence. A student may not earn graduation credit for a lower-level course taken concurrently with a higher-level course or after receiving credit for a higher-level course in the sequence. Prerequisite(s): ARUS 201 or permission of the director of the Russian program.
ARUS 397 Independent Study (1–6)
Directed reading and conferences on selected topics. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior standing, and permission of instructor and program director.
Literature and Culture Courses in English Translation
ARUS 161/161Z Russian Civilization (3)
The cultural and ideological development of Russia from the inheritance of the Byzantine Empire through the 1917 Russian Revolution. Includes various aspects of history, political systems, economy and culture and the arts. Conducted in English. Only one version of ARUS 161 may be taken for credit.
ARUS 162/162Z Contemporary Russia (3)
Introduction to the society and culture of contemporary Russia, focusing in part on the continuities and differences between the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Topics to be studied include: the linguistic and cultural revolution of the 1990s, individual adaptation to a new economic environment, official and unofficial attempts to “construct” a new Russia. Conducted in English. Only one version of ARUS 162 may be taken for credit.
ARUS 251 Masterpieces of 19th Century Russian Literature (3)
Survey of the development of Russian literature, particularly prose fiction, from the age of Pushkin to about 1900. Readings will be chosen from short stories and novels by the following writers: Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov. Conducted in English.
ARUS 252 Masterpieces of 20th Century Russian Literature (3)
Survey of the development of Russian literature, particularly prose fiction, from the turn of the century to the death of Stalin (1953). Readings will be chosen from poems, short stories and novels by the following writers: Chekhov, Gorky, Olesha, Bulgakov, Babel, Pasternak, Zamyatin, Sholokhov, and others. Conducted in English.
ARUS 253 Late Soviet-Period Russian Literature (3)
Survey of Soviet literature from the death of Stalin (1953) to the present. Readings taken primarily from prose fiction by such writers as Solzhenitsyn, Trifonov, Aksyonov, Shukshin, Bitov, and Erofeyev. Discussion of how the changing political situation affected writers and literature. Conducted in English.
ARUS 270 Topics in Slavic Literatures and Cultures (3)
A course on various topics in Slavic literatures and cultures (Russian, Czech, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Polish, etc.). May include instruction in language, or lecture-style courses on literature and culture. Course may cover an individual work, an individual author or a genre. May be repeated when topic differs. Conducted in English.
ARUS 280 Soviet and Russian Cinema (3)
Main trends in the development of Russian and Soviet cinema, from the silents of the early 20th century to the period of glasnost and the post-Soviet era. Introduction to the theories of Eisenstein, Vertov, Kuleshov, and others. Social and political issues explored through famous classic and contemporary films. Films are subtitled in English. Conducted in English.
ARUS 375 Language as Identity: Slavic Languages in Comparison (3)
What creates a language border? Is it grammar, or is it politics? Focusing on Central Eurasia and the Slavic-speaking world, and growing on sociolinguistics, history, and cultural studies, this course investigates why closely related dialects become distinct, mutually unintelligible languages. We explore how nations engineer vocabulary through dictionaries and textbooks to enforce identity and manufacture linguistic distance. Through experiences such comparative board games and digital humanities tools, students critically assess political narratives to verify linguistic facts firsthand. This class addresses common historical myths, like those surrounding "Old Church Slavonic," and discovers the blurred lines and cross-border features that actually connect, or divide, how nations speak. The course emphasizes the instability of borders, either geographic, linguistic, or symbolic, and explores how alphabets, dialects, and artistic forms function as political instruments.