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| 01.10.2006
 Welcome from SRAS!
This month SRAS focuses on some of the FSU's "roads less traveled." Most guidebooks (and Russians) will tell you time and again that to see the "real Russia," one must leave Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, the FSU offers students and travelers still greater variety - in diverse landscapes and traditions, governments and economies, cultural experiences and social challenges. These roads less traveled are not only essential to understanding the FSU, they are adventures we recommend. SRAS even offers faculty-led travel options and specialty individual programs to bring these adventures within reach!
Applications Due! Those applying for spring semester programs should be aware that the deadline is October 16th! |
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News: Economic, Social, and Energy Security
The past month news has focused largely on issues of Russian security - as relates to it's economic, social, and energy security. We've tried to give a brief encapsulation of the most important stories here. You will also find information on Madonna's recent Moscow concert, Tsereteli's new monument in New Jersey, recent events in Ukraine and Georgia, and other major issues with additional suggested reading.
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See also upcoming events occurring in:
IL; AZ; IA; OR; MA | |
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Faculty-Led Travel to Russia
Faculty-led travel can provide a wonderful opportunity for students, keeping costs down and academic standards high. However, organizing group travel abroad can be a headache for faculty as difficulties from planning excursions, visas, housing, and classes can quickly pile up. In this new resource, "Making the Most of Faculty-Led Travel to Russia," SRAS outlines the major issues involved and how to plan for them well in advance. Save yourself the headache!
For an example of the services that SRAS can offer, see this trip we prepared for seventeen students and three professors from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The group toured Irkutsk and surrounding area in eastern Siberia, studying Russian and contemporary social and environmental issues. |
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Kyrgyzstan: Sheep Guts Won't Kill You
 Schaun Wheeler spent the summer traveling in Kyrgyzstan with SRAS performing initial research for his dissertation. Impressed by his eagerness to submerge himself in the culture and language that surrounded him, we asked him to share his thoughts the subject. As Schaun points out, immersing oneself in a foreign culture can be as discomforting as being served a plate of sheep guts for dinner. However, as he also points out, the best way to deal with this is to simply smile and try a bite. (Part 1 of 2)
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New Program: Kyrgyz Focus RSL
There are many reasons to experience Kyrgyzstan - from it's importance to US foreign policy to its unique culture and dramatic nature - so SRAS has developed a program with a Kyrgyz focus. This focus reallocates some hours of RSL study to the study of the Kyrgyz language, history, and/or culture. How many hours you reallocate is up to you. Find out more here! |
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Time Warp: Nizhny Novgorod
Fred Andresen, a veteran of Russian business (since 1991), contributed this article about Nizhny Novgorod. The text was written in 1995, but the wistful and nostalgic description is still largely accurate – although Nizhny has grown economically to house a Columbia Sportswear store and two McDonald's locations, the city retains that "trapped in time" feel, as though history were still breathing through its windows and uninvited streets ...
Perhaps because of this minimal Western influence, our students have had great success with the RSL program at the Linguistic University of Nizhny Novgorod (LUNN). |
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2006-2007 SRAS Grant Recipients Named
 Brian Horne, a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago, has been awarded $1000 to pursue his research project entitled "Save Our Souls: Russian Bards and the Aesthetics of Post-Soviet Political History."
An additional $500 runner-up Research Grant was awarded to Ryan Ewing, a recent B.A. graduate from Mary Baldwin College, for his research project, "Perceptions of Chinese Sentiment in Siberia and the Russian Border Regions."
Read more about these research projects and SRAS grants
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Up to $22,000 to Fund Slavic Studies
ACTR. Offers a range of scholarships and grants for nearly all students hoping to study abroad. Next Deadline: Oct 15 (more info)
PittFilm Travel-to-Collections Grant. Those studying Russian film may apply to travel to Pittsburgh's extensive collections. Deadline: Oct 15 (more info)
SSRC Fellowships. Doctoral and Post-Doctoral studies focused on the FSU are eligible for grants ranging from $7000 to $22,000. Deadline: Nov 14 (more info)
IARO Fellowships. Masters students and above may apply for living/housing stipends for select locations in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. Deadline: Nov 15 (more info)
Alfa Fellowships. Those with graduate degrees, language proficiency, and professional experience can apply for monthly stipends, related travel costs, housing, and insurance to attend Alfa's professional exchange program. Deadline: Dec 15th (more info)
SRAS Language Exploration Grant. US or EU students with more than two semesters of language study are eligible for $500 to study abroad with SRAS. Deadline: Nov 15 (more info) |
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Georgia: Young Ministers, Younger Democracy
 Seth Bridge is a law student at Washington University who recently served an internship at the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) in Tbilisi, Georgia. He shares some of what he learned about Georgia's political climate, focusing on the scandals now troubling Georgia's young Chief of the Prison System and young Minister of Internal Affairs. Seth also adds some of his related personal reflections about living in Georgia and interacting with the people there. Click here for the full article.
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Olga's Blog: Exams and Graduation
Olga's Blog features two new entries this month! The first, "Экзамены" discusses how tests, grades, and exit examinations are given in Russian high schools. "Экзамены" also continues the discussion on Russian present active participles began in the first entry of Olga's Blog. The second, "Выпускной," details the ceremony and paperwork of graduating from Russian high school and extends the grammatical discussion to cover past active participles in Russian. Keep an eye out next month for new installments about applying to university and university entrance exams! |
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Image of the Month: Consumer Credit
Markets for consumer credit, small business loans, mortgages, etc. are rapidly growing across Russia. This growth is centered in Russia's economic capitals, St. Petersburg and Moscow, but is also expanding across Russia in smaller cities like Samara. Our Image of Month for October focuses on the ferocious competition that has taken this Russian market.
See also this article on consumer credit featured in the November, 2005 edition of the newsletter. |
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Language: Friendship - Дружба
The Russian words "приятель"(m) and "приятельница"(f) are perhaps best translated as "friendly acquaintance" and represent a sort of middle level of friendship largely unknown in English. In Russian, the words "друг" and "подруга" (friend, m/f) are very strong, implying that you are very close to someone and have been for some time. Referring to someone who you met, for example, a few weeks before as "друг" is as strange in Russian as announcing you will marry someone you met only a few months before in America. "Приятель" and "приятельница" are more correct to use for someone you have recently met. For those acquaintances you do not have any established relationship with, the words знакомый/знакомая (acquaintance m/f) should be used.
Russian also has several slang words for friends: товарищ (comrade, still popularly used between close friends and which only has the one form for both males and females); male friends sometimes refer to each other as "мужик" (peasant) or "старик" (old man), though this is considered uncultured; a group of your very close friends can be referred to collectively as "свои" (ours).
Russian proverbs about friendship include the following:
1. Друг познается в беде. (A friend makes himself known in times of trouble.)
2. Скажи, кто твои друзья и я скажу, кто ты. (Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.)
3. Дерево держится корнями, а человек – друзьями (Trees are supported by roots, and man - by his friends.)
4. Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей. (Don't have 100 rubles, have 100 friends.)
5. Друг для всех – друг никому. (A friend to all is a friend to none.) |
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