The SRAS Newsletter
A Resource for Students, Educators, and Anyone Curious about Eurasia
 

This summer, study great Russian literature in the city where much of it was born. Literature in St. Petersburg is a new program from SRAS for those seeking literature credits abroad.

Study abroad this summer will be anything but ordinary.

With the FIFA Cup arriving to Russia and recent changes to US State Department country classifications, there are many additional variables to consider when choosing a study abroad location in Eurasia this summer. While some things have changed, there is always something for everyone in Eurasia - a vast, diverse, and always-extraordinary location for study abroad. However, you should plan early to optimize your experience.

This month's back-to-school newsletter is designed to help you do just that, with a full section on study abroad news added to our now regular features looking at language, student insights and experiences, politics, culture, and more. Make sure to read our State of Study Abroad, covering the general changes to study abroad in Russia that have occurred over the last year, and our Summer Study Abroad Update, which looks at specific issues affecting study abroad this summer. In short, plan early and apply early!

Summer study abroad deadlines start March 15! Make sure to see our new offering: Literature in St. Petersburg. You can also study the role of foodways in economy, government policy, and ethnic identity in Georgia. Study cultural diplomacy in Cuba and St. Petersburg. Study environment in Irkutsk, anthropology in Bishkek, museum science in St. Petersburg, security in Warsaw, or learn Russian or intern in nearly any of our many locations. Funding is available.

Table of contents
Study Abroad News      GeoHistory     Students Abroad    Russian Language
PopKult     Museum Studies Abroad     Books

Study Abroad in Eurasia!
Study Abroad in Cuba and Russia! Study Abroad in Poland!

- Summer Study Abroad -
Application deadlines: March 15

In most locations: Russian as a Second Language
                            Internships
                            Challenge Grants (funding!)

In Warsaw: Security and Society

In Bishkek: Central Asian Studies

In Georgia: Georgian Foodways

In Russia: The Art and Science of Museums 
                New! Literature in St. Petersburg
                Russia and the Environment
                The Cuba-Russia Connection (+in Cuba!)

Study Abroad News
What's New in Study Abroad to Eurasia?

State of Study Abroad
Russia's position and image internationally have greatly changed in recent months. How has this affected Russia as a study abroad destination for students? 

Summer Study Abroad: Important Announcements
With FIFA arriving to Russia and new State Department travel warning classifications, SRAS expects significant shifts in where students are studying abroad and urges students to get their applications in early!

SRAS Site Visit: Irkutsk
SRAS is pleased to see Irkutsk continue to grow and develop as a premier location for Russian language immersion in a city rich in culture, history, and the energy of youth.

Russian Studies Abroad (RSA) Splits Into Two Programs
SRAS' popular Russian Studies Abroad program has split into two more focused programs: Diplomacy and International Relations at MGIMO and Society, Business, and the Arts in St. Petersburg.

Updated Cultural Programs 
SRAS is currently updating the cultural programs we include in each location to better showcase the unique history and culture that can be found there. Explore Eurasia's diversity in Moscow, Siberia's nature and native culture in Irkutsk, and Odessa's unique historical development under the Greeks, Turks, and Russians. St. Petersburg also offers unique language exchange opportunities.

GeoHistory.today
History and Current Events in Perspective

Russia on the Ground     Foreign Affairs     TV News (History & Identity)
What do Russians think about issues that matter? What is going on in Russian foreign relations? How does Russian TV really report on the main issues of the day? These free monthly resources from GeoHistory.today are meant to keep you informed.

Moldovan Politics: An Introduction
Moldova's 2018 elections will likely mean yet another sweeping political change. Will the rising Socialists sweep more seats? Will a powerful oligarch's party gain more power? Will an upstart liberal anti-corruption politician disrupt the ruling liberal movement? The following series from GeoHistory seeks to explain Moldova’s current political situation through the biographies of the Moldovan politicians who helped shape it.

Russia’s Arctic Development: Problems and Priorities
Russia's Arctic development will have many repercussions: economic and social within Russia, geopolitical outside of Russia, and environmental for the planet. SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar Rylin McGee outlines the issues in this new article.

