FSA Russia 2009
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The Program dancers and musicians. Students are encouraged to Provideniya experience its diverse offerings –from jazz clubs and sporting events to world-class ballet and art. Course- work is complemented by extensive field trips and meetings with local business people, activists and art- Pevek ists. A Thanksgiving trip to Novgorod, the 9th century Anadyr' city to the south of Petersburg, gives students a chance Franz Josef Land to experience one of medieval Russia’s most beautiful and well-preserved sites. The program ends in mid- December. Severnaya Zemlya The Courses Novaya Zemlya Identity and Place in Contemporary Russia Jane Costlow This course explores Russian identity as it relates to place. We explore images of Petersburg and Siberia fashioned by writers and painters, along with more Tiksi day-to-day associations with particular places and Dikson This program provides a unique opportunity to experi- by a political transformation that is still playing out their cultural meanings, from Nevsky Prospekt (St. ence contemporary Russia both on and off the beaten as Russia sheds its communist past. The course intro- Magadan St. Petersburg Petersburg’s “place to be seen”) to cemeteries, country track. The program is based in St. Petersburg, known duces students to the political and economic features Pskov houses and a building that once housed the KGB. We Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy as Russia’s “window to Europe” and includes travel to of the centralized planned economy, and considers the Novgorod consider both classic and contemporary works of art, Siberia, Moscow and Novgorod. Coursework explores challenges and successes of post-Soviet political and literature, music and film. The course includes exten- Noril'sk the opportunities and challenges of contemporary po- economic transition. The course considers the political Okhotsk sive on-site/on-street explorations. Students produce litical, economic and cultural life, exploring how Rus- Tver' Igarka implications of Russia’s reliance on natural resources, their own “writing about place” for a final project. sians’ sense of self and national identity is shaped by Moscow the transformation of industry and the emerging fi- Kuril Islands history, place and rapid change. Field trips, study proj- Nadym Novyy Urengoy nancial sector, and Russia’s increasing importance in Russian Political Economy ects, and interactions with host families help studentsOrel Vladimir international affairs. Okha Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir. gain a deeper sense of where this great “Eurasian” Sakhalin Island Nizhniy-NovgorodOver the past two decades, the political economy of country has been, and where it is headed. Lensk Kursk Russia has undergone a fundamental transformation RUSSIA Language Courses Aldan Voronezh from a centrally planned economy toward a more Students earn two course credits for study of the Rus- The program begins in late August with intensive lan- Penza sian language. Courses at all levels of language instruc- market orientation. This change has been accompanied Berezovyy guage study. In mid-September we travel to Irkutsk, tion are taught by native speakers in small classes. All Samara Yekaterinburg Tobol'sk Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk founded in the 16th century when Russian trappers Ufa courses aim to improve rapidly the skills of compre- Tynda Sovetskaya Gavan Saratov Tyumen' made their way across Siberia. Classes on the shore of Chelyabinsk hension, speaking, reading and writing. Homestays Never Urgal Lesosibirsk Lake Baikal combine natural history, an introduction Kurgan further reinforce students’ conversational Russian Khabarovsk Volgograd Birobidzhan to local indigenous cultures, and continued language Tomsk skills, and their understanding of daily life and culture Orenburg Omsk study. In late September we return to St. Petersburg to in today’s Russia. Lake Baikal Kemerovo begin regular semester classes and homestays. An early Krasnoyarsk Chita November trip to Moscow gives students a chance to Astrakhan' Bamaul Travel Irkutsk Borzya experience a city fast-tracking its way to status as a Abakan Excursions and field trips are central to the program, Ulan-Ude major world capital of finance, culture and politics. illustrating the economic, political and cultural tradi- Throughout the semester, students study Russian at the Vladivostok Kyzyltions and transformations underway in Russia. Travel level appropriate for them — there is no need for prior destinations include Lake Baikal, the deepest and old- study of Russian. est lake on earth; Moscow, the political and economic capital of Russia; Novgorod and Pskov, medieval cities St. Petersburg has a rich and dramatic history: cradle in the northwest of Russia. In the St. Petersburg area, of revolution, epicenter of industrialization, heroic we will visit factories, schools, civic organizations, survivor of the longest siege in modern history. It is and some of the literally hundreds of museums in this a city that has given birth to countless artists, poets, historic city. Bates Semester in St. Petersburg, Russia Fall 2009 Fees and Credits For More Information This program is an integral part of the Bates cur- Professor Áslaug Ásgeirs- riculum. Completion of the FSA provides participants dóttir with four Bates credits, three in Russian language and Department of Politics culture and one in politics. Grades count toward the 169 Pettengill Hall students’ cumulative averages. The four courses also Bates College count as a General Education Concentration. Students Lewiston, Maine 04240 must take all four courses as they are considered Phone (207) 786-6472 corequisites of one another. Students from other col- [email protected] leges are welcome to apply; they attend Bates as “visit- ing students” for the semester and transfer program Professor Jane Costlow credits to their home institution. Department of German & Russian Studies All expenses — including tuition, room and board, 102 Hathorn Hall travel to and from Russia, and course-related travel Bates College and field trips — are covered by the regular Bates com- Lewiston, Maine 04240 prehensive fee. Students should bring funds to pay for Phone (207) 786-6289 personal expenses, entertainment and gifts. [email protected] The Faculty Applications are available from Georgette Dumais, Jane Costlow is a professor of Russian literature and 200 Hathorn Hall or the Off-Campus Study Office, language. She has led numerous student trips to Rus- 110 Lane Hall, Bates College. Early applications from sia, both in short term and during the fall semester. She enrolled students may be submitted to the Off-Campus is a member of the Bates College Environmental Stud- Study Office by December 12, 2008, for notification in ies committee, and combines interest in Russian litera- mid-January. Regular applications should be submitted ture and culture with work on Russian perceptions of by February 6, 2009. Late applications will be reviewed nature and the environment. if space is available. Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir is an associate professor of poli- Information on safety, security and crime in Russia is tics. She is a scholar of international cooperation and available on the Web site of the U.S. Department of State resource politics who has taught at Bates since 2001. www.travel.state.gov. Information on health issues and There she teaches courses on the relationship between recommended immunizations is available on the Web site states and markets, the international political economy, of the Centers for Disease Control www.cdc.gov/travel. the politics of trade and international cooperation. Students and families are urged to review the information on both sites. Photographs by Jane Costlow..