“Spies and Villains, Heroes and Heroines: Russian Characters in Spy Thrillers from 1880-2000"

todd from EarthDiverse

EarthDiverse is pleased to announce a new Literature course entitled “Spies and Villains, Heroes and Heroines: Russian Characters in Spy Thrillers from 1880-2000" with Jillene Bydder.

This course is a survey of spy thriller fiction published between 1880 and 2000. It sets the books in their historical context and shows how their depiction of Russian/Soviet characters as heroes or as villains reflects the politics of the time in which the books were published. Spy thrillers also document our own social history and reveal many important and/or quirky issues for us to think about. For instance, why were so few thrillers with Russian settings or characters published during the world wars when Russia/the Soviet Union was our ally?

This course is offered in-person at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand on Wednesdays from 11:00am-1:00pm (NZ time) beginning 3 August, or on-line (live-streamed) via Zoom from anywhere in the world. Some representative time zone equivalents are:

• Honolulu, Hawai’i: 1:00-3:00pm, Tue 2 Aug
• US Pacific: 4:00-6:00pm, Tue 2 Aug
• US Eastern: 7:00-9:00pm, Wed 3 Aug
• London, UK: 12:00-2:00am, Wed 3 Aug
• Bangkok, Thailand: 6:00-8:00am, Wed 3 Aug
• Singapore: 7:00-9:00am, Wed 3 Aug
• Sydney, Australia: 9:00-11:00am, Wed 3 Aug

This course is offered weekly for 8 consecutive weeks.

Register now on our website and check out all of our other courses!