Faculty in CREECA are offering some amazing courses in Fall 2024! Scroll down for details.
For a full list of REECAS courses, please click on the links below.
REECAS Courses--Fall & Summer 2024
Fall 2024: GNS 339 – Elementary Turkish
Designed for learners who have no previous formal study in Turkish including learners who speak Turkish only at home. This course introduces basic grammar and vocabulary building competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Learners will be able to identify basic material products, practices, and perspectives of Turkish speaking cultures in Türkiye, the Balkans, Germany, in the US, and beyond. Learners can opt to take this course with Pass/Fail option (no letter grade). This course counts towards Middle East Studies Certificate and European Studies Certificate. Open to both undergraduate and graduate students!
Prerequisite: None
Course meeting days and times: Monday through Thursdays 12:05-12:55, Van Hise 144
Credits: 4 credits. Counts as L&S credits, Humanities Breath
Fall 2024: GNS 339 – Advanced Turkish
Course Description: Advanced Turkish (GNS 539) is designed particularly for students, who don’t have formal education in Turkish but already speak the language, to help develop their advanced literacy in Turkish. We will use authentic materials designed for speakers of Turkish such as short stories, poems, podcasts, and films. Students will be able to analyze and compare material products, traditions, and perspectives of Turkish speaking cultures in Türkiye, the Balkans, Germany, in the US, and beyond. There is no traditional exam in this course and the course topics will be tailored towards student interests. Learners can opt to take this course with Pass/Fail option (no letter grade). This course counts towards Middle East Studies Certificate and European Studies Certificate. Open to both undergraduate and graduate students!
Prerequisite: GNS 439 and GNS 440 or instructor consent
Course meeting days and times: 75 minutes twice a week. Exact schedule will be set by the instructor and potential students.
Credits: 3 or 4 credits. Counts as L&S credits, Humanities Breath
Fall 2024: Lit Trans 269 – Yiddish Literature and Culture
Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic, and the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies
TR 11:00 – 12:15 AM; 224 Ingraham Hall
3 credits
Lit Trans 269: Yiddish Literature and Culture (Also, cross listed as German and Jewish Studies)
In the American cultural imagination, eastern and central European Jewish life and the history of Yiddish culture is often represented by the image of Jewish men. What happens to that image when women’s stories and women’s legacies are placed at the center? The following course introduces students to classic and lesser-known works of the Yiddish literature and culture that take as their central concern the gendered experience of modern Jewish life. Covering material from the seventeenth century until today, we will explore a variety of texts, including memoirs, prayers, short stories, poetry, and visual art produced in Yiddish—a language that has been both praised and derided as mame-loshn, or “mother tongue.” The course texts will also familiarize students with major historical events of European Jewish history, including messianic movements; the Jewish Enlightenment; the rise of Jewish nationalism, socialism, and communism; and the Holocaust. The course also investigates the legacy of these works for contemporary theorists of Jewish culture and gender. This discussion-based course presumes no previous knowledge of Yiddish literature or language, or Jewish cultural literacy.
Fall 2024: History 418 - Imperial Russia, 1801-1917
Instructor: Professor Geoffrey Durham
MW 4:00 – 5:15 PM
3 Credits
Between 1801 and 1917, imperial Russia went from being the center of the world’s largest land empire and one of Europe’s Great Powers to a collapsing state embroiled in a series of wars and revolutions. Nevertheless, the Tsarist regime outlived many of its main rivals. With staggering ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, as well as immense inequalities in terms of wealth and rights, how did the empire’s different parts fit together? How can we understand the relationship between the Russian empire and the nations that emerged from within it? Lastly, what kinds of opportunities and constraints did the autocratic political system generate across the Eurasian continent and beyond? In this survey of Russian imperial history between 1801 and 1917, we will examine these questions and pay particular attention to themes of imperial expansion and diversity, as well as the social, political, and economic structures that shaped the lives of the tsars’ subjects. Doing so will enable us to consider the historical relationship between Ukraine and Russia, and to evaluate Vladimir Putin’s use of that history to justify the ongoing war and his broader geopolitical ambitions for the Russian Federation.
