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Innovative Russian Minor a Team Effort

November 18, 2015

Thanks to collaboration by two faculty members with European backgrounds, Angelo State University is able to offer something few rivals can: a Russian minor.

Dr. E. Christine Muelsch Dr. E. Christine Muelsch “This is something very few schools have,” said Dr. E. Christine Muelsch, a native of Germany and a faculty member of ASU’s Department of English and Modern Languages. “The courses are designed for anyone interested in European history or culture, such as students of history, government, security studies, psychology or communication. We have received support from across the campus.”

Muelsch and Ewa Davis, a native of Poland and ASU’s Russian language instructor, launched the Russian minor this fall by tripling the impact of two courses: “Comparative History and Civilization of Germany and Russia in the 20th Century” and “German and Russian Film in the 1920s.” The two courses, both offered in the fall, and the four available Russian language courses add up to the minor.

“It is an important addition, especially for our military students,” Muelsch said. “It’s a great thing that, in essence, in six hours, in one semester, you can get a minor.”

“Everything is done in triplicate,” she added.

Ewa Davis Ewa Davis Davis and Muelsch co-teach the courses in English, then students who have signed up for the Russian minor discuss the coursework and take exams in Russian with Davis. Students pursuing the German minor do the same in German with Muelsch. Film or history students discuss material and take exams in English.

“There is so much cultural overlapping, especially in the 1920s, so it really made sense to teach it together,” Davis said. “Geographically and politically, the material is closely related. What is also unique is Christine being from Germany and me being Slavic, we can support each other in answering questions and developing material.”

For Matthew Johnson, a junior from Miles, adding the Russian minor was a natural fit.

Ewa Davis, ASU's Russian instructor, keeps a collection of Slavic folk art pieces in her office. Ewa Davis, ASU's Russian instructor, keeps a collection of Slavic folk art pieces in her office.

“I took my first Russian language course as a sophomore,” the psychology major said. “I had already read political works by Lenin and philosophical works by Dostoyevsky, so that had made me very interested in learning Russian. I like the idea of being able to read works from Russia in Russian.”

“I remember the day Mrs. Davis asked the class who wanted to do the Russian minor. She said only a couple of additional classes would be required. One is a culture class, and I thought that was a wonderful opportunity.”

Matthew Johnson, junior psychology major from Miles

“I feel like the Russian language has some finesse to it,” he added. “It sounds sophisticated, especially compared to a lot of other languages. There’s something beautiful about it.”

Johnson is also interested in exploring an area of psychological study that looks at languages and their effects on societies.

“I remember the day Mrs. Davis asked the class who wanted to do the Russian minor,” he said. “She said only a couple of additional classes would be required. One is a culture class, and I thought that was a wonderful opportunity.”

The cultural class also appealed to Katherine Walsh, a sophomore from San Angelo who is majoring in English with an English language learning and linguistics specialization. She plans to teach English overseas.

“I needed to take a few language classes for my major,” she said. “My grandmother on my mother’s side is Ukrainian and my father is a Russian linguist for the Air Force so I decided to take Russian.”

“I thought I would do world history for a minor,” she added, “but Mrs. Davis mentioned the Russian minor. I would learn not only the language but also the culture and the history.”

Davis appreciates the opportunity to add the Russian minor and work more closely with Muelsch.

“We enjoy co-teaching,” she said. “We both are from Europe and we both have worked together at ASU for many years. Perhaps it is this background that helps us cooperate in our teaching efforts.”