Our Russian and Eastern European Program at UCSB offers courses in Russian, East European, and Eurasian language, literature, and culture. Working with its own as well affiliated faculty across campus, our program offers classes in film, literature, art, and culture, both on the lower division and upper division levels.
We aim provide a home for all students interested in Russian/Slavic and East European or interested in cultivating their Slavic, East European, or Eurasia heritage, especially Armenian, Georgian, and Central Asian.
Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world with around 154 million native speakers. It is an official language of 4 countries (Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan) and is one of the 6 official languages of the UN. Russia itself is a diverse and multinational state with great ethnic diversity and is home to over 190 ethnic groups. The Russian diaspora is estimated at 20 to 30 million worldwide. There are over 600,000 Russian speakers in Southern California alone, and this Russian-speaking community includes over 150 ethnic minorities from the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union.
Our Russian languages classes are small, and students receive a great deal of personalized attention from highly motivated instructors to support them. We welcome beginners with no knowledge of Russian, as well as students with Russian or other East European heritage who may have some or a high level of the language knowledge already. For assistance with being placed in an appropriate level of Russian language, please see the Placement Testing area of this website.
Some Reasons Why You Should Consider Studying Russian
- Cultural Richness: Russian culture has a profound influence in literature, art, film, and other aspects of culture. Learning the language gives you direct access to works by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, and Eisenstein, allowing you to experience them in their original form and context.
- Professional Opportunities: Knowledge of Russian can be useful for careers in government, business, research, and to develop your global competence and better understand your heritage. Russia has significant global influence in sectors like energy, space technology, and engineering. Knowing Russian can be a huge advantage in fields where the language is spoken or where companies have business ties with Russian-speaking countries.
- Intellectual Challenge: Russian has a unique grammatical structure and uses the Cyrillic alphabet, making it quite different from English or other Latin-based languages. If you’re up for a challenge, Russian can be an intellectually stimulating language to learn.
- Travel and Adventure: Russia and other regions where Russian is readily spoken and understood, such as Central Asia or the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia) offer an incredible number of diverse landscapes and other unique eco-systems. Speaking Russian can make traveling in these regions more enjoyable and immersive.
- Geopolitical Insight: Learning Russian helps you better understand current events and geopolitics, especially considering Russia’s role in global affairs. Accessing Russian news sources or understanding Russian social media can broaden your perspective.
- Russian has been designated a critical language by the United States government. Critical languages are those that are considered crucial for national security but are not spoken by enough Americans.
Questions?
Please contact Larry McLellan.