🗊Презентация Culture of the Russian North

Culture of the Russian North 5 ETC, Russian Studies (None-degree program) Institute of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, NArFU Professor Anna Soloviova

Course goals: Present the basic aspects of the Northern Russian culture, as expressed in folklore, art, religion, daily life, architecture, music, and their historical development Show diverse forms of Russian adaptive strategies and patterns developed at the marginal Northern territories. Recognise the major figures and movements in Russia's cultural history, gaining special expertise in their connection to the Northern European region of the state. Define and evaluate the religious, spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic ideas that make up the Northern Russian culture, and trace their development over time. Identify the northern symbols and images expressed in the textual and artistic representations of Russian culture.

Part I. “The Russian North” as geographic, cultural and historic phenomenon. Focuses on general understanding of the “Russian North” cultural phenomenon

Part II. The Northern Russian ethnic traditions and folk cultures. Is oriented to description of material and symbolic features of rural and traditional cultural landscapes of the European North of Russia

Part III. Russian orthodox traditions and cultural heritage of the European North. Shows the sacral (religious) components of the northern Russian cultural landscapes: Orthodox architecture, icon painting, literature and music

Part IV. Modern artistic and intellectual representations of the Russian North. Concentrates mainly on the modern mytho-poetic dimension of the “Russian North” representation

Planned learning activities and teaching methods: Lectures, seminars, group work, presentations and individual work. Analysis of a variety of sources (text, film, music, visual art, architecture, objects). Readings, sometimes from historical anthologies, other times from works of literature. Film screenings and excursions (to local museums) both inside and outside of ordinary class meetings. Students are presented with a set of questions that will prompt them to explore connections between historical and ethnographic material and the works of art, literature, architecture, design, or music.

Assessment methods and criteria. Class participation: 40% (Students will be expected to have read the assigned literature prior to class and to participate actively in the discussion). Midterm task presentation (PP 5-6 slides): 30%: “Russian cultural sources of the northern identity”; “The Northern Russian landscape: artifacts and symbols”, based on the independent studies about the Russian identity (literature is provided by teacher). Final Paper (max. 10 pages): 30% The topics will be appointed as the result of individual consultations with the lecturer, taking into account both the content and character of the course, and each student’s academic background.