Russian Language and Culture
The Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies promotes the learning of the Russian language and supports its teaching. In addition to taking part in subsidizing the course “Russian for History Researchers,” the Cummings Center organizes an annual Day of Russian Language and Culture, which has become a major public event for the Russian-speaking community. Participants include leading linguists and Russian literary scholars from Russia, Israel, and other countries, authors who write in Russian irrespective of the country in which they reside, and teachers who teach Russian in Israeli schools, along with enthusiasts of the Russian language and culture. Since 2019, this event has been organized in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Education.
Syllabi of the Russian language courses:
Beginners course:
In this course, students learn the basics of contemporary Russian, with the aim of mastering the alphabet and acquiring a basic vocabulary and proficiency in grammar and syntax essential for reading and oral comprehension. Elementary writing skills are also taught at this stage. In addition, the program introduces the students to some elements of Russian literature, culture, and history. The course fully meets the Council of Europe’s criteria for accreditation at A1 level.
No prior knowledge of Russian is needed.
The final grade is composed of the following:
Homework assignments: 25%
In-class assignments: 20%
In-class attendance and participation: 15%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 20%
Intermediate (mitkadmim) course:
The course is based on the communicative approach to learning foreign languages, which encourages students to develop all four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking in order to enable them to communicate in Russian in many different spheres of everyday activity. By the end of the course, students will be able to greet people, ask how they are, and react to news; handle very short social exchanges; ask and answer questions about what they do at work and in their free time; extend and respond to invitations; discuss what to do, where to go, and make arrangements to meet.
The course is taught on the basis of both original and adapted texts taken from works of Russian fiction and non-fiction, along with video and audio materials. The course fully meets the Council of Europe’s criteria for accreditation at A2 level.
The final grade is composed of the following:
Homework assignments: 25%
In-class assignments: 20%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 35%
Russian for History Researchers
The course is designed to meet the needs of mixed groups of students in the fields of history, heritage studies, and Russian as a foreign language. It aims to help students improve their academic skills in Russian and to develop awareness of the key issues of academic literacy on the basis of scholarly texts on historical topics. It focuses on methods and techniques used in rhetoric and composition. Its goal is to measurably enhance students’ academic Russian-language skills by engaging them in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar-learning activities based on a variety of original materials on Russian history.
The final grade is composed of two papers on topics related to Russian language and culture.
