Study the many facets of Russia including history, language, literature, cinema and culture in the Russian Area Studies Department. Working closely with a faculty mentor, you’ll design your major or minor around the topics you are already passionate about and those that ignite your curiosity. Finish the program with a capstone course that delves deeper into cultural theory and allows you to apply the knowledge you’ve collected in previous courses to a new project.
Practice Russian recipes at the Intercultural Affairs Center, attend a lecture on Russian political dissidents or test your language speaking skills in the New York State Collegiate Competition of Spoken Russian.
At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, learning goes beyond textbooks and classrooms. You’ll gain high-impact practical experience that deepens learning and opens doors.
Study post-Soviet identity and conflict in Ukraine or explore Russian culture in Moscow. Summer study opportunities with rigorous Russian language and culture classes are often available through the Fulbright-Hays program.
Wherever you go, our top-ranked global education program will allow you to apply classroom knowledge, develop cultural understanding and build global connections that expand your personal capacity and sense of purpose.
Courses in Russian area studies explore people of different backgrounds and offer a diverse look into the history, culture and society of Russia.
Dobro Slovo, an internationally renowned Honors Society, recognizes academic excellence in the study of Slavic languages and literatures and provides incentive for scholarly interest in Slavic life and culture. Since the installation of the Colleges’ Delta Mu chapter of Dobro Slovo in 2003, Hobart and William Smith have recognized students majoring or minoring in Russian area studies.
Explore and embrace all aspects and areas of Russia.
Survey a wealth of Russian and Slavic folk tales, epic songs, legends, riddles and other elements of the oral tradition, as well as the later literatures these genres inspired.
Gain insight on the responses from those falsely imprisoned under the dictatorship of Josef Stalin.
Explore how science fiction and fantasy relate to Russian cultural and historical context and the ideological stance they portray.
View American culture and identity with a Russian lens by studying readings and films by American and Russian poets, novelists, and directors.
“I’m primarily working with their ballet programs and it’s been a really good way to tie my interests together. The Tales of the Village Idiot FSEM that I took with Associate Professor of Russian Area Studies David Galloway got me into the RAS program, as well as a winter break trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow that he led. I didn’t enter college thinking that I was going to study Russian, but the mentorship from Prof. Galloway was influential in my choice to pursue that course of study.”
