Russian Studies

The overall goal of this subject is to help students with no knowledge of Russian develop cultural and linguistic knowledge that allows them to feel comfortable thinking of themselves as users of Russian, in listening, reading, writing and speaking. It introduces students to cultural notions of time and space as they play themselves out in such topics and notions as talking about one’s self and others (family and friends), living and working spaces, and referring to activities and events (in present-tense story-telling/dialogue). Comparisons to current Russian life and society build the foundation for cultural literacy and familiarity with the Russian-speaking world.

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The overall goal of this subject is to help students develop cultural and linguistic knowledge that allows them to feel comfortable thinking of themselves as users of Russian, in listening, reading, writing and speaking. It introduces students to cultural notions of time and space as they play themselves out in such topics and notions as referring to activities and events (in present and past story-telling), occupations and pastimes (school, work, and free time), and the world around us (environment, residence, etc.). Comparisons to current Russian life and society build the foundation for cultural literacy and familiarity with the Russian-speaking world.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The overall goal of this subject is to help students with a basic knowledge of Russian develop more sophisticated cultural and linguistic knowledge that allows them to feel comfortable thinking of themselves as users of Russian in listening, reading, writing and speaking. It develops students' notions of time and space as they play themselves out in talking and writing about such topics as Russian food, etiquette of addressing people, holidays and calendars, climate and Russian writers. Comparisons to current Russian life and society build the foundation for cultural literacy and familiarity with the Russian-speaking world.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The overall goal of this intermediate Russian subject is to enable students to move from the private to the public sphere of discourse, so that they begin to engage with more sophisticated cultural and social topics through listening, reading, writing and speaking. The subject is based on topics and texts, into which the grammar and vocabulary are fully integrated. Instead of the traditional approach to language instruction that is structured around a sequence of grammatical topics, this subject relies on the texts themselves to provide the textual, informational and lexico-grammatical features that serve as the basis for developing students' language abilities. The subject's emphasis on improving students' ability to narrate, compare and contrast, express opinions and establish causal relationships in speaking and writing lays the groundwork for the texts used in Russian 5 and the independent research work in Contemporary Russia (capstone).

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This subject examines the relationship between language and society in Europe. It focuses on issues of relevance in an increasingly integrated Europe in which European and other languages are in contact through migration, travel, business, and mass media, and in which English is taking on an important role as a lingua franca. The topics to be covered include: the relationship between majority and minority languages, dialects and the standard language, bilingualism and multilingualism, semi-communication, language planning at state and European levels, politeness and forms of address, and the status and influence of English.

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The eye-witness account and the personal memoir offer powerful ways of exploring the human legacy of overwhelming historical events on individual lives. But how do literary genres like the memoir and autobiography manage to speak about unspeakable topics, how do they represent the unrepresentable and write about trauma? What is the function, and what is the effect, of writing memory for the victim, for the reader, and for the perpetrator? What is the relationship between fiction and memory in memoir writing and how do we read a testimonial of a Holocaust survivor that has been faked? In this subject, students will engage in these questions through a close reading of individual stories of a shameful national past. Students will explore the effect of generic convention on the relation of history and memory, and the need for generic invention to speak trauma and tell the un-tellable. Focusing on writings and film from different European contexts, students will apply critical reflection and interpretation skills to examine the history of the 20th century through individual memory.

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A team-taught study of European cinema during a period of intense political and social change. Students who complete this subject should be familiar with some of the major developments in cinematic representation in Europe from the early 20th century to the present. They should be able to relate the films studied to their national and European cultural and historical context.

Note: This subject is taught in English.

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This subject explores portrayals and perceptions of perceived “Others” in Europe – such as Jews, Muslims, “gypsies” and refugees - and how they have contributed to European identities in the past and today. Looking at literature, film, philosophy, music, food and popular culture, the subject will seek to understand how Europe’s Others are essential to the formation and maintenance of national, ethnic and religious identities in many European countries. It will examine the role of Others “within” (such as the Jews) and Others “without” (such as colonial subjects) and consider kinds of European “Othering” that position the Other as either appealing and attractive or threatening and repulsive. From colonial-era exoticisation to present day xenophobia, European views of the Other have been central to definitions of the self and shaped the continent’s history, politics, culture and languages. Students will gain an appreciation of nation and national identity in Europe as a discursive and comparative process, and an understanding of the distinct national stories of a number of European countries.

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In this subject students learn about a selection of European cuisines and how they have been plated up for consumption in Melbourne. Food and wine are often used to support national and regional identity. In the first part of this course, students will consider the relationship between gastronomy and identity. Students will be introduced to a range of key culinary concepts and practices and the way we talk about them. Through analysis of some of the key features of French, Italian and Spanish cuisines, students will consider how these countries' culinary profiles speak to wider socio-political issues such as authenticity, food and space, cultural practices and the history of food and wine.

