This is a TBA course. TBA means "time to be arranged" (to accommodate as many students as we can). We hold an organizational meeting for all TBA courses at the beginning of each semester. The time and place of the meeting are posted under "Current Announcements" at our home page, russian.cornell.edu (click Welcome in the navigation bar on the left).
Russian 6633 is a variable credit course. When it meets twice a week for 50 minutes each time, register for three credit hours. When it meets once a week, register for two credit hours. The decision is made at the organizational meeting where the materials and format for the course are discussed and defined
The course is open to native as well as non-native speakers of Russian.
This course is taught differently each year depending on the interests of the students who take it. This is discussed at the organizational meeting or in the first class.
Here is what we are doing this year, Fall 2017.
We'll put together a list of culturally significant films produced in Russia over the past couple of decades, plus, whenever possible, short pieces of fiction on related themes, and discuss these once a week, with emphasis on historical, political, and social analysis. That's one credit hour's worth of work. In addition, those students who enroll for 2 credit hours, will write a short essay (under one page) and submit it during the class, to offer and discuss the same set of ideas and observations.Here is what we did in Fall 2014.
Each student will select a theme or a subject or an area that he or she is interested in. This may be the same throughout the semester or different on different weeks. Each student will do independent online research and prepare a ten-minute presentation on his or her latest discoveries. The presentation does not need to be formal, but it must be organized and clear, so the audience who may know nothing about the subject could take away a good understanding of the delivered information. You may consult your notes as you speak, but please do not read them aloud: the class is semi-formal, discussion (including interruptions) is expected and encouraged, and questions will be asked.Here is what we did in Fall 2013.
Каждый из студентов находит на Рунете статью на очередную тему из списка, который был предложен студентами в начале семестра (и может совместно пересматриваться по ходу дела), рассылает адрес статьи за несколько дней до занятия, чтобы все могли прочитать все статьи и подготовиться к обсуждению. Вместе с адресом можно разослать и вопросы для обсуждения. На занятии мы обсуждаем предложенные статьи и тему вообще и делаем звукозапись ключевых моментов (например, лучшие формулировки каких-то мыслей или исправление неправильных/неточных высказываний). Эти записи все могут прослушать потом для повторения/закрепления. Темы и линки к предложенным статьям (и, возможно, вопросы для обсуждения) будут постепенно добавляться в Syllabus page.
В настоящий момент список тем таков: