UCSB’s Slavic Program strongly urges its students to study in Russia through the University’s Education Abroad Program in Moscow. Given the increasing globalization of our world, living in Europe will help expand your understanding of diverse, culturally rooted attitudes and behaviors. You will enhance your cross-cultural awareness, competency, and adaptability. Living and studying in Russia will expand your perspective, improve your critical thinking, increase your independence, and better prepare you for a career in an increasingly globalized world community.
If you are studying Russian, you have already shown that you have international
and multicultural interests. Why not take that interest a step further and have a transforming and life-enriching experience? Go live in Moscow and experience Russian language and culture first-hand! The benefits of studying and living abroad are tremendous. You can:
• Study in a country that plays a vital geopolitical role in the world
• Observe the ongoing political, economic and social changes that have taken place since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and see how Russia is reinventing itself after 74 years of communism
• Make vast improvements in your language skills by being immersed in the
language and using it 24/7
• Expand your career opportunities by learning a language spoken natively
by 160 million people and as a second language by 100 million others in
Europe and Asia
• Walk the streets, see the architecture, visit the countryside and tour the palaces
that have inspired Russian writers like Dostoevsky, artists like Chagall, and filmmakers like Eisenshtein
• Walk across Red Square at night when it’s snowing; hang out in Gorky Park;
watch the drawbridges rise late at night in St. Petersburg; pick mushrooms
at a dacha
• Enhance your resume for job or graduate school applications
Returning EAP students often describe their experience abroad as a life- changing and uniquely valuable one for future choices of professional and
personal goals.
Back to Top
While it is possible for students to go abroad at almost any point in their academic careers, the particular time that you study abroad depends on what courses you plan to take and when you have fulfilled the necessary prerequisites for the program you wish to attend. While students can participate as early as their sophomore year, students wanting to fulfill upper-division major require- ments should, in most cases, study abroad during their junior or senior year.
Keep in mind that at least 20 units of upper-division major coursework (or
12 upper-division minor units) must be completed in residence at UCSB along with other residence requirements. Consult an advisor in the College of Letters & Science for more information.
Back to Top
EAP offers two programs in Russia, both during the fall semester at the
International University in Moscow:
Intermediate Russian - students take intensive second-year Russian as well as one elective.
Advanced Russian - students take a course in advanced Russian grammar
as well as electives. Students fluent in Russian may take courses from International University’s regular offerings. All students may audit IU classes.
A special feature of the Russia programs is the home-stay. Students live with host families, which provides a rich cultural experience and unlimited opportunities to use the language. For further information about the EAP
programs in Russia, go to: http://eap.ucop.edu/eap/country/russia.
Back to Top
All EAP students automatically earn UC credit for the work they complete abroad. However, the application of credit to major requirements is subject
to the discretion of the department and approval of the college. Both programs in Russia offer students the opportunity to take classes that will satisfy some of their major requirements. Major requirements are open to substitution according to subject areas, as follows:
Lower-division
Students may take the equivalent of second-year Russian
Upper-division
Area A: Third-year language
Area B: Linguistics/Language and cultural identity
Area C: Russian literature (taught in Russian)
Area D: Visual arts and culture
Area E: Russian history and politics
Area F: Electives
Please consult the Department Undergraduate Advisor.
Back to Top
Consult the EAP web pages. Then come by the EAP office at 2431 South Hall. Peer advisors who have recently returned from studying abroad as well as staff advisors are eager to answer your questions.
Make an appointment to see your Slavic Undergraduate Advisor and then see
an advisor in the College of Letters & Science to discuss general education, residence and other requirements.
The Slavic Program can put you in touch with former EAP Moscow participants who can give you up-to-date, first-hand information about the program.
Back to Top
Visit your department advisor to petition your courses for the major. If you attend EAP in your junior or senior year, you should strongly consider doing a senior honors thesis based on the coursework and intellectual interests you developed abroad. This provides an ideal way of integrating time abroad with the completion of the Slavic major.
Back to Top
