The Russian Soul Through Film

Catalog description

The course will investigate Russian culture through the most significant trends and periods in the development of Russian cinema. Screening award-winning films by major Russian directors such as Tarkovskii, Mikhalkov, and others will examine the impact cinema continues to have on Russian society and culture today. The presentation of films (in Russian with English subtitles) will be thematic and supplemented by a variety of texts. This is a writing-enhanced course that requires an effective amount of writing to attain course objectives as stated below. You will be required to hand in a review of a scholarly (non-fiction) book dealing with Russian culture/cinematography (approx. 1,200 words), for which you will receive feedback for revision before it is graded. You will also be given several both formal and informal (exploratory) writing assignments, including two movie reviews (approx. 900 words each) and four in-class freewrites respectively. For each of the movie review you will receive feedback for revision before they are graded. For each of the assignments you will be provided with a detailed handout, specifying grading criteria. Your in-class freewrites will be you reactions to cinematographic and cultural material covered in the course. They will be weighed into a course grade on the basis of quantity of writing produced and quality of the thought content