University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2015/16 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Arts > Department of Russian > Russian (BA) > Specification
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Programme code | 1RUSS001U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Claire Shaw
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of Russian |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Languages, Cultures and Societies (2023) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
The programme offers students the opportunity to study Russian language in the context of courses exploring aspects of Russia's rich and varied culture from the 18th century to the present day. The programme covers the following aspects of Slavonic Studies: Russian language; Russian literature; Russian culture; elements of Russian history; and, optionally, Czech language and literature. Students are introduced to a linguistic and cultural tradition, spanning some of Europe's most important writers, literary developments and ideological trends, against the unique background of Russia's often turbulent socio-political circumstances. As a relatively rare skill, fluency in the Russian language, together with detailed knowledge and appreciation of Russian culture and customs, is in demand among a wide range of employers.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical language classes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) |
Methods of Assessment | |
For non-linguistic elements of the programme:Essays (of varying lengths) and essay-writing exercises, testing understanding of a single topic in detail (2, 3, 5, 6)Class tests (seen and unseen), testing ability to interpret Russian literary or cultural texts (1, 2, 3, 5)Exams, testing breadth of knowledge of different subjects (2, 3, 5, 6)At levels I and H, assessment is mainly summative. Language is informally assessed through regular (weekly/fortnightly) coursework assignments; formally by examination at the end of each year (grammar and comprehension tests, translations, essays, oral presentations and aural comprehension, as appropriate to level) (1, 4). |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Intellectual skills are developed through seminars, class discussions, oral presentations and essay writing, as well as by the independent reading and preparation these exercises necessitate. |
Methods of Assessment | |
A variety of assessment methods are used as per individual unit aims and objectives. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Seminars and tutorials are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in class discussions and to give short presentations to initiate discussion, including defending their interpretations in debate with other students and staff. These oral skills are further developed in the language classes (1, 3, 4, 5). |
Methods of Assessment | |
Research and IT skills are assessed through coursework, including the year-abroad dissertation. (2, 6, 9) |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 of the course has been designed to lay the foundations, in terms both of subject-specific knowledge and skills and of more general skills and abilities, which will allow students to fulfil the programme's aims and objectives. Separate core units in language provide intensive initial instruction for ab initio students, and consolidate and develop the existing language skills of qualified entrants. Mandatory co-taught non-linguistic units provide all students with a chronological introduction to Russian history, culture and literature, focusing on areas of departmental expertise that students may explore later in more depth. Qualified entrants may additionally develop their understanding of contemporary Russia in a media-based unit and/or take up a new language, Czech, which they may continue to study in later years. The mix of lectures and split-group tutor-led seminars reflects the expectation that students' work may require considerable direction from members of staff at this stage. Students are also encouraged either to maintain existing academic interests or explore a new interest through open units. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In Year 2 students are expected to be able to demonstrate an increased range and detail of knowledge in relevant areas of the discipline. Continuing development of linguistic skills places increased emphasis on independent learning, and linguistic analysis of Russian texts and/or documents is introduced into non-linguistic units. Students follow their whole programme within the Russian department. The options at this level offer considerable variety, including in-depth studies of major authors, of medieval and religious culture, theatre, history of ideas and Czech language. All areas are treated in greater depth and specificity than before. Students will be expected in consequence to develop their analytical skills, their ability to formulate ideas and to present them cogently. They will be encouraged in group work skills through active participation in seminars. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
Year 4. Linguistic skills acquired over the previous three years are refined though an increased use of 'creative' (essay-writing; oral presentation) and 'mediation' (translation) skills. Students also continue to expand their knowledge of the subject-area through the study of a varied range of optional units closely linked to staff research interests. Non-linguistic units now typically combine substantial breadth with analytical depth, and more sophisticated conceptual and methodological approaches are encouraged. Students will be expected to develop further their ability to gather and assimilate challengingly complex information, to synthesise their findings in an appropriate way, and to engage in searching analysis of target-language texts. There is an increased emphasis on independent learning. |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
Workload Statement
In common with the rest of the University, units in the Faculty of Arts
adhere to the credit framework which sets out that 20 credits normally
equates to some 200 hours of student input. Some of this time will be spent
in class, with the remainder divided between preparation for classes and
preparation for, and completion of, the assessment tasks. Some of this
activity may occur within the University’s online learning environment,
Blackboard, which you may use to prepare wikis, to interact with other
students, to download tutorials or to receive feedback.
