By Dorian McElrone
Last week as part of Professor Duzs’ Advanced Seminar in Russian Culture and Literature, students in Russian 333 gave presentations about Russian artists, art movements, and artistic styles entirely in Russian. These students used art-specific vocabulary they learned over the course of the year to discuss artistic themes of their choice, then engaged with the class, taking any questions about their topics and encouraging their classmates to share their thoughts on the pieces presented. Presentation topics were diverse and reflected the broad range of artists and artistic movements the class covered. One student talked about socialist realism, which prompted discourse on the idea of socialist realist paintings and the range of styles they included. Another presented on Marc Chagal and noted how his life influenced his artwork. Suprematism and Constructivism were also discussed in detail by another student, who emphasized their similarities, differences, and artists that created pieces which overlapped. The next student presented on the wanderers versus the academics and the various artwork that came from these two groups, and the last discussed futurism and what this movement entailed. After each presentation, the students asked questions and reflected on the paintings they had seen.
4th year Russian and Mathematics double major Lauren Evans said of the course:
“Professor Duzs’ art course was intellectually engaging and challenging. Not only did we expand our Russian vocabulary, but we expanded our knowledge of Russian culture and art. We worked independently and in teams to express and share ideas with each other. We advanced our language skill and our oral presentation skills. Along with this, we got the opportunity to present and learn about Russian artists and movements we were interested in and wanted to learn more about. This experience helped me grow and learn from mistakes, which were okay to make learning a language!”
The Russian department congratulates its Russian senior seminar students on a fantastic semester of learning!
