Russian studies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I majored in Russian at Princeton in the mid-90s, at the nadir of Russian influence. We had four people in my class in the department, which had eight tenured professors. I had never taken Russian before I went to Princeton, and I did nothing with it after school. Became a sports journalist and then a lawyer.

Someone does not know what 'nadir' means.

It seems more the case that you would benefit from studying the history of this period, particularly that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

[Anonymous]

This site recommends schools for Russian studies:

The Best Russian Studies Colleges 2026 https://share.google/jKLQ7itP44Ybpc3oZ

However, the site's methodology does not appear to be immediately evident.

[Anonymous]

This is an excellent list! It pains me how ignorant some of these comments are. My kid received four federally funded scholarships to learn Russian as it is deemed a language essential to our national security. One scholarship included a 7-week immersion study in a Russian speaking country. These programs were started by President Bush as we did have enough U.S. citizen interpreters who spoke Arabic during the Gulf war. Unfortunately, the current administration is gutting these programs. The three universities that still have the Russian Flagship program are Georgia, Wisconsin and Indiana. All three offer amazing programs in Russian. Virginia Tech, UCLA, and UNC lost their Flagship funding last year but are still excellent. Arizona State, Columbia and Chicago are excellent.

Anonymous wrote:Academic here who studied Russian and a few other off-the-beaten-track languages:

Below I've pasted a list of universities that receive federal funds (at least until recently) for Russia and Central/Eastern Europe, including a number of state flagships. Any of them will have serious courses including language training. I'd second the recommendations for Middlebury & Georgetown as well.

But I'd also recommend that your kid consider a double major, or majoring in something else and minoring in Russian studies. On its own, it's pretty limiting. Language skills are useful but AI may erode that some of that utility. And it will be impossible to achieve real fluency without extensive in-country experience, which is going to be tricky for the foreseeable future with Russia.

Title VI-funded National Resource Centers/FLAS-Granting Programs for Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Arizona State University — The Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian & East European Studies
Harvard University — Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
Indiana University — Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute
Indiana University — Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center
Stanford University — Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
The Ohio State University — Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
University of California, Berkeley — Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
University of Illinois — Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
University of Kansas — Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies
University of Michigan — Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — The Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
University of Pittsburgh — Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
University of Texas at Austin — Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison — Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

[Anonymous]

Some people seem to be saying the degree is useless, but when reading, analyzing and writing about literature, you gain research and critical thinking skills. Same for studying Russian and Eastern European history, culture, politics, and business. You learn so much about other parts of the world, but you also learn about yourself and learn to question your own assumptions.

Maybe you can't study abroad in Russia right now. But some programs go to places like Kazakhstan. Even more culture shock.

So even if you don't end up working for a think tank, or as a journalist, or at a government agency, or as a contractor, or in a company that does business with Eastern Europe or in academia, you will still be using your degree. You'll have learned how to think, analyze and learn and apply it in the same way that so many other successful people apply what they have done when they are in jobs that don't conform exactly to the subject name of whatever they majored in at college.

[Anonymous]

NSLI-Y Russian

[Anonymous]

Also taking Russian classes at local university

[Anonymous]

I would imagine that Russian language is important for certain types of intelligence or foreign service jobs. I would also expect that someone interested in going into that field would take classes on Russian culture, such as literature and history, to round out their knowledge of that region and increase their understanding of the people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I majored in Russian at Princeton in the mid-90s, at the nadir of Russian influence. We had four people in my class in the department, which had eight tenured professors. I had never taken Russian before I went to Princeton, and I did nothing with it after school. Became a sports journalist and then a lawyer.

Someone does not know what 'nadir' means.

Umm, yeah I do.

[Anonymous]

I did a BA in Russian language and literature at Pitt in the late '80s (including summer Russian for year 2 level at Pitt's summer language institute). And an MA in Russian area studies from Georgetown in the mid '90s. As an undergrad I studied in the then Soviet Union for one semester, and as a grad I studied in Russia for an academic year.

Russian is an amazing language, and it was great fun to study it at that time. I was quite advanced when I finished my studies.

(On a martial arts forum I once read a description of a black belt as "a license to start learning karate." I think of a BA in Russian similarly. That's the point in knowledge where Russian really starts to get interesting.)

My experience with starting a career in the mid '90s matches what 22:08 poster wrote about the market being flooded with Russians. I was on the tail end of a demographic wave of Americans studying Russian. I wasn't interested in the intelligence community or academia. I bopped back and forth between DMV and Russia, trying to get a career going, without great success. Worked briefly on development assistance programs. Floundered around a bit.

