WLIT 118: SovExp
WLIT 118: The Soviet Experience
Kathleen Scollins (kscollin@uvm.edu)
Office: 417 Waterman. Office Hours 10:45-11:45 or by appointment
Class meeting times: M/W 2:20-3:10, Innovation E430. Friday session online.
Teams link: WLIT 118: SovExp Teams Link
A note on course structure:
In this course, we will attempt to access some of the embodied realities of Soviet life through an exploration of its literary and other artistic artifacts, as well as some of its more experiential aspects. Graded work will be divided into three categories: the COLLECTIVE, the COMMUNAL, and the INDIVIDUAL:
COLLECTIVE
COLLECTIVE projects are like a Soviet choir: we’re all working together toward a single goal, and we’re all experiencing something together! See below for examples.
COMMUNAL
COMMUNAL projects are like kitchens in communal apartments: students have a choice of which projects to complete, but we all get to see/hear the result! See model Choice Board below or click here:
INDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUAL projects are like Olympic games: they give each student a chance to display their personal development as thinkers and writers.
Sample COLLECTIVE experiences include:
reading and discussing literary works as a group, according to the schedule of assignments
designing a communal apartment in small groups
a collective feast, featuring meals and drinks we've learned about all semester
an underground kvartirnik, or secret concert!
INDIVIDUAL projects include those formal academic writing assignments you would expect to complete in a WLIT class:
a Close Reading, in which you analyze the minutest details of a short passage in order to show how it illuminates the whole text
analysis and comparison of scholarly articles written on a given literary work
an Analytical Paper exploring a major theme across several works