Russian Studies Major
By far the largest nation in the world, the Russian Federation spans two continents, eleven time zones, and over six million square miles. Its geopolitical significance and cultural contributions to the world are as immeasurable as its vast resources. At Holy Cross, students can approach Russia in various ways and from multiple perspectives. In the Russian Studies Program and across campus, we offer courses on Russian languages, literature, art, history, political science, and religion. Students can take part in our Russian Club, meet the experts and cultural figures we invite to campus, go on our study abroad program, and browse the college's rare archival icon collection.
In the U.S., Russian is a “critical need” language. The National Security Language Initiative (NDLI) was launched in 2006 to dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Russian. At Holy Cross, students can attain advanced levels of speaking, reading and writing Russian during their undergraduate years. Courses are also available for native speakers.
Department Advanced Placement Policy
Students with AP credit in Russian language or literature earn placement in the curriculum but, not progress toward the minimum number of courses required by the major. Students who take a course that duplicates the AP award in Russian will forfeit the AP credit. Students with AP credit in Russian will not be permitted to enroll in a course below the 300 level.
Requirements
Russian Studies majors take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 14 courses at the intermediate level or above.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Required language courses: | |
| Intermediate Russian 1 and Intermediate Russian 2: Language In Action | |
| Russian Composition & Conversation 1 | |
| Four literature and/or culture classes, with at least one selected from those courses conducted in Russian or with an in-Russian attachment section of a course. 2 | |
| Madness in Russian Literature | |
| Tales of Desire | |
| Fire & Ice: Siberia In Fiction | |
| Russian Drama and the West | |
| Russian Cinema | |
| Fairytale: Russia & the World | |
| 19Th Century Russian Literature | |
| 20Th/21st Century Russian Literature | |
| Soviet Art and Literature | |
| Writing Under Stalin | |
| Kjiv to Moscow: A Medieval Journey | |
| Advanced Russian Tutorial | |
| Additional electives from the lists above or below (two of which may be taken outside of the Russian Studies Program) to meet the ten course requirement. | |
| Imperial Russia/East & West | |
| Soviet Experiment | |
| The Soviet Union After Stalin | |
| The Politics of Post-Communism | |
| Note: At least one Russian course must be completed in the fourth year if the student studies abroad. | |
| 1 | Students unable to complete RUSS 301 Russian Composition & Conversation before graduation may complete the requirement by participating in a Holy Cross Russian language Maymester, by taking an in-Russian attachment section of a course, or completing a 300-level topics course (e.g. translation, phonetics). |
| 2 | Students are encouraged to take at least one class in each of these categories:
|
Students may count toward the major two of the regularly offered courses on Russia in the Political Science or History Departments. These latter courses may not be taken in lieu of literature and culture courses conducted in Russian. Majors are strongly encouraged to study abroad in the Russian language for a summer term, semester, or academic year.