The Institute of Modern
Russian Culture
A rich archive and international study center devoted to the cultural history of Russia, especially the visual arts and literature of the 19th and 20th centuries
WELCOME!
Dedicated primarily to the study of the language, literature,
and culture of modern Russia, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers students the opportunity to witness the dramatic renaissance of one of the world's major cultures as it
redefines itself and its place in the world.
Slavic Department faculty are active nationally and internationally in a variety of fields ranging from literary theory to Romantic poetry and the avant garde. They are united by a central focus on language and literature in their broader cultural context, which includes study of the fine arts, theater, history, and cinema.
The Department features small size language classes with a focus on communicating in Russian, shared faculty with Comparative
Literature, Linguistics, the School of Theatre, and History, and opportunites for Exchange and Study Abroad programs.
The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers students the opportunity to participate in a 6-week program in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
Click here and find out more!
What's New
We congratulate our colleague Marcus Levitt on his promotion to full professor, and on the publication of his new book, The Visual Dominant in Eighteenth-Century Russia (Northern Illinois University Press, 2011)
Anna Krivoruchko (ABD) has recently published a book: Ekfrasis v russkom Kuenstlerroman 1920-kh godov: Funktsii v khudozhestvennom tekste ( Saarbruecken: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011). Congratulations, Anya!
It's a Blast!Symposium and Exhibit
A one-day Symposium on the Russian Satirical Journals of the Revolution of 1905 will be held at Doheny Library on Friday, Sept. 9. That evening an exhibit of the journals from USC's collection will open in Doheny Library's Treasure Room.
Chess Team Victory
The USC chess team has taken first place inthe U.S. Amateur Team Championship West chess tournament.
From left: Jack Peters, Danyul Lawrence, Blake Phillips and Sriram Balasubramanian. Team member Nathan Huessenstamm not pictured. Photo credit Chris Roberts.
Thomas Seifrid Wins College's Highest Award
Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages & Lits Thomas Seifrid has been named winner of the Raubenheimer Research Award for outstanding faculty members who have excelled in research, teaching and service to the university. Way to go!
Russia Honors John Bowlt
Prof. John Bowlt receives the Orden druzhby [Order of Friendship] for the promotion of Russian culture in the USA from Vladimir Vinokurov, Consul General of the Consulate of the Russian Federation of San Francisco, at the Institute of Modern Russian Culture, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, on 9 September, 2010. The official ceremony will take place in January or February, 2011. For more information, click here.
"The Cosmos of the Russian Avant-Garde"
For a video on this new exhibit that opened this summer in Santander Spain, curated by Prof. John Bowlt, click here.
Faculty Publications
John Bowlt received a Phi Kappa Phi Faculty 
Recognition Award in May 2009 for his Moscow and St. Petersburg 1900-1920. Art, Life & Culture of the Silver Age (Vendome Press).
Academic Studies Press recently published three works by our faculty:
Thomas Seifrid's A Companion to Andrei Platonov's "The Foundation Pit"; and Marcus Levitt's Early Modern Russian Letters:
Texts and Contexts and his translation of Victor Zhivov's Language and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia.