The major in Russian consists of 27 credits in Russian beyond RUSS 1200. The Russian faculty strongly encourages all majors to study abroad, with summer, semester, and year-long options available. In addition, students must meet all degree, college and University graduation requirements. Departmental Honors are available for students majoring in Russian with a minimum 3.5 GPA in the Russian major and a 3.3 GPA overall. Students must complete a minimum of three literature courses, two of which must be at the 4000-level, with no grades below B. At the discretion of the department, students may write a thesis paper in lieu of one of 4000-level literature courses.
The Russian Minor
The department offers a minor in Russian, comprising a minimum consisting of 15 credit hours, with 6 credits taken in coursework at the 3000 level or above. These hours may come from any combination of language, literature, and/or culture courses offered through the Russian program except RUSS 1100 and RUSS 1200 (the elementary language sequence), which may not be used towards fulfillment of the minor.
Study Abroad
Russian majors and minors are encouraged to study abroad for the summer, semester, or full academic year through MU partner programs American Councils, HOP, and SRAS, which collectively offer study abroad sites across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In addition to intensive language study, they offer courses and programs in areas such as peace and security studies, Eurasian regional studies, social entrepreneurship, media studies, and food writing. HOP also has English-language coursework in math and statistics, health science, theatre and performance, communication and film, and many other MU relevant disciplines.
Students can also earn credit towards the major and minor through two MU faculty led programs: From Empire to Independence: Prague in the 20th Century, a 10-week spring semester course with travel over spring break; and Politics and Society in Central Asia, a two-week summer program. These shorter-term offerings focus on culture, politics, and history and provide a broader context for regional studies across the former Communist bloc and Soviet republics.
Information about all these programs can be found through themyStudyAbroad website. Please reach out to the Russian faculty for more details.
Other Opportunities (Global fellowships, scholarships, graduate school)
The Russian program works closely with the MU Fellowships Office to support students interested in national language- and culture-related fellowships and scholarships, including Fulbright, CLS (Critical Languages Scholarship), and Boren.
Russian program faculty also work closely with students who are considering postgraduate work in Russian or associated fields (e.g., Russian Studies, International Relations, History, etc.).
You are strongly encouraged to talk to a Russian faculty member early and often about all of the opportunities above!