What You’ll Study in the Russian Minor
Study Russian language and literature with the Russian minor at Reed College. Our Russian language courses range from introductory through advanced levels, and our expert professors teach a variety of courses in the literary, cinematic, and cultural traditions of the Russian-speaking world, from antiquity to the present. Gain a foundation in the Russian language, and learn textual analysis, written and oral communication, and critical thinking.
Why Take Russian Courses at Reed College?
Expansive Study of Russian
The unique feature of the Russian program at Reed is the sequence of three courses that together cover the history of Russian literature from the Middle Ages to the present. Our department’s purview extends beyond the bounds of Russia to encompass Eastern European Jewish studies and Soviet and post-Soviet cultural materials from Ukraine, Central Asia, and diasporic communities.
Learn Outside the Classroom
We offer additional opportunities to practice Russian through a peer-tutoring program and weekly conversations with a native speaker. You can also build your language skills and cultural appreciation at the Russian House, which serves as both a residence hall and a cultural center. Each week residents host a cultural event: films, dinners and teas, board games, poetry readings, musical performances, and much more.
Russian Culture under Putin
In the course Russian Culture under Putin: Resistance and Conformity, students explore cultural developments in Russia over the last two decades—developments that have taken place in a conservative social climate, under the pressure of increasingly repressive government policies. Through a variety of materials, students examine “highbrow culture” and “mass culture” to address both techniques of conformity and strategies of resistance.
At left, Leviathan, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev in 2014, depicts love, corruption, and tragedy in the modern Russian state.
