Russian Nonverbal Communication and its Reflction

This course will focus on aspects of nonverbal communication that are typically encountered in everyday Russian culture: gestures, touches, eye movements, facial expressions, etc., as well as words and expressions that reflect these aspects: to spit, to lower one’s eyes, to wave something away vs. to wave, to pat someone on the shoulder, to shrug, to put one’s foot down, to make the cuckoo sign (twist one’s finger at one’s temple)/, etc. Particular attention will be paid to situations that might result in misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication. The class will feature specifically-prepared presentations, as well as data from the National Corpus of Russian.