Category: Graduate Programs

Deadline for Applications: March 15, 2017

Kyrgyz Summer Adventure

There are many reasons to experience Kyrgyzstan and learn more about its people, history, and culture. From its position as America’s strongest ally in the economically and militarily important Central Asia region to the opportunity it offers for outdoor adventure and inexpensive travel, we believe Kyrgyzstan is an oft-overlooked destination for study abroad.

Kyrgyz Summer Adventure offers intensive Russian language training and a one week trek through the gorgeous mountains of Kyrgyzstan on horseback, practicing the language. Students can choose three weeks of language training or, for a better value, a full nine weeks. Students will also learn more about local history, culture, and food through a variety of guest speakers and workshops.

Kyrgyz Summer Adventure is perfect for students of anthropology, language, area studies, history, or even international relations. It’s also perfect for anyone with an outdoorsy spirit who would like to gain Russian language skills this summer while doing something that will generate incredible stories and memories from your time riding, hiking, and engaging with locals in the mountains of Central Asia. See the sample itinerary below and prepare to get excited.

– Dates and Costs –

Summer

Four Weeks: Cost: $3,695
June 19 – July 16, 2017  (Apply by: April 15, 2017)

Ten Weeks: Cost: $7,390
May 29 – Aug 4, 2017  (Apply by: March 15, 2017)

Semester Options: See Central Asian Studies

For more information, and to apply, click here.

Deadline for Applications: March 15/31, 2017

Russian as a Second Language
Study Russian in Russia, Ukraine, or Kyrgyzstan

Russian as a Second Language (RSL) program packages are designed for flexibility to suit almost any need or interest. Study for a week or a year. Choose the bustling streets of Moscow or the rugged hills of Kyrgyzstan. Take advanced courses or start with the basics. Home Stays and TORFL Testing are optionally available. Full summer programs can be combined with seminars and adventures ranging from business courses to horse trekking. With SRAS, it’s all up to you.

Options:

Full Summer (10 weeks): Cost: $6,695
May 29 – Aug 4, 2017  (Apply by: March 15, 2017)
Customizable with optional seminars! Click here.

Early Summer (8 weeks): Cost: $5,895
May 29 – July 21, 2017  (Apply by: March 15, 2017)

Late Summer (6 weeks): Cost: $4,995
June 26 – Aug 4, 2017  (Apply by: March 31, 2017)

Extended Deadlines! Full summer and early summer programs in Bishkek, Batumi, Kiev, and Odessa are still accepting applications through April 25! Batumi, Georgia and Odessa, Ukraine are additional locations open for summer RSL programs.

For more information, and to apply, click here.

Deadline for Applications: March 30, 2017

Coexistence and Religion
History, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in Georgia

Georgia has always been a land of multiple faiths: Judaism, Islam, Christian Orthodoxy, and Paganism have a long and unique history of coexistence. In the three-week course, we’ll begin in Tbilisi at the Georgian-American University where you’ll hear lectures on the role of religious traditions in the history and current life of Georgia, followed by thematic lectures on religious and secular traditions in Georgia. Topics will include: Church music, spiritual art, church and temple architecture, the unique history of Georgian Jews, Islam in Georgia, the persistence of paganistic practices, and the era of Soviet Official Atheism.

We will learn to reflect upon and better understand religious traditions, issues, questions, and values in Georgia, thereby enhancing and expanding our understanding of how religion and spirituality shape our own lives.

Lectures will be enhanced and extended through outside nonfiction and fiction readings, daily discussion sessions, and frequent visits to museums, galleries, and local sites. In the classroom, you’ll learn the history and the contemporary context; in the field, you’ll come to understand how religion and spirituality are interwoven into the landscape of Georgia.

– Dates and Costs –

Summer: $4,495*
May 28 – June 17, 2017  (Apply by March 30, 2017)

Program Add-ons:
Russian language study extension in Batumi, Georgia or Kiev, Ukraine: $395 per week
Security and Society Summer School, Course block 2 (June 18 – July 7) – $2,995

For more information, and to apply, click here.

Deadline for Applications: March 15, 2017

Security and Society
A Flexible Course for the Modern Age
in the Heart of Central Europe

Security and Society is a wide-ranging program designed to take full advantage of Poland’s many educational opportunities and provide students with a new perspective on global issues. This program is both an intensive and flexible experience – and one that is highly supportive of opportunities for personal and professional growth, including focussed research, internships, and independent travel in the region.

