Romanian Language and Culture 4 credits
Romanian Studies Program – Sighisoara
Summer
Course instructors: Elena Istrati, Dorothy Tarrant. Elena Istrati will teach the language classes and evaluate the student’s performance in class and on homework and tests. Dorothy Tarrant will coordinate the cultural aspects of the course, presenting material about Romanian history and culture, facilitating discussion of required readings, and arranging for field trips and guest speakers. Prof Tarrant will calculate overall grades for the course, in consultation with Ms Istrati.
Required texts:
Romana cu sau fara professor, by Liana Pop, Echinox, Cluj, Romania, revised edition 2003
The Hole in the Flag, by Andrei Codrescu, Morrow, New York, 1991 (out of print, on loan only.)
Out of the Gray, by Tim Crutcher, Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, 1996 (out of print, on loan only)
Course objectives:
This course is designed to give students tools for communicating in their daily interactions with Romanians: talking to host families, carrying out service activities, shopping, traveling, etc. The class will emphasize conversational skills, although some reading and writing will be required as a reinforcement of the speaking and listening activities. By the end of the course students should be able to engage in simple conversation on a variety of topics – family, the weather, shopping, food, hobbies, travel, health and sickness, etc. They will be able to ask questions, make requests, and relate information in the past, present and future tenses.
The aspects of Romanian history and culture included in the course are chosen to enrich the students’ understanding of the people they are living, working and socializing with.
Class schedule:
After the first week, when class will be held every day, the language class will meet three times a week; the actual times being arranged to meet the students’ schedules. There will be additional weekly class meetings focusing various aspects of Romanian history and culture, illustrated with films and PowerPoint presentations Students prepare for these by reading historical materials, excerpts from Romanian Literature, etc. A number of field trips to places of historical and cultural interest will be arranged during the course of the summer, generally on weekends.
Requirements:
• Romanian Language
Students are expected to participate actively in language classes. They should prepare for each class by leaning material assigned for study and doing homework exercises. Practice outside of class is facilitated by the host family setting. Quizzes and comprehensive exams with both oral and written components will assess students’ developing proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Romanian.
• Romanian history and Culture
All students will read The Hole in the Flag, which gives a personal account of the events surrounding the 1989 Revolution, and write a reaction report to the book (outline attached). Other shorter readings will be assigned for reading and discussion.
Cultural reaction papers: Students will write 4 brief papers (400 – 500 words), on a number of events which give them insight into some aspect of Romanian culture or history – a family event (birthday, wedding, funeral), a holiday, a field trip, a film, a conversation with a Romanian, a class presentation. An outline for these cultural reaction papers is attached.
Topics to be covered in the history and culture classes will include a selection of the the following:
• The origins of the Romanian people and language
• The three Romanian states, Vallachia, Moldova and Transylvania
• The Middle Ages, feudal structures and outstanding leaders
• TheGermans of Transylvania (including those who founded Shaessburg - Sighisoara)
• Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Dracula – the facts and legends
• The unification of the three Romanian states
• The Romanian monarchy
• Romania in the two world wars
• The early Communist era
• The Ceausescu regime
• The “so-called revolution” of 1989
• Post-revolutionary Romania – the transition to a western style democracy – government, economics, education, social welfare
• The Orthodox Church, and other expressions of Christianity in Romania
• Romanian icon painting
• Some Romanian myths – “The Ewe Lamb” and “The Master Builder”
• Great names in Romanian Art and Music – Constantin Brancusi, Nicolae Grigorescu, George Enescu
• Contrasting cultural values: American or Romanian?
• The gypsies of Romania
Bibliography – recommended further reading:
Café Europa: life after communism, by Slavenka Draculic
How we survived communism and even laughed, by Slavenka Draculic
Facing East, by Frederica Mathewes-Green
Bury me Standing, by Isabela Fonseca
Balkan Ghosts, by Robert Kaplan
The Balkan Trilogy, by Olivia Manning
Transylvania and Beyond, by Dervla Murphy
Vlad III Dracula: the life and times of the historical Dracula, by Kurt Treptow
With Christ in Communist Prisons, by Richard Wurmbrand
The Pastor’s Wife, by Sabrina Wurmbrand
Martor (Witness): the eighties in Bucharest - Museum of the Romanian Peasant Anthropology Review, 2002
Films:
How we spent the end of the world, Catalin Mitulescu, 2006
Blessed be O prison, Nicolae Margineanu, 2003
4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, Cristian Mungiu, 2007
Architecture & Power, Nicolae Margineanu, 1993
New Eldorado, documentary about Rosia Montana, Tibor Kocsis, 2005
The Death of Mr Lazarescu, Cristi Puiu, 2006
Fortunes of War, BBC, 1987
Grades will be determined as follows:
RLC I:
Language Exams (written & oral): 100 points
Homework and class participation (language): 50 points
Cultural reaction papers (10 points each): 40 points
Report on Hole in the Flag 30 points
Other readings 30 points
A=235+ points; A-=225-234; B+=215-224; B=200-214; B-=185-199; C+=170-184; C=155-169
Guidelines for Book Reports:
These are not book reviews. You are to write about your reactions to each book. What emotions did you have while reading the book? What did you learn from the book that was helpful in understanding Romania? Have you been able to apply information gained from your reading to situations encountered or people met? Did you find yourself relating to the author’s presentation of Romanian life and people? What questions did the book raise for you? Have you had any opportunity to discuss the book (or the topics raised by the book) with Romanians? Did they share the author’s perspective, or disagree with his/her views. Would you recommend this book to others interested in learning about Romania, and why?
Your book reports should be 1,000 to 1,200 words.
Guidelines for Cultural Reaction Papers:
• Describe the event, or summarize the content of the conversation or presentation (for your later recall, it is important to record names, places).
• How did the Romanians (if any) present respond to the event?
• How did the response of any westerners present differ from the response of the Romanians (if at all)?
• What new insight did you gain into Romanian culture from participating in this event or listening to this person?
• Do you think this event will impact your life here, or even back home?
(350 to 500 words - 10 points per paper)
3 years ago
