This course investigates the form and contexts of Russian prose, film, and documentary storytelling that challenges norms and seeks social change. Authors will include Tolstoy, Chekhov, Zoshchenko, Tokareva, and Ulitskaya among others. We will also work with Soviet and contemporary films, and ethnographic media, considering through these various forms why storytelling endures as a medium for transforming people and environments. The course will include a partnership with Atlanta's Russian School #1 and the chance to do real-world work creating a sustainable community with the Russian immigrant population of Atlanta.