Saint Louis University has taught Russian studies for more than 50 years and is the only institution in the St. Louis region that provides a major in Russian studies.
Russian is often in the news from political scandals and international hacking incidents to interference in regional and global conflicts and sanctions by the international community. Yet Russia remains a leading player on the world stage, since it covers about one-eighth of the world's surface with lands that are rich in oil and natural resources. Bordering more than a dozen nations in Europe and Asia (many of which were once part of its empire), it has a strong military force with nuclear capabilities. Still, students who visit the nation find that its residents share the same economic, environmental and security issues that face the rest of the globe.
Additional program highlights include:
- Advanced Russian studies students work on independent projects with full-time faculty members to focus on their interests while using the language.
- Faculty members actively encourage and coordinate co-curricular activities.
- Russian studies majors may also qualify for the Dr. Nelly Grosswasser Scholarship in Russian at Saint Louis University as part of their current SLU merit scholarship administered by Student Financial Services.
1. Graduating majors in our program will feel comfortable in actively participating in conversations in Russian at a minimum Intermediate-Mid level (ACTFL) on familiar and prepared topics. They will be able to navigate confidently social interactions in everyday situations by asking and answering a variety of questions in a culturally appropriate manner.
2. Graduating majors will be able to present personal information about themselves in Russian in connected sentences with a logical progression and with attention to temporal frameworks. They will also be able with a minimum Intermediate-Mid level of Russian to write for a page or more, present for at least fifteen minutes, and discuss a variety of prepared and/or researched topics. Such presentations and discussions would be understood by native speakers of Russian.
3. Graduates will critically engage Russian studies in the areas of literature, political science, and religion philosophy in order to examine Russian culture in a comparative manner with their native culture's attitudes, traditions, beliefs, and patterns of behavior. Therefore, they will be able to interact with respect and cultural sensitivity in a variety of formal and informal situations.
4. Graduates will be able to compare how different disciplines approach language, form, genre, and media as they investigate the representation of abilities, class, creed, ethnicity, race, and gender in Russian artistic, literary, historical, and religious or philosophical works. These examinations will be informed by established research methods and innovative analysis learned and refined by means of oral presentations, substantial writing assignments, and other creative media.
