Russian majors in small programs

[Janneke van de Stadt]

At Williams, we have begun to do something similar to what Laura  
describes, except that we combine third and fifth semesters to make up  
for all the juniors who go abroad.   In addition, we offer the option  
of a "Certificate in Russian" for those who cannot or do not wish to  
major.  Some of our students opt to major in Comparative Literature  
but with a focus in Russian.  In this way, all the members of Russian  
faculty contribute regularly to the CompLit program teaching courses  
in translation as well as Russian.


On Apr 30, 2009, at 10:17 PM, Laura Kline wrote:

> We teach third- and fourth-year Russian together as one class. We  
> offer 3010
> and 3020 each year, and they are repeatable, as we use different  
> material
> for 3010 and 3020 taught in odd years versus 3010 and 3020 in even  
> years. In
> other words, we offer 4 semesters after 2nd year which are each  
> different.
> This way we increase our class size for the administration, but  
> don't teach
> overload.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Elaine Rusinko
> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:44 AM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Russian majors in small programs
>
> I would like to tap into the accumulated wisdom and experience of this
> group, if I may. Our Russian program at the University of Maryland,
> Baltimore County has recently been challenged by the cost-conscious
> administration. We regularly have approximately 45 students in RUSS  
> 101
> (we have a three-semester language requirement). But by the time the
> students reach the advanced level, we are down to four or five, and we
> graduate approximately 3-5 Russian majors per year. This results in a
> tenured faculty member or a part-time native speaker teaching a course
> of 4-5 students at the 400-level, which the administration does not
> consider cost-effective. We have been asked to propose changes to our
> program -- either dispense with the Russian major or figure out a  
> way to
> offer the major through creative adjustments.
>
> We already teach our literature and culture courses in English. These
> courses satisfy general education culture and writing-intensive
> requirements and serve the general university population. Our Russian
> majors take 1-credit supplements in Russian, which the tenured faculty
> teach as overloads. Almost all of our students start with RUSS 101, so
> the real problem is how to cover four years of Russian language in a  
> way
> that is cost effective. Collapsing courses? Requiring study abroad?
> Changing the focus of the major? Other ideas?
>
> I would like to hear from those of you in small programs who may have
> dealt with this problem. If you have suggestions for creative program
> adaptations, please contact me.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> -- 
> Elaine Rusinko
> Associate Professor of Russian
> University of Maryland, Baltimore County
> 1000 Hilltop Circle
> Baltimore, MD 21250
>
> 410-455-2109
> rusinko at umbc.edu
>
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