The semester offering focuses on Security and Society in the Information Age. We examine current issues such cybersecurity, information warfare, and how new and social media are changing the face of modern democracies. The Summer School session takes a broad but intensive approach looking at traditional and contemporary security issues. These range from maintaining international partnerships to developing domestic criminal justice and healthy ecological, demographic, entrepreneurial, and civic environments. Both semester and summer sessions offer a look at a case-study of one of the worst security failures of modern history: the Holocaust.

Security and Society is based in Warsaw, Poland, an excellent vantage to study all these issues. Poland was partitioned and dominated by foreign rule multiple times and suffered some of worst atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust. Taking its security issues particularly seriously, Poland has, in its post-Communist era, rapidly improved its economy and ecology, worked to build inclusive political and civic structures, and has taken active leadership roles in its region and in the wider EU.

This program is for students of a range of disciplines – from sociology/political science and journalism to history, business, and computer science – who are interested in better understanding security issues as they exist in today’s world. This program is excellent preparation for a range of graduate programs, including security  studies, homeland security, international relations, urban planning, and law enforcement. Students will gain a powerful understanding of the modern world, often through the lens of history.

This program offers a wide range of internship opportunities in areas related to all of the fields of study offered. Knowledge of Polish language is not required.

For more information, and to apply, click here.

Deadline for Applications: March 01, 2017

The Cuban-Russian Connection
War and Revolution Remembered

Neither modern Cuba nor Russia can be understood without understanding the wars, revolutions, and communist forces they have experienced over the past century. The Cuban-Russian Connection explores how identity formation in each of these fascinating countries is carried out via culture, language, history, and religion. Cuba and Russia have both played important, strategic, and very often interrelated roles in US foreign policy. Understanding both countries is essential to understanding US interests in today’s changing geopolitical landscape.

The Cuban-Russian Connection will spend one week experiencing Cuba in tradition and transition and then move to three weeks of course work and excursions in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The course will cover  the Russian-American relationship from the 18th to the 20th century; the Soviet-Cuban relationship, including a comparison of the two revolutions (1917 and 1959); and the cultural impact of the Cuban Revolution on the USSR and modern Russia. Class discussions will consider the political triangle of Cuba/US/Russia that evolved from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the present. In Russia, we will also focus on selected topics in Russian culture and history: peasants and nobles, church and state, with special focus on the Revolution. Continue reading “Academic Program: The Cuban-Russian Connection Summer Program (SRAS)”

Deadline for Applications: February 01, 2017

For students eligible for in-state (TX) tuition.

This 5-week program offers a total immersion learning experience. The program places excursions and cultural outings at the core of the instruction. Students learn on-site the vibrant history, art, and culture of Russia and of its capital. This program will prepare students for study and work in Russia, either introducing them to the language or upgrading their established skills to the intermediate or advanced level. All students will also study major monuments of Russia’s artistic heritage to help them understand the country’s cultural history, ranging all the way from prehistoric roots to the dissolution of the Soviet Empire.

Credit RUSS 221: Russian Field Studies I (3 hours) RUSS 222: Russian Field Studies II (3 hours)

Eligibility Minimum 2.0 GPA or instructor permission. Good standing with the University

Highlights History and Art Museums in Moscow Red Square Trip to Kizhi Trip to Novgorod Visiting Hermitage and Cat

For more information, and to apply, click here.

Deadline for Applications: January 31, 2017

Vanderbilt University’s Russian Department is offering a Maymester cultural immersion program in Russia for May-June 2017(RUSSIAN 2210: Russia Today: Political, Socio-economic, and Cultural Change).

The program includes community service, lectures on topics being explored by participants (politics, economics, sociology, culture, history, art, etc.), Russian language lessons, interaction with Russian university students, excursions to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and provincial towns, home stays, and opportunities for reflection.

More information about the program can be found at https://webapp.mis.vanderbilt.edu/studioabroad/index.cfm?FuseAction=Abroad.ViewLink&Link_ID=090DE255-DE61-8FCF-EB6A1A0811743D32 .

Some of the possible volunteering opportunities include:

+ Vladimir Handicapped Children’s Association “Light” (founded by a small group of parents who disagreed with the Russian educational system’s position that mentally and physically handicapped children should neither be seen nor heard, and certainly should not be educated),
+ Vladimir Regional Veteran’s Home
+ Vladimir Youth Health and Education Center (they provide educational, counseling, legal, health and other services)
+ Russian Orthodox Church – assist with restoration work at a local church,
+ Vladimir-Suzdal Museum Complex – clean up and restoration work