* RSEE 2090a / CPLT 2180a / HUMS 2900a, Medicine and the Humanities: Certainty and Unknowing  Matthew Morrison

Sherwin Nuland often referred to medicine as “the Uncertain Art.” In this course, we address the role of uncertainty in medicine, and the role that narrative plays in capturing that uncertainty. We focus our efforts on major authors and texts that define the modern medical humanities, with primary readings by Mikhail Bulgakov, Henry Marsh, Atul Gawande, and Lisa Sanders. Other topics include the philosophy of science (with a focus on Karl Popper), rationalism and romanticism (William James), and epistemology and scientism (Wittgenstein). Events permitting, field trips will take us to the Yale Medical Historical Library, the Yale Center for British Art, the Peabody Museum, and the Marsh Botanical Garden.  HU
T 3:30pm-5:20pm

* RSEE 2219b / RUSS 2310b / TDPS 2016b, History of Russian Theater  Julia Titus

This seminar introduces students to the rich legacy of Russian theater, focusing specifically on the developments of Russian drama from the first third of the nineteenth-century to the early twentieth century. The readings and plays studied in the course are organized chronologically, starting with classic Russian comedies by Alexander Griboyedov and Nikolai Gogol, continuing with dramas by Alexander Ostrovsky and Ivan Turgenev, and ending with late nineteenth-century/early twentieth century plays by Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov. Some readings from Stanislavsky are also included. This course will be taught in Russian, with some readings in English and others in Russian.  HU
F 1:30pm-3:20pm

RSEE 2225a / HIST 1290a, Russia from the Ninth Century to 1801  Staff

The mainstream of Russian history from the Kievan state to 1801. Political, social, and economic institutions and the transition from Eastern Orthodoxy to the Enlightenment.  HU  0 Course cr
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* RSEE 2257a / CPLT 2005a / RUSS 2267a, Memory and Memoir in Russian Culture  Jinyi Chu

How do we remember and forget? How does memory transform into narrative? Why do we read and write memoirs and autobiography? What can they tell us about the past? How do we analyze the roles of the narrator, the author, and the protagonist? How should we understand the ideological tensions between official histography and personal reminiscences, especially in 20th-century Russia? This course aims to answer these questions through close readings of a few cultural celebrities’ memoirs and autobiographical writings that are also widely acknowledged as the best representatives of 20th-century Russian prose. Along the way, we read literary texts in dialogue with theories of memory, historiography, and narratology. Students acquire the theoretical apparatus that enables them to analyze the complex ideas, e.g. cultural memory and trauma, historicity and narrativity, and fiction and non-fiction. Students finish the course with an in-depth knowledge of the major themes of 20th-century Russian history, e.g. empire, revolution, war, Stalinism, and exilic experience, as well as increased skills in the analysis of literary texts. Students with knowledge of Russian are encouraged to read in the original language. All readings are available in English.   WR, HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RSEE 2301a, Post-Soviet Civilization  Nari Shelekpayev

The collapse of the Soviet Union stands as the pivotal historical event of the late 20th century, reshaping global politics, economy, and culture. The monolithic Soviet order splintered into wildly divergent paths: some states clawed towards Europe, while others calcified regimes as closed as North Korea's. We trace the genealogy of the Soviet demise and its afterlives until the authoritarian turn of the 2000s, revealing how USSR's legacies shape contemporary world.  HU
TTh 1pm-2:15pm

* RSEE 2410a / HIST 3240a, Government, Law, and Society in Modern Russia, 1853-1953  Sergei Antonov

Russian political culture from the Crimean War to the death of Stalin. Special attention to continuities, as well as changes, across the revolutionary divide of 1917, and to comparing official policies with daily experiences of ordinary Russians. Changing ideologies and ruling styles of tsars and early Soviet leaders (esp. Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin) and relations with aristocratic and bureaucratic elites; political dissent and protest, including popular and state-imposed violence; the problem of legality and the rule of law. All discussions and readings in English.  WR, HU
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

RSEE 2660a / HIST 1265a, Soviet Russia 1917-1991  Staff

Overview of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Topics include political culture and ideology of the Bolshevik/Communist Party; social and economic changes; foreign policy and the role of WWII; major artistic and cultural movements. Paper assignments involve close readings of memoir and oral history accounts.  HU  0 Course cr
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* RSEE 3120a / FILM 3007a / SLAV 3120a and SLAV 6120a / UKRN 3120a and UKRN 6120a, Cinematic Ukraine: Culture, Identity, and Memory  Olha Tytarenko

This course traces the evolution of Ukrainian cinema from the avant-garde experiments of the 1920s to the vibrant post-2014 film resurgence. Exploring themes of national identity, historical memory, and resistance to political and cultural oppression, we analyze how filmmakers have shaped Ukraine’s self-conception through film. Topics include the poetic cinema of the 1960s, post-Soviet transition films, and contemporary works responding to war and cultural sovereignty. Students will engage critically with cinematic language, narrative structures, and visual aesthetics while incorporating perspectives from postcolonial theory and memory studies. The course features guest lectures from Ukrainian film directors and hands-on cinematographic workshops. Weekly thematic units pair films with historical and theoretical readings, offering a dynamic exploration of Ukraine’s place in global cinema and cultural history. None  HU
M 3:30pm-5:20pm, Th 6pm-9pm

* RSEE 3401a / CPLT 3401a / HUMS 3401a / RUSS 3401a, The Stranger: Travel and Belonging Across Empires  Jinyi Chu and Hana Stankova

How has the “stranger” shaped national and imperial identities? This course considers travel and emigration in imperial contexts and brings Russian literature into conversation with European literature. We explore narratives of imperial exceptionalism, Russian parochialism, and the broader imperial contexts that shaped the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through a literary journey from the late 18th century to the mid 20th century, students consider how the Russian literary tradition and national identity were shaped by fraught exchanges between Russians and Western Europeans, as well as by Russia’s expansion eastward. We read canonical works by writers who questioned or supported empires and think through ways in which they influenced one another. Through close readings, historicization, and theorization, students gain new perspectives on the issues of belonging and alienation in changing imperial contexts.   WR, HU
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

* RSEE 4900a and RSEE 4910b, The Senior Essay  Claire Roosien

Preparation of the senior essay under faculty supervision. The essay grade becomes the grade for both terms of the course. Required of all seniors majoring in Russian and East European Studies. Credit for RSEE 490 only on completion of RSEE 491.
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