Overview and Learning Goals
Overview and Learning Goals
The Department of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES) offers instruction in the Russian language at all levels as well as a wide range of courses in Russian and English on the literatures, cultures, history, and politics of the region. Majors can choose to specialize in one of two tracks: Language, Literature, and Culture or Area Studies, a broad course of interdisciplinary study including courses on the history and politics of the region.
Department Learning Goals include the development of:
- Core competencies in the Russian language, including competencies in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and the ability to use the Russian language in culturally appropriate contexts.
- A deeper understanding of and appreciation for the societies and cultures of the region in all their various expressions, especially for their diversity and the cultural, political, and historical connections with the wider world and their similarities and differences with students’ own cultures.
- The skills necessary for complex and thoughtful engagement with artistic works and primary sources from the region, including close reading and analysis, formulating original interpretations and supporting them with evidence, engaging with secondary sources and academic/theoretical lenses, all while recognizing the complexity and multiplicity of meanings inscribed in these works.
Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department
Students may elect to major in REEES in one of two concentrations or to coordinate a major in REEES with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing coordinate majors may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect a minor in REEES.
This is an excerpt from the official Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook. View the Catalogue