Students spend ten weeks studying at the University of St. Petersburg, where classes are taught by members of the University's Center for Russian Language and Culture. The courses in phonetics, grammar, conversation, and literature, which meet for four hours a day, are supplemented by lectures on various aspects of Russian art, literature, and society. Students are encouraged to participate fully in the rich cultural life of the city: concerts, plays, films, operas, and ballet are available on any given night. 

Opportunities abound to explore the many historical landmarks of this sublimely beautiful city: the palaces of the Tsars, the scenes of the revolution, the Hermitage Museum. Almost every street and building of St. Petersburg has been immortalized by such masters of 19th-century Russian literature as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, all of whom drew inspiration from the city. In the 20th century St. Petersburg served as the stage of Revolution (1917) and War (the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-4) while continuing to inspire Russia's greatest artists: Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Solzhenitsyn, Nabokov, Shostakovich and Brodsky. Apart from the many excursions organized within the city and its environs, the group will have weekend trips to places of historical and cultural interest, along with an extended visit to Moscow. By the end of the program, participants will not only have markedly increased their command of the Russian language but will also have acquired new insights into the nature of a society radically different from their own.

 Curriculum

• Russian 21: Russian Civilization: Study Abroad
• Russian 22: The Russian Language: Study Abroad
• Russian 23: The Russian Language: Study Abroad

Prerequisites

Russian 1, 2, 3, or the equivalent, with a final grade of at least B- in each course.

It is recommended that students take one or more of the following courses:

Russian 10, 31, 32, 35, 38, or History 54.