Student SpotlightJackson Gellert '25

Study the many facets of Russia including, its history, language, literature, cinema and culture. 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. You will be able to include courses in the humanities and social sciences that focus on Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. 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.
The Russian Area Studies Department offers two majors and two minors:
The HWS Russian Area Studies program condemns the Russian Federation’s war against the Ukrainian people, language, and culture. We insist on the preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty and we express support for all those in both Ukraine and the Russian Federation who are striving for peace and truth.
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.
Amplify your Russian Area Studies degree with the skills, knowledge and ethical foundation needed to be a leader in the 21st century. In partnership with the Centennial Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, our department offers the opportunity to engage in leadership development that culminates in a degree with leadership distinction and provides a competitive edge when applying to internships, jobs and graduate or professional school.
To graduate with leadership distinction, you will complete a series of foundational, action-oriented and reflective milestones within the Russian Area Studies and Leadership curriculum. We encourage you to begin your leadership journey as early as your second semester on campus.
Russian Area Studies students at HWS delve deep into Russian language, history, and culture through language-intensive study abroad. The Russian Area Studies program is committed to providing engaging and valuable study abroad options in countries that also ensure the safety of its students.
In the past, students have studied in Barnaul and Yaroslavl, including grant-funded summer opportunities through the Fulbright-Hays program. While the current political situation precludes students from traveling to Russia to study, there are many options available in other countries with large Russian-speaking communities, including European Union member countries Latvia and Lithuania.
For the summer of 2022, the Russian Area Studies department's program took place in Daugavpils, Latvia, where students had one-on-one conversation sessions with college students who were native Russian speakers.
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 varied backgrounds and offer a diverse look into the history, culture and society of Russia.
This course considers such topics as Russian perceptions of masculinity and femininity, gender bending, sexuality and the breaking of sexual mores, and how current Russian debates on gender and sexuality cite and relate to this cultural heritage.
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 Colleges’ Delta Mu chapter of Dobro Slovo was chartered in 2003, Hobart and William Smith have recognized students majoring or minoring in Russian Area Studies.
Here are some of the courses that allow you to explore and embrace all aspects and areas of Russia.
Gain insight into the responses from those falsely imprisoned under the dictatorship of Josef Stalin.
View American culture and identity with a Russian lens by studying readings and films by American and Russian poets, novelists, and directors.
Explore how science fiction and fantasy relate to the Russian cultural and historical context and the ideological stance they portray.
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.
“I’m primarily working with the foundation’s ballet programs, and it’s been a really good way to tie my interests together. The First-Year Seminar that I took with Professor Galloway, “Tales of the Village Idiot,” got me interested in the Russian Area Studies program, as did 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 Professor Galloway was influential in my choice to pursue that course of study.”