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, a semester, or a full academic year through the MU GRINT program in Moscow, or through MU partner programs in St. Petersburg (SRAS), and Kazakhstan (American Councils). Information about these three programs can be found through the myStudyAbroad website. Other non-MU program options are available; however, students are strongly advised to consult first with the Director for Undergraduate Studies for Russian and the MU International Center. Additional scholarship opportunities for study abroad in Eurasia may be found on the SRAS webpage.
Other Opportunities (Study Abroad, Scholarships, Graduate School)
The Russian program works closely with the MU Fellowships Office to encourage and assist students interested in language- and culture-related opportunities, including Fulbright, CLS (Critical Languages Scholarship), and Boren.
MU students in ROTC may apply for Project GO, which provides intensive summer language study in the US and abroad in critical languages.
Students who receive Pell grants are eligible for the Gilman scholarship, which provides partial funding for study abroad.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies and other Russian program faculty work closely with students who are considering postgraduate work in Russian or associated fields (e.g., Russian literature, Russian Studies, International Relations, History, etc.).