Study Abroad: St. Petersburg Course Information

Students will enroll in 2 courses: RUSS0250 or RUSS0350 and RUSS1060

RUSS 0250 - Intensive Elementary Russian

The aim of Intensive Elementary Russian is to develop basic communicative competence in the Russian language, that is, to enable students to interact using language which is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation. The course will develop comprehension and use of contemporary Russian, will cover the fundamentals of Russian grammar, vocabulary acquisition and focus on oral communication. Students will actively practice grammar structures on-site, interacting in the St. Petersburg environment with the help of trained tutors. The course will develop all language skills in an integrated approach, with more stress placed on speaking and listening. Classroom activities will use a variety of techniques and authentic materials.

RUSS 0350 - Intensive Intermediate Russian

This course will focus on development of language proficiency while broadening understanding of Russian culture, including expansion of vocabulary for dealing with conversational topics and review of Russian grammar. Focus will be on development of practical language skills as well as sensitivity to cultural meaning. Students at both the intermediate and advanced levels may enroll in RUSS 0350.
Both language courses will be overseen by a Brown On-Site Coordinator and taught by the staff of the Nevsky Institute.

RUSS 1060 - St. Petersburg: A Window on Russia

This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of Russian cultural history through its literature, art, architecture, religion, social and political thought, and performing arts. Important elements of Russian culture will be presented through the prism of the city of St. Petersburg, its history, its urban and cultural landscapes. The course will be taught in St. Petersburg and will include regular field trips to museums, theater, and other places of interest with the focus on specific themes. One of the overriding themes will be tracing the Image of the City Society in Russia as a Utopian Construct. Readings, in English, include city landscapes of the past and the future and their meaning for the survival of national identity in the modern world and are selected from Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevky, Tolstoy, Bely and Bulgakov and others. It will cover the socio-cultural aspects of the shifts in perception and description of the city and ways it has been represented in Russian literature. The course will seek to encourage thinking in more integrative and interdisciplinary ways about history, literature, art, society, and politics. We shall examine a wide range of cultural expressions: religion, art, values, practices, social customs and popular entertainment, all of which will be treated as interrelated with the social and political life in Russia.

Sample Week Schedule

9:00- 10:20 - Intensive Russian language course
10: 30- 11:50 - Intensive Russian language course
Noon - lunch
1:30- 2:50 - Russian Culture course (Tue & Thu)
Afternoon or evening – Fieldtrip

Excursions:
Each week will feature at least two excursions to museums, parks, and other sites of interest: St. Petersburg, Peter and Paul Fortress, the Hermitage, Russian Museum, St. Isaac Cathedral, Dostoevsky Museum, Tsarskoe Selo, Petrodvorets (Peterhof Palace and Parks), and an overnight trip to Moscow.

Moscow

Moscow is Russia’s capital and its largest and most vibrant city. White-stoned, gold-domed, ancient and modern, the city of Moscow is famous for its ancient monasteries, its narrow curved picturesque streets, and ultra-modern monoliths that stand side by side. Throughout much of its history the city was known as the Holy Moscow and considered to be the “Third Rome ” after Ancient Rome and Constantinople. Contemporary Moscow is full of museums, parks, restaurants, and galleries. You will visit the Red Square, the symbolic center of Russia, with its magnificent St. Basil Cathedral, and the Moscow Kremlin with its cathedrals and churches. You will see the Armory Chamber displaying the unique collection of Russia art of the 12-15th centuries and the finest collection of Russian decorative arts of the 16-19th centuries. You will visit various other Moscow museums, including the Tretyakov Gallery, that possesses the finest collection of traditional Russian painting in the world, especially icons, and the Pushkin Museum of Modern Art, one of Russia’s largest museums dedicated to western art. You will also make a trip to the beautiful Sergiev Pasad Monastery, located in a small town north of Moscow, noted for its unique architecture and its many gardens.