Examines literature and culture from a region or regions situated at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, such as Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia), or other cultural crossroads in Eurasia. It thus departs from a historic focus on western regions to accommodate the richness and diversity of literature and culture in Eurasia. Topics will vary by instructor. Topics may include: "Armenian Literature," "Literatures of Central Asia," or "Literatures of the Caucasus." Taught in English.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeUpper division only
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeA lot of reading and you have to buy a very expensive reader. The material can get very bland if you're not interested in Russian avantgarde. However, I did learn a lot. There were weekly quizzes based on questions that he sends out for you to do. You have to do 4 short essays for your final which were pretty manageable.
Professor Spieker assigns homework on GauchoSpace that he collects at random. You have to give a presentation that the syllabus says is part of the grade but actually isn't graded at all. There were two weird quizzes. The two exams are take-home essays, which is good. Class moves in a frustratingly erratic fashion and there's no way to plan ahead.
Not too organized, and the class has tons of reading. Really interesting subject matter though, he gets really into it
Really chill professor. Lectures are long but he is very passionate about the topic which makes it more interesting. Probably the easiest grader I've seen at UC. Definitely a good way to get an art credit.
Seems like you either like this guy or hate him. Found his lectures very interesting and his quizzes weren't too hard, just had to read the assigned texts an hour before class. Course was on conceptual art so be ready for discussions you will either see as mind-blowing or overly analytical depending on your perspective.
I found this class very hard. The subject matter is quite...eccentric. We had the class in a 2.5 hr block and it's hard to sit through. There's no textbook, a very fat reader with difficult articles and no partial credit. Quizes tended to be harder than the exams and weighed more (combined) that the final. Think twice before signing up.