Russian Studies
Program Website
The Russian Studies Program trains students to analyze and interpret the territory, people, history, language, and cultural practices of the Eurasian landmass from a multidisciplinary perspective. Students exercise a great deal of agency over the course choices, allowing them to develop individual competencies in particular areas, often leading to double-majors in allied disciplines like Political Science, History, and Environmental Science. Founded more than 50 years ago, the Russian Studies Program at Stetson University offers students the opportunity to learn about the varieties of history, geography, politics, economics, and culture in the countries that once formed part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In courses that range across Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, students learn not only about the diversity within this fascinating region but also how Russia and its neighbors fit into global patterns of political, economic, and cultural development.
Stetson offers students interested in Russian affairs the resources of a large research university in a small college setting. That means that students receive individual support from accomplished Russian Studies scholars and enjoy access to an outstanding library collection as well as a steady stream of visiting dignitaries and scholars in the field. The lecture series in Russian Studies is one of the best endowed in the country.
Russian Studies students become proficient in the Russian language by taking a broad array of courses at Stetson and by spending a semester or summer in language study in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or other cities in the Russian-speaking world. The skills acquired through studying the languages, cultures, and social sciences of the region have allowed Stetson students to enter leading graduate programs and to find employment immediately after graduation in business, government, and the nonprofit sector in the United States and abroad.
Faculty
Excellence in teaching and a focus on student development are hallmarks of Stetson University. Because Russian Studies is an interdisciplinary course of study, the faculty represent a variety of departments. Trained at leading universities in this country and overseas, they are at Stetson because they place top priority on teaching undergraduates.
The listing below gives you an idea of the variety of interests and knowledge that the Russian Studies faculty members bring to their program.
If you have specific questions for our Russian specialists, please send a message to them directly using the links offered on their names.
- Bruce C. Bradford, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Professor and chair of department of Georgraphy and Environmental Science
Specialty area: population dynamics; human-environmental interaction in Russia
Current research: changing demography of the former Soviet Union. - Michael A. Denner, Ph.D., Northwestern University; Associate professor of Russian,
Specialty area: 19th and 20th century Russian prose classics; Asian intellectual influence on Russia; avant-garde aesthetic theories; Russian Formalism; intellectual history; Soviet film and film theory
Current research: Leo Tolstoy
(website) - Eugene Huskey, Ph.D., London School of Economics; Professor of political science and director of Russian Studies; William R. Kenan Chair (1999- )
Specialty area: comparative politics; Russian and Central Asian politics
Current research: Russian presidency and bureaucracy; Russian law; politics in Kyrgyzstan - Paul D. Steeves, Ph.D., University of Kansas; specialty areas: Russian history, religion, art, and architecture. Current research: religions of Russian and former Soviet Union; Russian pacifism
(website) - Olga K Winfrey, M.A. , Kiev State Pedagogical University; Instructor of Russian
Specialty area: Russian language instruction
Special Features
Stetson's Russian Studies program was founded in 1958 by the late eminent Russian historian Dr. Serge Zenkovsky. Since then, the duPont-Ball Library has accumulated substantial Russian area holdings and the Russian Studies faculty has increased so that the program is now outstanding among small colleges.
The home of the Russian Studies Program is the Russian Studies Center, a state-of-the-art facility that contains classrooms, a library of books, periodicals, and videotapes, a language computer lab, and television viewing areas.One of the most exciting aspects of Russian Studies is its artists and lecturers series. The series has brought to campus artists and lecturers such as NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, renowned Russian poet and cultural figure Yevgenii Yevtushenko, ABC News and National Public Radio Russia correspondent Anne Garrels, Center for Political and Strategic Studies director and granddaughter of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Susan Eisenhower, pathbreaking Soviet entrepreneur and Russian presidential candidate Sviatoslav Federov, and the current Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the United States, Zamira Sydykova.
Course Information
Students may major or to minor in Russian Studies. A minor in the Russian language is also available. To major in Russian Studies, students must take at least four semesters of Russian language and a minimum of eight Russian-related courses from the social sciences and humanities. Students elect a minimum of eight Russian-related courses from the social sciences and humanities. They conclude the major with a carefully defined Senior Project. Recent senior research papers have included: The Rhetoric of Environmental Exploitation in the Soviet Union, Soviet Youth Culture in the Gorbachev Era, American and Russian Perceptions of Philanthropy, Stalin and Film, The Role of the Wives of the Decembrists in Russian Literature, Ivan IV (the Terrible) and the Oprichnina, The 2007 NGO and the Restriction of Russian Civil Society, The Effects of Russian Foreign Policy on Central Asian Energy Development.
Alumni Highlights
Russian Studies offers a rigorous education in area studies and the liberal arts that prepares students for a wide range of careers.
- Hannah Chapman (2010) will be a Fulbright Fellow in Georgia beginning in the fall of 2010.She has deferred graduate study at the University of Wisconsin for 2011.
- Samantha Lange (2010) begins graduate school at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2010.
- Jason Rickner (2010) will begin graduate school in Political Science at the University of Florida.
- Jessica Auer (2008) spent a year as an Americorps*Vista worker at a museum in Portland, Ore. She will begin graduate study in the social sciences at the University of Chicago in the fall of 2010.
- Lacie Neill (2008) is headed to Morocco in August 2010 where she will be a Peace Corp volunteer.
- Stratton Kirton (2007) has worked for a nonprofit organization out of Virginia, as an aide for Senator Bill Nelson and Congressman Mike McIntyre. He is starting at Georgetown University part-time this fall for his master's degree in Security Studies.
- Katherine Wright (2007) has worked for Amnesty International and the American Bar Association's Rule of Law Initiative in Washington, D.C. In the fall of 2010 she will begin law school at Georgetown.
- Leadie Jo Flowers (2006) now resides in Moscow, where she teaches English at Moscow State University and several multinational corporations (currently with Ernst and Young). In 2008 she was accepted to Seton Hill University's MFA Writing Popular Fiction Program and is currently working on her first book.
- Hillary Gage (2005) enlisted in the Navy where she studied nuclear power management before being selected for Officer Candidate School. She now works in the Navy intelligence community.
- David Houston (2005) is working towards his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Wisconsin.
- Crystal Payette (nee Coker) (2005) teaches English as a Second Language to adults in Central Florida.
- Lee Philips (2005) completed a Russian and East European M. Phil. Program at Oxford University. He works in Washington, D.C.
- Adam Richardson (2005) attended law school at Florida State University. Since graduating in 2009, he has served as a judicial clerk for the chief judge of a state appellate court.
- Aimee Halleen (1998) has worked for MIR Educational Travel Company.
- Mario Lanzisero (1996) joined the international business consulting firm Arthur Andersen.
- Kelly Miller (1996) completed her Ph.D. in Russian literature at the University of Michigan and now works at the University of Virginia.
- Trip Wood (1996) worked in international operations at Kennametal before becoming Managing Director of Target for India.
Several of our recent graduates now work for national security and law enforcement agencies in Washington. For security and privacy reasons, we do not list them here.
Clubs and Organizations
The Stetson Russian Club is one of the most active academic clubs on campus with about 25 members. The club has taken trips to Orlando, Daytona Beach and Tampa for Russian music concerts, Russian ballets, Russian plays and Russian food. The Russian Club also organizes large and very enjoyable celebrations several times a year. Membership is open to all.