In the second part of this subject, students will consider issues of "authenticity" in the way cuisines are plated up for consumption in Melbourne. This will require students to interrogate their assumptions and expectations about European foods and wines and to reflect on their personal experience of the "taste" of Europe.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Queering Europe investigates the social and linguistic contexts, cultural production, and representation of LGBTIQA+ communities in Europe. A key objective of the subject is to explore the diverse ways in which queer and trans issues are brought to light in European culture. The subject familiarises students with contemporary LGBTIQA+ debates and Europe’s long queer history through a range of case studies. The subject engages students with cultural activism by LGBTIQA+ writers, film makers and artists and the ways in which they provoked readers/viewers in and outside their communities through new and complex cultural expressions.

By exploring representations of queer and trans desire, sexuality, and gender diversity through European history, the subject showcases how the arts have given LGBTIQA+ communities an imaginary site of resistance and exchange.

View detailed information in the Handbook

In the lands formerly ruled by the Tsars, the first half of the twentieth century was a violent period with five revolutions, an extremely destructive Civil War, two World Wars and a whole range of smaller military conflicts. This atmosphere of upheaval was reinforced by waves of state terror against a variety of groups (from peasants to bureaucrats, and from the intelligentsia to jazz fans).

Within this cauldron of violence the Russian Empire was unmade, re-constituted as the Soviet Union, and eventually stabilized in a new Red Empire locked in the Cold War with the west. This subject explores the society of the Soviet Empire and the transformations of this social system in the less tumultuous periods between Stalin's death in 1953 and the 1980s. It also explains the crisis and breakdown of the Soviet Union and the continuing struggle of the fifteen successor states to find a stable economic and political system. Particular emphasis is placed on the critical and creative use of the wide variety of sources available for the study of the Soviet Union.

This subject forms part of the pathway “political and international history” within the History major.

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This capstone subject is designed to provide students with a thorough exposure to the language, society and culture of contemporary Russia.

In the first part of the semester, together with further advanced study of the language and some assessment, students will study and discuss key societal and cultural elements of contemporary Russia. This material will also build on the study of 19th-century cultural history already completed in Russian 5.

In the second part of the semester, on-course assessment will cease, and students will engage in independent project work on a topic of their choice (with the approval of the coordinator). The projects will be put online on the LMS with and be open to discussion from other members of the cohort. The projects will require students to draw on their accumulated knowledge of Russian language and Russian cultural history, and engage in extended research in an area of interest to them (e.g. literature, film, media, philosophy, sport, religion). Instead of an exam, students will submit a written version of their research with a personal reflection, as well as present it to their cohort in a celebratory seminar marking the completion of their undergraduate studies in Russian as a Major.

A checklist of skills learnt in their degree will be put on the LMS, aiding students to articulate the skills they have learnt when applying for jobs and future studies.

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The overall goal of this advanced Russian subject is to immerse students in texts mainly from the public sphere of discourse, so that they engage with sophisticated cultural and social topics through listening, reading, writing and speaking. The subject is based on topics and texts (literary and historical), into which the grammar and vocabulary are fully integrated. Instead of the traditional approach to language instruction that is structured around a sequence of grammatical topics, this subject relies on the texts themselves to provide the textual, informational and lexico-grammatical features that serve as the basis for developing students' language abilities. This subject covers more advanced grammatical features of Russian which are essential for understanding literary and media texts (e.g. gerunds and participles). The subject's emphasis on improving students' ability to read advanced texts, narrate, compare and contrast, express opinions and establish causal relationships in speaking and writing lays the groundwork for the independent research work in Contemporary Russia (capstone).

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject examines the relationship between language and society in Europe. It focuses on issues of relevance in an increasingly integrated Europe in which European and other languages are in contact through migration, travel, business, and mass media, and in which English is taking on an important role as a lingua franca. The topics to be covered include: the relationship between majority and minority languages, dialects and the standard language, bilingualism and multilingualism, semi-communication, language planning at state and European levels, politeness and forms of address, and the status and influence of English.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The eye-witness account and the personal memoir offer powerful ways of exploring the human legacy of overwhelming historical events on individual lives. But how do literary genres like the memoir and autobiography manage to speak about unspeakable topics, how do they represent the unrepresentable and write about trauma? What is the function, and what is the effect, of writing memory for the victim, for the reader, and for the perpetrator? What is the relationship between fiction and memory in memoir writing and how do we read a testimonial of a Holocaust survivor that has been faked? In this subject, students will engage in these questions through a close reading of individual stories of a shameful national past. Students will explore the effect of generic convention on the relation of history and memory, and the need for generic invention to speak trauma and tell the un-tellable. Focusing on writings and film from different European contexts, students will apply critical reflection and interpretation skills to examine the history of the 20th century through individual memory.

