Добро пожаловать! Welcome to the Russian Studies Program at BU!
Have questions? We would love to hear from you!
For questions about Russian language courses, placement tests, and study abroad reach out to Russian Language Coordinator Prof. Irina Kogel. For questions about Russian literature courses, reach out to Russian Studies Convener Prof. Yuri Corrigan.
The Russian program at Boston University offers four years of Russian language instruction, from the beginner level (LR 111-112) to advanced literature and culture courses taught in Russian. We offer Russian literature courses in English translation every semester, and students have the option of taking courses about the region in History and International Relations.
The program offers a major (11 courses) and a minor (6 courses) in Russian Language and Literature. All our majors are expected to attain proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension in Russian; they are trained to work with primary sources in Russian, to navigate challenging real-life situations, and to have a deep understanding of the Russian literary tradition and the political and cultural movements that inform the history of post-Soviet states and their position in the world today. The major also allows for students to specialize according to their specific interests and needs, to focus on language proficiency, on history and international relations, or on literature and culture.
We encourage students to apply for scholarships to spend a summer or semester in countries where Russian has historically been spoken, such as Latvia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. The Russian major works well on its own or as a double major with other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, such as International Relations, History, English, Comparative Literature, European Studies, and Political Science, as well as majors as diverse as Hospitality, Computer Science, Data Science, and Aerospace Engineering.
Russian is the fifth most spoken language in the world. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and is considered a critical needs language by the U.S. government. As the lingua franca of a massive portion of Eurasia, Russian opens many doors, including careers in government, law, diplomacy, intelligence, academia, and business.
A complete list of Russian language, literature and culture courses is available on the CAS Bulletin or on our all courses webpage.