Russian Undergraduate Studies
The Undergraduate Program in Russian
The undergraduate major in Russian leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree and consists of required core and elective courses, for a minimum of 32 credits in Russian language, literature, culture, and cinema (beyond first-year Russian language). Students with a primary major in another field may complete an additional major by taking 26 semester credits in Russian beyond first-year language. All courses are interactive and emphasize communication skills; students of Russian receive individual attention in smaller classes.
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Degree Requirements
Core requirements include second, third, and fourth-year Russian language courses (20 credits):
| RUS 201 Second Year Russian I | 4 |
| RUS 202 Second Year Russian II | 4 |
| RUS 420 Russian Culture Before WWI | 3 |
| RUS 421 Russian Culture of the 20th Century | 3 |
| RUS 440 Comtemporary Russian Culture | 3 |
| RUS 441 Russian Literature | 3 |
For the remaining elective credits you may choose from:
| RUS 211 Second-Year Conversational Russian | 2 |
| RUS 231 Nineteen-Century Russian Literature in Translation | 3 |
| RUS 232 Twentieth-Century Russian Literature in Translation | 3 |
| RUS 290 Independent Study | 1-6 |
| RUS 311 Advanced Russian Conversation | 3 |
| RUS 341 Russian Life and Culture of the 20th Century | 3 |
| RUS 490 Independent Study | 1-6 |
| RUS 493 Overseas Internship | 1-12 |
| LL 250c Russian Cinema | 3 |
For Russian course descriptions, see the LIST OF COURSES.
In addition, you complete a capstone experience that offers you the opportunity to use your Russian skills, either in Russia or in a specially designed project or thesis completed on campus. To fulfill the capstone experience, you may choose independent study or senior thesis research, an overseas experience in Russia, or an approved project in an advanced Russian language course.
For complete information about degree completion requirements and course descriptions, see the Academic Programs Catalog, available on line at: http://www.reg.msu.edu/ucc/AcademicProgramsUpdated.asp, or in hard copy from the Office of the Registrar, Michigan State University, 150 Administration Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1046, 517/355-3300.
For more course information, please click on the links below for a list of courses, including course descriptions and prerequisites: choose Russian courses in Description of courses. Course scheduling information for each semester, including class times and locations, is available from Schedule of courses
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Travel Abroad
For the past several years the Russian faculty has worked closely with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in developing the International Practice of Civil Engineering in Volgograd Program. The program is co-directed by faculty members from each department. In addition to IAH 221C, Russian Language and Culture offers a full complement of language courses, all of which count toward the Russian major. The trip includes visits to St. Petersburg and Moscow and at least four weeks of course work in Volgograd. In Volgograd language students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of our home-stay option, in which they live with an approved Russian family.
The co-directors of the Volgograd program are:
Dr. David Prestel
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
A-615 Wells Hall
Phone: (517) 353-0740
email: prestel@msu.edu
Dr. Thomas Maleck
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michigan State University
3571 Engineering Building
Phone: (517) 353-6448
email:maleck@msu.edu
For students desiring a semester or year-long stay in Russia, MSU is closely affiliated with programs organized by the Council on International Educational Exchange and American Councils.
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After Graduation
With a degree in Russian, you can pursue careers in a wide range of areas. Some of our graduates have been employed as an airline official in Moscow, a foreign correspondent in Moscow and Tblisi for NPR, an English-language newspaper editor in St. Petersburg, American embassy staff in Moscow, and an accountant at an international accounting firm in Moscow, as well as faculty at various U.S. colleges and universities. The opening of this large country that was relatively closed for most of the twentieth century means that business demand for those with knowledge about Russia is increasing, as is government need for Russian speakers.
If you decide to pursue graduate studies in Russian or in economics, history, international business, political science, or comparative literature, you will discover that your undergraduate degree in Russian from MSU will qualify you to do graduate work throughout the world. Members of the Russian faculty are knowledgeable about opportunities for graduate study and are ready to help you identify and select programs that meet your career goals.