Assessment Statement
Please select the following link for a statement about assessment. This is University of Bristol access only.
https://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/current/under/assessment.html
In addition to its Single Honours Russian degree, the Department also offers joint programmes in which Russian is combined with either a second language (any one of the following: Czech, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish), or with one of History of Art, Philosophy or Politics.
The Department has its own direct links with the following institutions for placement of students during their Year Abroad: Kuban State University, Krasnodar; The Alexandr Nevskii Orthodox School, Moscow; The Herzen University, St Petersburg; Vladimir State Pedagogical University; Voronezh State University; Republican Medical College, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Mandatory Unit Russian Language 1 (Post A-level) or Russian Language 1 (ab-initio , 40 credits) is must pass. For further information and a definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Russian Language (ab initio) | RUSS10001 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to Russian History and Culture | RUSS10033 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to Russian Literature | RUSS10037 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Students may take up to 40 credit points of Open Units in their first year | OPEN | 40 | Optional | ||
Students with A Level Russian must take the following units: | |||||
Russian Language (for qualified entrants) | RUSS10036 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to Russian History and Culture | RUSS10033 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to Russian Literature | RUSS10037 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to the Study of Cultures | MODL10011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Plus either | |||||
Czech Language 1 | RUSS10015 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
and | |||||
Contemporary Russia through the Media | RUSS10034 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
or one of the above plus | |||||
Choose open units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Unit Russian Language 2 (Post A-level) or Russian Language 2 (ab-initio , 40 credits) is must pass. For further information and a definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Russian Language 2 | RUSS20008 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students must choose a minimum of three but no more than five from the following list: | |||||
The Struggle for Russia: 19th-century Debates on Self and Society | RUSS20012 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
‘Hedgehogs and Foxes’: The Nineteenth-Century Russian Novel 2019 | RUSS20013 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Russian Orthodox Culture | RUSS20044 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The New Soviet Man and His 'Others': Politics and Identity in Soviet Russia, 1917-1945 | RUSS20010 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Chekhov on the World Stage | RUSS20014 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Intermediate Czech Language | RUSS20043 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Students may choose up to two units from the following list: | |||||
Political Systems of Modern Europe | MODL20008 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Introduction to Linguistics | MODL23013 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Woman and Nation | MODL23017 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Gender in Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe | MODL20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Students may choose up to one unit from the following list: | |||||
Catalan Language (Elementary) | MODL23014 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (Elementary) | MODL23015 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Year Abroad TB-1 | MODL20014 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR | |
Year Abroad TB-2 | MODL20015 | 60 | Mandatory | TB-2,AYEAR | |
120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Russian Language 3 for Single Honours | RUSS30081 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Independent Study 1 | MODL30005 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students must choose a minimum of three but no more than five from the following list: | |||||
Anticipating the End: Russian Thought in the Shadow of Revolution (1890-1917) | RUSS30059 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Gender in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Russia | RUSS30062 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Russia in the 1990s: A Decade of Chaos? | RUSS30065 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Advanced Czech Language | RUSS30070 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Life and Death with Stalin | RUSS30079 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Between Utopia and the Everyday: St Petersburg - Moscow | RUSS30080 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Students may choose up to one unit from the following list: | |||||
Translating in a Professional Context | MODL30010 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Ancients and moderns: cultures of humanism in Renaissance Europe | MODL30002 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Communism in Europe | MODL30001 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Students may choose MODL30011 if they took MODL23014 in their second year of study and students may choose MODL30012 if they took MODL23015 in their second year of study: | |||||
Catalan Language (follow-on) | MODL30011 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (follow-on) | MODL30012 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Russian (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note not all optional units will be available in every academic year
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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