RSSS 335 - Healthy Places, Toxic Spaces: GeoHumanities & Health in Russia & Eastern Europe

Space, place, and ecology have long played the part of actors - rather than backdrops - for human action in Eastern European arts; by adding the concept of health, this course explores the intersection of the human person, culture, and the environment in Eastern European literature and film. By analyzing the "humanistic geography" created by artists from the region, this course will endeavor to understand how the health (broadly understood) of individuals is affected by place, and vice versa. This course will also explore how authors have contributed to creating a "cultural biography" of some of the major health and environmental issues - the legacy of Chernobyl, migration, accessibility, etc. - facing Russia and Eastern Europe today.