I decided to take up computer programming and studied on my own. Eventually landed my first programming job (moved away from DMV) and have been working as a programmer for 25+ years. (Before anyone asks -- I love programming as my day-to-day work and have intentionally not pursued management.)

I haven't been back to Russia since 2000.

Russian study programs right now seem to be taking place mostly in Estonia and Kazakhstan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I majored in Russian at Princeton in the mid-90s, at the nadir of Russian influence. We had four people in my class in the department, which had eight tenured professors. I had never taken Russian before I went to Princeton, and I did nothing with it after school. Became a sports journalist and then a lawyer.

Someone does not know what 'nadir' means.

It seems more the case that you would benefit from studying the history of this period, particularly that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and rise of Russian emigrants indeed created a deep need for Russian speakers. How could you possibly not know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine that Russian language is important for certain types of intelligence or foreign service jobs. I would also expect that someone interested in going into that field would take classes on Russian culture, such as literature and history, to round out their knowledge of that region and increase their understanding of the people.

You are correct. That some of these self-professed experts believe otherwise makes it clear they aren’t in this line of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I majored in Russian at Princeton in the mid-90s, at the nadir of Russian influence. We had four people in my class in the department, which had eight tenured professors. I had never taken Russian before I went to Princeton, and I did nothing with it after school. Became a sports journalist and then a lawyer.

Someone does not know what 'nadir' means.

It seems more the case that you would benefit from studying the history of this period, particularly that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and rise of Russian emigrants indeed created a deep need for Russian speakers. How could you possibly not know this?

The poster wrote "the nadir of Russian influence," which was the characterization I supported. I didn't comment on the demand for Russian speakers.

[Anonymous]

I'd bet a ruble that the lot of you arguing about who does or does not know the meaning of the word "nadir" are likely pronouncing it wrong. (Stress is on the first syllable in English. It's on the second in Russian.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I majored in Russian at Princeton in the mid-90s, at the nadir of Russian influence. We had four people in my class in the department, which had eight tenured professors. I had never taken Russian before I went to Princeton, and I did nothing with it after school. Became a sports journalist and then a lawyer.

Someone does not know what 'nadir' means.

It seems more the case that you would benefit from studying the history of this period, particularly that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and rise of Russian emigrants indeed created a deep need for Russian speakers. How could you possibly not know this?

That’s not a well paying field and a stupid reason for investing $90k in a major from which it is very difficult to get a good paying job in a career with a future. Even if fortunate to get into the CIA, you are stuck in a bureaucracy at a government wage the rest of your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an excellent list! It pains me how ignorant some of these comments are. My kid received four federally funded scholarships to learn Russian as it is deemed a language essential to our national security. One scholarship included a 7-week immersion study in a Russian speaking country. These programs were started by President Bush as we did have enough U.S. citizen interpreters who spoke Arabic during the Gulf war. Unfortunately, the current administration is gutting these programs. The three universities that still have the Russian Flagship program are Georgia, Wisconsin and Indiana. All three offer amazing programs in Russian. Virginia Tech, UCLA, and UNC lost their Flagship funding last year but are still excellent. Arizona State, Columbia and Chicago are excellent.

Anonymous wrote:Academic here who studied Russian and a few other off-the-beaten-track languages:

Below I've pasted a list of universities that receive federal funds (at least until recently) for Russia and Central/Eastern Europe, including a number of state flagships. Any of them will have serious courses including language training. I'd second the recommendations for Middlebury & Georgetown as well.

But I'd also recommend that your kid consider a double major, or majoring in something else and minoring in Russian studies. On its own, it's pretty limiting. Language skills are useful but AI may erode that some of that utility. And it will be impossible to achieve real fluency without extensive in-country experience, which is going to be tricky for the foreseeable future with Russia.

Title VI-funded National Resource Centers/FLAS-Granting Programs for Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Arizona State University — The Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian & East European Studies
Harvard University — Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
Indiana University — Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute
Indiana University — Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center
Stanford University — Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
The Ohio State University — Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
University of California, Berkeley — Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
University of Illinois — Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
University of Kansas — Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies
University of Michigan — Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — The Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
University of Pittsburgh — Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
University of Texas at Austin — Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison — Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

Just so you are aware, it is the Biden administration that cut 1/2 the language programs, including Arabic at Maryland….give “credit” where credit is due.