Russian and Eurasian Studies Program

Explore Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia through courses in language, literature, art, history, politics, ethnic relations, social conditions, and the environment.

Filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa visited Professor Mieka Erley’s senior seminar in Russian and Eurasian Studies
Filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa visited Professor Mieka Erley’s senior seminar in Russian and Eurasian Studies

Faculty in the Colgate Russian and Eurasian Studies (REST) program are recognized as experts in an unusually wide range of academic fields, allowing students to explore the region in a uniquely interdisciplinary way. We offer a major and a minor in Russian and Eurasian Studies.

What makes our program distinctive:

  • Small language classes
  • Opportunities for semester-long study abroad programs led by Colgate faculty in St. Petersburg (Russia), and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan).
  • Popular extended study programs to Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Past programs include “Totalitarian Cities” (Moscow and Almaty) and “Oil and Water” (Samarkand, Uzbekistan and Baku, Azerbaijan).
  • Extensive funding opportunities for language study and research abroad
  • Exclusive access to Fulbright Russian Language Teaching Assistants

Program Contacts

Director: Mieka Erley

Academic Department Coordinator: Jennifer Von Matt

Office: 219A Lawrence Hall

Phone: 315-228-7289

This is a time of flux in Russia’s history, full of nuances, grey areas, and contradictions.

Victoria Kouznetsov Class of 2013