Life, Self, and God in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment I: Parts 1-3

Instructor: Svitlana Kobets, PhD, LMS 

CE SMC, University of Toronto

Day: Thursday

Time: 1-3pm

Dates: April 10-May 8 (The 2nd part of the course to follow on May 22-June 19) 

The first of Dostoevsky’s five great novels, Crime and Punishment (1866) is widely acclaimed as one of the most exiting, innovative and influential works of fiction in world literature. Being a thriller, it is a most stimulating and thought-provoking read, at the same time it is a philosophical and psychological novel. Richly textured, this novel is populated by people from all strata of Russian society who in their different ways search for and come to terms with their own understanding of selfhood, life and God. The novel’s focus is on the plight of its protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, whose inner world we are invited to explore. Together with this character, we set out on a quest to contemplate life’s essential questions about human values, aspirations and predicaments, about the role and nature of our mind and consciousness. Reading assignments and discussion questions for this course will be posted on this web site.


READINGS

Dostoevsky, Fedor. Crime and Punishment (novel) (trans./annotated by Richard Peaver and Larisa Volokhonsky)


SCHEDULE (Crime and Punishment I & II)

Life, Self, and God in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment I: Parts I-III

5 Thursdays, April 10-May 8, at 1-3pm

April 10

Class 1: Part 1, Chapters I-IV

Study questions for Class 1

April 17

Class 2: Part 1, Chapters V-VII

Study questions for Class 2

April 24

Class 3: Part 2, Chapters I-VI

 Study questions for Class 3

May 1

Class 4: Part 2, Chapter VII, Part 3, Chapters I-III

 Study questions for Class 4

May 8

Class 5: Part 3, Chapters IV-VII

 Study questions for Class 5

 

Life, Self, and God in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment II: Parts IV-VI and Epilogue

5 Thursdays, May 14-June 12 at 1-3pm

May 15

Class 1 (6): Part 4, Chapters I-IV

 Study questions for Class 6 (1)

May 22

Class 2 (7): Part 4, Chapters V-VI, Part 5, I

 Study questions for Class 7 (2)

June 29

Class 3 (8): Part 5, Chapters II-VI

Study questions for Class 8 (3)

June 5

Class 4 (9): Part 6, Chapters I-VII

 Study questions for Class 9 (4)

June 12

Class 5 (10): Part 6, Chapter VIII, Epilogue

 Study questions for Class 10 (5)

 
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