Russian Language / Literature vs. Russian Studies?

[David Graber]

Dear Seelangs Subscribers,

As I hear of departments being cut or eliminated, I wonder if it matters how we present the *purpose* of our course material--on the one hand, as language learning leading to the study of literature/linguistics or, on the other, as part of a more general humanities/social sciences-based Russian Studies.

Does it make a difference if we package our classes as ways of understanding "civilization", "culture", "cultural history", "cultural studies", "area studies", "history of ideas", etc, as opposed to classes that suggest that our ultimate goal is understanding "literariness" (e.g., "Russian literature", "19th Century Russian Literature", "Romanticism", "Pushkin/Dostoevsky/Tolstoy", "Russian Poetry", etc) and linguistics? 

I'd be curious to know whether anyone on the list has any experience with reworking the departmental offerings into a Russian Studies program, what is gained/lost in doing so, and whether that seems to affect how students, administrators, and the public view the department and its usefulness to the institution and society. 

Dave Graber



      

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