THE DIALOGIC RUSSIAN MINDS: PERSONALISM
*The Dialogic Russian Minds Series: Personalism
MLAL 3077 V11 - Course Number: 14539
May 31st-June 30th, 2022 M-W, 1-4 p.m. EST
Fordham LC (online)
The fascinating philosophical tradition of Russian personalism defends human dignity, freedom, and respect for the individual. We use the late great scholar Sergei M. Polovinkin's (1935-2018) classifications to survey N. Lossky's intuitive personalism, N. Berdyaev's eschatological personalism, S. Bulgakov's sophianic personalism, P. Florensky's Christian personalism, and S. Frank's antinomical monodualism.
Original texts in English translation. Lecture and discussion in English. No knowledge of Russian is required. Texts are available in Russian for those pursuing Russian credit. This is an OCS-accredited course. 4 credit hours. Weekly in-person class coffee for all New York City attendees. Virtual coffee hour for non-city attendees.
*This course is the second of three in the Dialogic Russian Minds Series to be offered over consecutive summers. The cycle began in 2021 and will repeat indefinitely through Fordham at Lincoln Center (online) with a generous grant from the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. The series continues next summer (2023) on Vladimir Solovyev.
DOSTOEVSKY AND RACE IN AMERICA
Dostoevsky and Race in America is a comparative course that puts Dostoevsky’s fiction into dialogue with three works by Black American intellectuals. The three main literary comparisons are between Dostoevsky’s Notes From the House of the Dead and W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground and Ellison’s Invisible Man, and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Wright’s Native Son. The course begins with a historical comparison of Russian serfdom and American slavery. It ends with the continued analysis of literal and psychological enslavement through Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Nikolai Berdyaev’s Slavery and Freedom, and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.
Russian track available. Spring 2023. View the complete book list.
COURSES TAUGHT AT FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER
Prof. Ossorgin's love of dialogue derives from his immersion in the Socratic method practiced at his alma mater, St. John's College (Annapolis). His comparative courses expose students to a range of Russian and Soviet thought selected from the mid-19th century to the late 20th. He encourages students to examine their convictions and their method of inquiry. He teaches students to teach themselves through meticulous preparation, rigorous contemplation, and receptivity to original thought. As a professor of literature, philosophy, art, and language, Ossorgin takes pains to situate and interpret nuanced works. However, he ultimately wants to help students articulate what they find.
TOLSTOY, DOSTOEVSKY AND THE MEANING OF LIFE AND DEATH
We will read two works—one large book on Russian family life, one short meditation on death—from each of Russia's two most famous authors: Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. We will read Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1878) and The Death of Ivan Ilych (1886) and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877). Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are each profound psychologists and religious philosophers. While Tolstoy masters interpersonal and societal relations, Dostoevsky illuminates the extreme ranges of the human psyche. Tolstoy’s Levin in Anna Karenina asks “What is the meaning of life?” Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov struggles to reconcile God’s creation with the suffering of innocent children. The two novels were written in close proximity to each other and bear fruitful comparisons. Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych explores the mind of a prestigious court official who is terminally ill. Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man reveals the story of a man who dreams his own death. These two great authors are often pitted against each other, but Dostoevsky himself described Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as “flawless,” and Tolstoy adored Dostoevsky’s religious teachings in The Brother’s Karamazov expressed through the character of Father Zosima. This course shows how the works of the great Russian writers compliment our understanding of life and death. Russian track available.
MEDIA AND THE RUSSIAN STATE