 Students Abroad
Travel, Study, Volunteer, Work Abroad

SRAS & SPBGIKIT Language Partnership
SRAS, with a local partner university, has developed unique language exchange opportunities in St. Petersburg.

Uzbek Food and Traditions in Irkutsk
SRAS Challenge Grant recepient Alaina DeLeo, from the University of Kansas, has an eye-opening, mouth-watering experience discovering traditional Uzbek culture in the heart of Irkutsk, Russia.

7 Things I’ve Learned From Living in Kyiv, Ukraine
Challenge Grant recipient Charlie Bacsik of the University of Texas at Austin discusses the insights that living abroad has given her.

A Weekend in Minsk
SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar Katheryn Weaver took advantage of her time in Moscow to travel to Minsk, Belarus.

Eurasian Languages
Lessons and Resources from around the Web

SRAS: Satsivi: The Essence of Georgian Home Cooking
Satsivi is a traditional Georgian way of preparing poultry that results in a mouthwatering, tender, and flavorful crowd-pleaser. This Russian/English recipe, with commentary, comes from Dr. Michael Denner, who will lead SRAS's Georgian Foodways program this summer.

Michele Berdy: Be My Russian Valentine
Moscow Times columnist Michele Berdy writes on how Russians discuss love and those they love.

Luch Sveta: Geography and New Year
This free lesson from Luch Sveta focuses on New Year's greetings, but is also steeped in geography, demographics, and other issues that will be important to Russia in 2018.

PopKult.org
Contemporary Eurasian Popular Culture

Nashe Radio    Polish Pop Hits    Russkoe Radio   Top Russian Movies
Find out what local language hits are playing on local radio stations in Poland and Russia and on Russian silver screens with these free monthly resources from PopKult.org.

Soviet Arcade Games
Nikita Khrushchev traveled to America in 1959. He famously fell in love with corn, but also brought back many other things - including arcade games.

Russia's Top Movies of 2017
Overall, it's safe to say that the resurgence of Russia’s native film industry is riding a resurgence of Russian pride and Russian identity.

Georgia's Pop Foods
This new section of PopKult explores Georgian popular food brands - including one of the biggest producers of Tarkhun, a Georgian-invented soda, and two common Georgian wine types. Learn more about the importance of food in the Georgian identity, economy, and tourism industry with Georgian Foodways this summer!

Featured Book!

MuseumStudiesAbroad.org
High Culture, Museum Science

Saint Michael’s Vydubychi Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine 
SRAS Challenge Grant recepient Charlie Bacsik traveled just outside of Kyiv with her host family and discovered a little more about Ukrainian identity, religious belief, and public utilities.

Saira Keltaeva: Exploring Uzbek and Feminine Identity
Meet an Uzbek artist who is exploring modern themes of national pride and feminine power in Uzbekistan today.

VDNKh – The Moscow Mockup and Smart City
SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar Katheryn Weaver takes you to two modern Moscow attractions that focus on modern Moscow.

Books from Amazon
New Releases!

Sport as Battleground in the U.S.–Soviet Rivalry
For Olympic athletes, fans and the media alike, the games bring out the best sport has to offer—unity, patriotism, friendly competition and the potential for stunning upsets. Yet wherever international competition occurs, politics are never far removed.

History of a Disappearance
The non-fiction prose in this book is thick and unsettling. However, if you want to understand what was like to be at the epicenter of the world's most horrifying war ever - this is an excellent way to do it. Recently translated from the original Polish reporting.

The Year I Was Peter the Great
Marvin Kalb, a young diplomatic attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, observed the tumultuous "Thaw" year of 1956 that, he says, "foretold the end of Soviet communism three decades later."

Adventures in the Slavic Kitchen
This cultural study explores the role food plays in the formation and expression of a nation’s character. It focuses primarily on the Russian and Ukrainian kitchens but discusses them in the context of international food practices.

Language Planning in the Post-Communist Era
The ten case studies presented here examine language planning in China, Russia, Tatarstan, Central Asia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and focus in particular on developments and disputes that have occurred since the ‘fall of communism’ and the emergence of a new order in the late 1980s. 

Incidents at Sea: American Confrontation and Cooperation with Russia and China
Free to patrol the skies and surface of the high seas under international law, U.S. and Soviet naval and air forces made daily direct contact during the Cold War.

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