Bachelor of Arts - Slavic Languages and Literatures

Think about how Russia has become a power player even in just US politics the last few years through #hacking or other cybersecurity threats. With the end of the Cold War, the study of languages like Russian has considerably decreased in the US, and as this language has become more important to national security and the global economy, there are not nearly enough Americans who speak it. The US government and national and international employers needs individuals with specialized language skills. Some of these languages can be more challenging, but the department commits to helping students advance in them. Students do not need to have special language abilities to study a language like Russian, they just have to come to class and do the same things they would in any other class, just with a more fun alphabet. And considering how many people study more commonly taught languages like Spanish and French, statistically, studying a language like Russian really sets graduates apart with employers, because they bring in unique skills and expertise.

The department offers comprehensive undergraduate programs in Russian, Polish, and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Turkish, Persian/Tajik/Dar/Farsi. For each language, it offers core curricula emphasizing all four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. It also offers intensive introductory Russian in Lawrence during the summer. Because of how foundational to identities and personal growth study abroad opportunities can be, three are multiple opportunities to learn these languages outside of Lawrence. Think about all the great selfies to take in to these beautiful, off-the-beaten path places! Students can go to Moscow, Russia and study at the Higher School of Economics for a semester. Or they can spend their summers in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, or Zadar, Croatia and Lviv, Ukraine.

The department is multi-disciplinary and it wants students to come out with strong cultural awareness of the region, but also core critical thinking and writing skills. So students can study a language, but also learn about vampires in Slavic and American culture, or robots and scifi writings, explore the linguistic reflections of identity, while reading about socialism, Marxism, and other varieties of Russian political thought.