Fall 2025 Courses
This is an unofficial list of courses that will be offered in Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian Studies in Fall 2025. It is strictly for the use of expanded course descriptions. For the complete official course offerings, please consult the My.UIC portal.
For a list of all courses and general course descriptions, please see the UIC Academic Catalog.
For information on Majoring and Minoring in Polish, Russian, and Central and East European Studies, including course requirements, please visit: https://prls.uic.edu/academics/major-and-minors/
Literature and Culture Courses (Taught in English)
RUSS 115: Russian Culture Before the Revolution (The Idea of Russian and East European Culture)
Tu/Th 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Instructor: Prof. Matthew Kendall. 3 hours. CRN: 33175
The world has always had a lot to say about the space we now call Russia. Many of Russia’s claims to fame and infamy have seemed at odds with each other: some saw Russia as a destitute, violent, and barbaric backwater, but many others thought of Russia as the home of first-rate art. While some perceived Russia as a depraved den of political schemes, many thought that it represented a pinnacle of effective governance and royal majesty, and others sensed a revolutionary potential that could re-shape ideas of the state forever. Our course will incorporate short readings (in English!) from Pushkin to Dostoevsky, and we will explore East European religious history, film, painting, architecture, cinema, and dance. Together, we will work to better understand what we mean when we use the word “culture,” and we will learn the history and consequences of how Russia understands its own.
Satisfies World Cultures GenEd requirement.
Counts towards the Russian Studies Major or Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
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POL 150: Intro to Polish Cinema
MWF 2-2:50 PM
Instructor: Jamie Lin. 3 hours. CRN: 35426
What does it take to craft the most epic sword duel in film history? Why is “Polish humor” in socialist-era comedies so uniquely absurd? How did Poland’s sci-fi and fantasy worlds shape some of today’s most popular video games? In this course, we will dive into the bold and surprising world of Polish film and new media—tracing its influence from arthouse masterpieces to global pop culture phenomena. Expect a mix of classic films, cult favorites, and unexpected discoveries that offers a fresh perspective on Poland as a key player in global media industry.
Satisfies Creative Arts or World Cultures GenEd requirement.
Counts towards the Polish Studies Major or Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
RUSS 120: Notes from Underground: Transgression in the Russian Short Story
Online Asynchronous
Instructor: TBA
3 hours. CRN: 33179
This course is devoted to close readings of Russian short stories by nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first-century writers. Our reading list includes works by canonical writers such as Nikolai Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov, as well as by writers whose work rings with particular urgency in the current day, such as Varlam Shalamov, Viktor Pelevin, and Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. We will study these stories thematically, at the same time learning about the historical and cultural context in which they were created. Following the “transgressive” arc of the course, we will discuss issues of insanity, bodily modifications, and sex work, with a particular focus on psychology, symbolism, and the changing representation of the body and mind in Russian literature. What is the norm in society, and how has fiction challenged it?
Satisfies World Cultures & Creative Arts GenEd requirement.
Counts towards the Russian Studies Major or Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
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LITH 115: Lithuanian Culture
Tu / Th 9:30-10:45 AM
Note: this course will meet ONLINE only, in synchronous remote format.
Instructor: Prof. Giedrius Subacius. 3 hours. CRN: 20699
Lith 115 offers a diversity of insights into the cultural landscape of Lithuania: language, mythology, literature, film, architecture, art, geography, population, emigration, history, resistance, and identity.
We read, watch, and discuss.
All class materials are available online (no textbook).
Satisfies World Cultures GenEd requirement.
Counts towards the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
LCSL 260: Tales of Healing: Intro to Narrative Medicine
Tu/Th 12:30-1:45
Instructor: Prof. Julia Vaingurt. 3 hours. CRN: 50262
How are medical ideas and history reflected in literature? How are literary concepts utilized in medicine?
This course will explore the role of stories in defining and treating disease, comprehending experiences of suffering and illness, and helping us cope in times of physical and emotional crisis.
Whether you come to medicine as a professional or as a patient, in this class you will develop your skills of understanding and empathy, as we examine together topics including: a patient’s perspective on pain, agency, and the end of life; a doctor’s viewpoint on the right to treat and contradictions of care; class, race, and medical experiments; mental health; biopolitics and bioethics; integrative medicine; gene technologies; pro-life/pro-choice debates; and epidemics and inoculation.
Selective course for the Certificate in Medical Humanities
Counts towards the Russian Studies Major or Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
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CEES 460: The Idea of Documentary
Tu 3:30-6 PM
Instructor: Prof. Matthew Kendall
3 or 4 hours. CRN: 40803
This course explores the history of the idea of documentary in 19th, 20th, and 21st-century Central & East European Media. We will consider how new forms of media and reportage like print journalism, photography, and sound produced a new effect of documentation, and how this effect appeared in expected and unexpected artistic contexts. Throughout the semester, class discussions will explore relationships between representation and reportage, fact and fiction, and sincerity and performance.
No prerequisites. Course is taught in English, all materials available in English.
Counts towards the Polish Studies Major or Minor, Russian Studies Major or Minor, Moving Image Arts Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
Beginning and Intermediate Language Courses
| Course | Time | Instructor | Prerequisites | Credit/CRN | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LITH 101: Elementary Lithuanian 1 | MW, 8-9:15 AM | Karile Vaitkute | None | 4 hours. CRN 34319 | TBA |
| LITH 103: Intermediate Lithuanian 1 | Tu/Th 8-9:15 AM | Karile Vaitkute | Grade of C or better in LITH 102 or the equivalent, *or* successful placement text | 4 hours. CRN 35559 | TBA |
| POL 101: Elementary Polish I | MWF 12-12:50 AM | Kasia Majchrowicz-Wolny | None | 4 hours. CRN 35418 | TBA |
| POL 103: Intermediate Polish I | MWF 11-11:50 AM | Izolda Wolski-Moskoff | Grade of C or better in POL 102, or the equivalent, *or* successful placement test | 4 hours. CRN 35419 | TBA |
| RUSS 101: Elementary Russian I | MWF 10-10:50 AM | Ekaterina Petrenko | None | 4 hours. CRN 13496 | TBA |
| RUSS 101: Elementary Russian I | MWF 1-1:50 PM | Ekaterina Petrenko | None | 4 hours. CRN 35420 | TBA |
| RUSS 103: Intermediate Russian I (*For Bilingual Students*) | MWF 12-12:50 AM | TBA | Grade of C or better in RUS 102 or the equivalent, *or* successful placement test | 4 hours. CRN 21603 | TBA |
| RUSS 103: Intermediate Russian I | MWF 1-1:50 PM | Izolda Wolski-Moskoff | Grade of C or better in RUS 102 or the equivalent | 4 hours. CRN 35421 | TBA |
Advanced Language Courses
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RUSS 203: Advanced Russian through Short Stories
Tu/Th 9:30-10:45 AM
Instructor: Alena Kiianchenko
3 hours. CRN: 47012
Counts towards the Russian Studies Major or Minor, & the CEES (Central & Eastern European Studies) Major or Minor.
POL 203: Advanced Polish through Short Stories
M/W 9:30-10:45 AM
Instructor: Prof. Michał Paweł Markowski
3 hours. CRN: 48497
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