RUSS 3691 Intensive Advanced Russian (3 cr.)

This course is dedicated to developing students’ aural/oral communications skills, capitalizing on the rich linguistic surroundings to produce a qualitative jump in speaking ability. Grammar is studied in the context of communicative tasks. Vocabulary significantly expanded. Emphasis is devoted to phonetics. Audio and audio-visual texts provide listening practice and spur discussion of topics relevant to student life and problems of contemporary society. Special focus is given to discussion of cultural differences between the United States and Russia.

RUSS 3692 Advanced Reading and Composition: Current Affairs, Business, Science and Technology (3 cr.)

This course focuses on the development of advanced reading and writing skills. Students work to develop more sophisticated syntax, and grammatical structures which receive high frequency usage in written texts are the object of special focus. Reading texts are keyed to student level and come primarily from the areas of current affairs, business and economics, and science and technology. Vocabulary is introduced with an eye to this material. Reading materials provide a basis for in-class discussion and writing assignments at home. At the end of this class, students should be able to more or less comfortably read newspaper texts on the above topics and to read more specialized texts with the aid of a dictionary. Their compositions will begin to display sophisticated logical and paragraph structure and elements of written style.

RUSS 3813 Contemporary Russia (2 cr.)

Lecture course in English on Russian domestic and foreign policy and economic development issues. Meets four hours per week. Lecturers from the Academy of the National Economy, the Higher School of Economics and Moscow State University. This course is a general introduction into political, cultural, social and historical background of Russian domestic and foreign politics. It will also cover the major issue areas of Russian political life and economic life, and provide description of the wide spectrum of forces currently active on Russian arena.