Second-year continuation of POL 1210, 1220. Prerequisite: POL 1210, 1220 and instructor permission.

An introduction to Slavic folklore with special emphasis on the origins and subsequent manifestations of vampirism. Western perceptions, misperceptions, and adaptations of Slavic culture are explored and explicated. The approach is interdisciplinary: folklore, history, literature, religion, film, disease and a variety of other topics.

The 20th century will most likely remain one of the most puzzling periods in human history, in which amazing progress was coupled with unprecedented barbarity of modern totalitarian regimes. The course helps students untangle this paradox by exploring a series of memoirs by survivors and perpetrators, as well as scholarly essays, films, and other cultural statements.

This course is an introduction to and overview of the history of film in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Russia, though we will be discussing other countries that were once part of the Soviet Bloc. We will be covering a variety of films, long and short, as well as animation, and how these works of art reflect the time periods in which they were created.

This course explores different sources of Russian national identity from pre-Christian `Rus' to the present. We will investigate how the occidental and oriental elements blend into a unique Euro-Asian culture, nation, and world power. Our main aim is to provide an orientation to the symbolic world of Russian self-identification. We will employ the tools of the historian, geographer, psychologist, and student of literature and culture.

Open to students with no knowledge of Russian. Studies the major works of Tolstoy.

Continuation of Russian grammar. Includes intensive oral practice through reports, dialogues, guided discussions; composition of written reports and essays; readings in literary and non-literary texts. Class meets three hours per week, plus work in the language laboratory. Prerequisite: RUSS 2010, 2020 or equivalent with a grade of C or better.

No knowledge of Russian needed. Investigates 'being Russian' through the works of Russia's great writers, artists, architects, and composers. Focuses on the heroes, heroines, and villains, symbols, legends, and rituals central to Russian creativity.

Introduces students to the essentials of Polish grammar with emphasis on speaking and reading. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at: http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/slavic/courses.html.

This course considers a medley of tales drawn from various cultural traditions, oral and written, including canonical European fairy tales, traditional Slavic texts, African folk narratives, and oral tales from other cultures collected and recorded more recently. We will sample different thematic groups of tales and analyze them in view of various interpretive methodologies: structuralism, sociology, feminism, and cultural studies. Particular attention will be paid to adaptations of familiar stories for different times and audiences. All readings in English. No prerequisites.