View detailed information in the Handbook

A team-taught study of European cinema during a period of intense political and social change. Students who complete this subject should be familiar with some of the major developments in cinematic representation in Europe from the early 20th century to the present. They should be able to relate the films studied to their national and European cultural and historical context.

Note: This subject is taught in English.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject explores portrayals and perceptions of perceived “Others” in Europe – such as Jews, Muslims, “gypsies” and refugees - and how they have contributed to European identities in the past and today. Looking at literature, film, philosophy, music, food and popular culture, the subject will seek to understand how Europe’s Others are essential to the formation and maintenance of national, ethnic and religious identities in many European countries. It will examine the role of Others “within” (such as the Jews) and Others “without” (such as colonial subjects) and consider kinds of European “Othering” that position the Other as either appealing and attractive or threatening and repulsive. From colonial-era exoticisation to present day xenophobia, European views of the Other have been central to definitions of the self and shaped the continent’s history, politics, culture and languages. Students will gain an appreciation of nation and national identity in Europe as a discursive and comparative process, and an understanding of the distinct national stories of a number of European countries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

In this course students learn about a selection of European cuisines and how they have been plated up for consumption in Melbourne. Food and wine are often used to support national and regional identity. In the first part of this course, students will consider the relationship between gastronomy and identity. Students will be introduced to a range of key culinary concepts and practices and the way we talk about them. Through analysis of some of the key features of French, Italian and Spanish cuisines, students will consider how these countries’ culinary profiles speak to wider socio-political issues such as authenticity, food and space, cultural practices and the history of food and wine.

In the second part of this course, students will consider issues of “authenticity” in the way cuisines are plated up for consumption in Melbourne. This will require students to interrogate their assumptions and expectations about European foods and wines and to reflect on their personal experience of the “taste” of Europe.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Queering Europe investigates the social and linguistic contexts, cultural production, and representation of LGBTIQA+ communities in Europe. A key objective of the subject is to explore the diverse ways in which queer and trans issues are brought to light in European culture. The subject familiarises students with contemporary LGBTIQA+ debates and Europe’s long queer history through a range of case studies. The subject engages students with cultural activism by LGBTIQA+ writers, film makers and artists and the ways in which they provoked readers/viewers in and outside their communities through new and complex cultural expressions.

By exploring representations of queer and trans desire, sexuality, and gender diversity through European history, the subject showcases how the arts have given LGBTIQA+ communities an imaginary site of resistance and exchange.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Learning a language culminates not only in linguistic and cultural proficiency but also in the development of advanced skills in areas valued by industry: intercultural competence, communication and lateral thinking. This subject offers students the opportunity to recognise and extend these skills by engaging with an industry collaborator in target-language communities in Australia. Students will work in teams to develop solutions, either to progress an existing project or to initiate a project, in consultation with the industry partner and in line with the rigour of workplace knowledge and processes. The subject brings together students from a mix of language majors and is taught in English, but will result in assessable outcomes in a target language.

The subject comprises three phases: 1) three initial weeks of seminars (delivered in English to students in all language streams) which introduce students to team- and project-work strategies, workplace culture, career pathways, as well as the industry partner’s multi-dimensional real-world challenge ; 2) eight weeks of collaborative work in a target language in response to a project brief, under close supervision and to a schedule of reporting deadlines; and 3) the presentation of project outcomes in the target language to an audience of industry specialists, community members and peers.

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This subject offers an introduction to Russian culture through film from the 1920s and the films of Eisenstein up to the present. The subject will cover representations of social change and the interpretation of cultural identities in Russian film through the main historical periods including: the Russian Revolution of 1917, the years of Stalin and the ‘thaw’ in the 1960s, the Second World War, the years of stagnation (1970s in the USSR), the era of glasnost, perestroika and the breakdown of the USSR, and the post-Soviet era.
On completion of the subject students should be able to analyse the social and cultural processes represented in selected films from the periods studied, demonstrate an awareness of critical approaches to Russian film, and communicate the results of their research and analysis in both oral and written forms.

The subject will be taught and assessed in Russian. Prior experience in Film Studies is neither assumed nor required.

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Translation is not a simple language replacement exercise; it is one of the main ways in which cultures shape political thought, literature, and science. This subject will offer answers to basic questions about how this happens. What are the main solutions available to translators? What goes on in the translating brain? How can technologies help translators? How does translation change in accordance with different languages and text genres? Students will also gain hands-on experience with the practical skills of post-editing, translation memories and subtitling.

View detailed information in the Handbook