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Programs : Brochure

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  • Locations: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Tbilisi, Georgia; Yerevan, Armenia
  • Program Terms: Academic Year, Fall, Spring
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Restrictions: W&M applicants only
  • Dates / Deadlines
Program Description:

Advanced Russian Language & Area Studies Program (RLASP)

One of the longest-running and most respected Russian language and cultural immersion programs, RLASP combines intensive classroom instruction with a wide range of extracurricular activities, including internships and community service, regional field studies, conversation partners, and discussion groups with local students.

Program Description

RLASP serves both graduate and undergraduate students as well as working professionals. The academic year, semester, and summer programs provide approximately 20 hours per week of in-class instruction in Russian grammar, phonetics, conversation, and cultural studies in Russia or Kazakhstan. Program features include homestays, weekly excursions, travel to other regions of Russia/Kazakhstan, conversation partners, and a wide range of opportunities to pursue internships, volunteering, hobbies, and personal interests in a Russian-language context. Credit for area studies coursework is offered in such subjects as literature and history, political science, and contemporary society. All courses are taught in Russian by expert faculty with experience teaching foreign students.
 

Academics / Courses

American Councils semester, academic year, and summer programs maximize linguistic and cultural immersion into Russian society. All programs feature approximately twenty hours per week of in-class instruction; roughly sixteen hours of which are dedicated to Russian-language study. Students are placed according to proficiency level in groups of three-to-five for language classes. Course work typically includes classes in phonetics, grammar, and conversation, as well as composition, oral comprehension, and reading. Language courses also cover topics in literature, history, politics, culture, mass media, and area studies.

Academic year and semester students in Moscow and Almaty have the option of auditing classes at their host university. In recent years, RLASP participants completed courses at their host universities in Art History, Mathematics, Engineering, Sociology, Theater Studies, Russian History, Religion, Psychology, and Literature.
Academic year participants with advanced Russian skills may substitute an independent research project for one of the American Councils area studies courses while continuing their language classes during the second semester. Research projects culminate in a 15- to 20-page research paper written in Russian. Recent participants in the academic year RLASP program have completed research projects on topics such as Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Russian theater, Russian attitudes towards the Caucasus, nationalism in music history, the acquisition of listening skills in Russian, and contemporary urban youth movements.

Participants receive academic credit through Bryn Mawr College, an institutional member of American Councils. Upon successful completion of the program, Bryn Mawr College issues:
  • 8 undergraduate/10 graduate credit hours for the summer program,
  • 16 undergraduate/15 graduate credit hours for the fall or spring semesters, and
  • 32 undergraduate/30 graduate credit hours for the academic year program.


Dates / Deadlines:
Dates / Deadlines:
Term Year App Deadline Approximate Decision Date (Subject To Change) Start Date End Date
Spring 2025 11/01/2024 ** Approximately 2 weeks after the deadline TBA TBA
NOTE: The deadline listed is for REGISTRATION with the Reves Center! The APPLICATION itself will be due to the third-party provider or host university DIRECTLY, based on THEIR deadlines (which may be before or after the W&M registration deadline listed above).

** Students will be notified of their status for this program and be able to complete post-decision materials following the term's application deadline.