Kevin Moss
Jean Thomson Fulton Professor of Modern Languages and Literature
- Office
- Davis Library 357
- Tel
- (802) 443-5786
- moss@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Spring 2022: Wednesday 12:00-2:00 pm and by appointment
Kevin Moss graduated from Amherst College in 1977 and received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1984, with a dissertation on Olga Freidenberg, who headed the Classics Department at Leningrad University. His translation of Freidenberg’s Image and Concept: Mythopoetic Roots of Literature was published in 1997. Interest in Mikhail Bulgakov led to several publications and a website devoted to Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita.
Since the early ‘90s he has studied gay & lesbian culture in Russia and Eastern Europe, and in 1997 he edited the first anthology of gay writing from Russia, Out of the Blue: Russia’s Hidden Gay Literature (Gay Sunshine Press). His translations of the work of Evgeny Kharitonov have appeared in several anthologies and journals. Recent publications focus on queer characters in films from former Yugoslavia.
Prof. Moss teaches Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies in the Women and Gender Studies Program and has also taught Hungarian and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian. At Middlebury he has also conducted the Middlebury Russian Choir and advised the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance.
Courses Taught
FYSE 1028
Identity/Difference
Course Description
Identity and Difference
How do we use categories of identity and difference? How does culture determine how we perceive and perform gender and ethnic identity: male/female, gay/straight, East/West, black/white? We will look at constructions of gender and sexual identity in various cultures and consider how they intersect with national and ethnic identity. Literature and film will be our primary focus. We will read Euripides’ Bacchae, Forster’s Passage to India, and Hwang’s Madame Butterfly and view films like Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Europa Europa that problematize sexual and gender identity. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
GSFS 0223
Intro to Gay/Lesbian Studies
Course Description
Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies
This course will provide an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of gay and lesbian studies. We will explore three topics: queer theory, the construction and representation of homosexuality in history, and queer culture before and after Stonewall. Readings will include works by Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, George Chauncey, John Boswell, Lillian Faderman, Oscar Wilde, Radclyffe Hall, Michael Cunningham, and Tony Kushner. 3 hrs. lect./3 screen
Terms Taught
Requirements
IGST 0506
Upcoming
REES Independent Project
Course Description
Terms Taught
IGST 0701
Upcoming
REES Senior Thesis
Course Description
Russian and East European Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
RUSS 0101
Beginning Russian
Course Description
Beginning Russian
This course is an approach to the language using four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). It provides a firm control of the sound system and the structure of Russian. Although much emphasis is put on the spoken colloquial language, reading, writing, and a conscious understanding of the fundamentals of grammar prepare a strong foundation for work in advanced courses or for reading in specialized fields. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. drill.
Terms Taught
Requirements
RUSS 0103
Beginning Russian
Course Description
Beginning Russian
This course is a continuation of the approach used in RUSS 0102, but with increased emphasis on reading. (RUSS 0102) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. drill.
Terms Taught
Requirements
RUSS 0201
Intermediate Russian
Course Description
Intermediate Russian
Systematic review of grammar and development of the spoken and written skills attained in Beginning Russian. (RUSS 0103 or equivalent) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. drill
Terms Taught
Requirements
RUSS 0202
Intermediate Russian
Course Description
Intermediate Russian
Continuation of the approach used in RUSS 0201. Reading of contemporary Russian texts, conversation, and written assignments in Russian based on reading assignments. (RUSS 0201 or equivalent) 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. drill
Terms Taught
Requirements
RUSS 0500
Advanced Independent Study
Course Description
Advanced Studies in Language and Literature
Supervised individual study for highly qualified students. (Approval required)
Terms Taught
RUSS 0700
Senior Independent Study
Course Description
Senior Independent Study
(Approval required)
Terms Taught
Publications
“Queer as Metaphor: Representations of LGBT People in Central and Eastern European Film,” in Kuhar, Roman and Judit Takacs, eds. 2006. Beyond the Pink Curtain: Everyday Life of LGBT People in Eastern Europe. Peace Institute (Politike Symposion): Ljubljana, 249-267.
“’Ja nisam prava žena:’ Gender and Sexuality in Two Memoirs from Beograd” Hodzic A. & J. Postic (Eds.). Transgressing Gender: Two is not Enough for Gender (E)quality: The Conference Collection. Zagreb: CESI & Women’s Room, 2006, 290-308.
“From Sworn Virgins to Transvestite Prostitutes: Performing Gender and Sexuality in Two Films from Yugoslavia,” in Aleksandar Stulhofer and Theo Sandfort, eds., Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia. NY: Haworth Pr., 2005, 79-94.
“The Underground Closet: Political and Sexual Dissidence in Eastern Europe,” in Ellen E. Berry, ed., Genders 22: Postcommunism and the Body Politic (1995), 229-251.