Russian Studies

[Russophile]

@pietjekanarie For the history work I want to do, I will likely need French, German, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian. I can read French, Russian and German with some success, but I have to keep a dictionary handy. My Ukrainian is improving and I can understand spoken Polish, but I can't read it. I also speak Spanish because my parents really pushed it in high school, but it is pretty much useless for what I want to do.

[pietjekanarie]

I see. I find Ukrainian difficult, did you take Ukrainian in undergrad? I like the language, it is more melodic than Russian. I only speak Russian, but picked up some basics when living in Ukraine. I can't say I speak Ukrainian though, but I can read it a little bit and understand some. I never had the opportunity to take Ukrainian in undergrad, but I'm definitely interested.

If you only need to be able to read those languages, I'm sure you'll be able to learn this pretty fast. My courses in linguistics and Old Church Slavic really helped me in those things. The roots are often the same in those languages and although Serbian, for example, is really different from Russian, there is a lot to recognize. If you already understond spoken Polish, I'm pretty sure you can pick up the reading by just doing it (with a dictionary).

I learned German and French in high school (it's mandatory, of course English is too), but I have to say it's pretty rusty. I read it without problems, but when speaking I feel like an idiot. And for some reason living in Quebec also didn't really improve my French, besides the Quebecois swearing.. Something as useless as your Spanish I guess

[litvak]

I agree with what everyone has been saying about Columbia--- it looks like a great program, but funding is definitely limited. It is possible to receive a FLAS there though, which would not go too far in NYC, but it would cover 100% tuition for the first year, yes? Int'l students, unfortunately, are not eligible for FLAS grants...

I forgot to mention that one important reason to do the MA before the PhD for me is to help in deciding on a concrete discipline. I've seen too many friends graduate from an interdisciplinary PhD program, only to realize they feel unqualified for all the jobs out there that require a more focused specialization. The balance of an interdisciplinary MA with a focused PhD in a particular, more traditional discipline (ie History, Anthro etc) seems to be the best of both worlds...

[litvak]

@pietjekanarie--- when/where in Quebec did you live? I learned French while living in Quebec and found it really did make me fluent in French--- and I love my joual-esque accent--- and of course the Quebecois curses are useless, but actually quite delightful as swearing goes....

I'm hoping to find someway to learned a couple less commonly taught languages like Romanian, Romany (Gypsy) or maybe Belarusian, but have yet to find logistically plausible ways of doing this... Ideas?

@Russophile--- have you thought about different ways you could use your Spanish in REE Studies? I'd be really interested in researching the growing current ties between former Soviet countries and places like Venezuela. Historically, too, there's probably all kinds of uncovered topics in Eastern European diaspora communities in Latin America.

[Russophile]

Litvak: I'm in the same boat with deciding on a concrete discipline. I enjoy both history and political science, and can really do the research I would like to in either, I guess I am just trying to use the MA as a way to solidify which I like better. What was your undergrad in? Mine was REES and history.

pietjekanarie: I've just been using some computer programs to learn Ukrainian. My undergrad program had a pretty weak Russian department and certainly didn't have additional offerings. The reading is not to bad simply because I extrapolate a lot from the Polish and the Russian I know. How long did you live in Ukraine?

Reading knowledge does seem to be more important than the spoken languages, but I really would like to be able to get around in country. I suspect I will never be truly fluent in any language but English.

[Russophile]

I'm hoping to find someway to learned a couple less commonly taught languages like Romanian, Romany (Gypsy) or maybe Belarusian, but have yet to find logistically plausible ways of doing this... Ideas?

@Russophile--- have you thought about different ways you could use your Spanish in REE Studies? I'd be really interested in researching the growing current ties between former Soviet countries and places like Venezuela. Historically, too, there's probably all kinds of uncovered topics in Eastern European diaspora communities in Latin America.

Romanian is taught at IU and about once every ten years at the University of Washington, at least that is what I was told when I met with their Romanian specialist. He recommended IU for interest in Romanian. I haven't found a school that offers Belorussian, which I am also interested in learning. A lot of programs seem to push the abroad aspect of study, so perhaps you could do an exchange in Belarus? Romany is probably a bit harder to come across, but there might be a summer program somewhere.

I never really thought about looking at the diaspora, but it could be quite interesting especially in Venezuela, and it would be a great excuse to someday visit Venezuela. Having my Spanish be more useful than just for translating signs in video games for my boyfriend would be nice.

[litvak]

@Russophile--- My undergrad was in History and Jewish Studies, but in the past several years I've been doing more and more research/ having different work experiences in the contemporary former Soviet Union which would lead me into disciplines like Anthro, Sociology, Ethnography, Linguistics etc., with which I've only had minimal contact....

[litvak]

Are you located in Seattle, Russophile? If so, let me know, as that is where I am too for the time being!

[pietjekanarie]

@ Litvak: I studied at McGill for a bit (study abroad for my Neuroscience study - yes, I know, Neuroscience and Russian sounds like an insane combination, I just did two different studies at the same time). McGill is very anglophone so I met loads of Koreans, Americans, Canadians from anglophone roots, etc. That didn't help for the French of course. I had a hard time getting to know the accent at first. My French is not that bad, I understand most spoken French (in France), but this was quite different. The fact that my study environment was Anglophone didn't help me improving my French that much (besides my understanding of it). I've lived there last year. I loved my time in Montreal.

About Belorussian: well, even in Belarus Belorussian is not promoted at all. It's mostly Russian there. They always make the joke that Belarus is more Russified than Russia.. So I think finding a course in Belorussian language acquisition will be hard. Romanian on the other hand must be available. It is also pretty easy to learn if you know French. My university had quite some courses in Romanian language acquisition, it must be easier to find something like that than Belorussian..

Also, your reasons to start a MA before a PhD are really understandable. I'm not sure yet if I want to do a PhD at all, but this interdisciplinary MA will help me to determine what subject I want to specialize in. I really don't feel ready to choose one discipline yet.

@ Russophile: I've lived there for almost a year, for an internship. My work environment was Russian speaking though. Do you know Lingvo? It's computer software that has a dictionary in it and also a lot of grammar overviews. My Lingvo has Russian-English, but also Ukrainian-English and Russian-Urkrainian. It is really easy to translate if you read a text, because you don't have to use a dictionary, but you can just type in the word and you get the suggestions. Because it has so many different languages, it is easy to compare, for example, Russian and Ukrainian with each other or with English. Maybe this is really old news for you, but I found that nobody in my university knew this program while everyone in Ukraine was using it. http://www.lingvo.com/

[litvak]

@pietjekanarie--- I graduated from McGill in 2006 actually. Yes, I agree that it's a bit of an anglo-bubble--- I hard to work hard at making French a language I used everyday, but it definitely paid off in the end. I've spent some time in Belarus and the language politics there are truly fascinating. Foreigners can take intensive Belarusian classes at Minsk State Linguistic University, but I've heard mixed reviews on how effective the classes are...

[pietjekanarie]

Litvak:

Were you in Belarus for work/study or just traveling? I've never been there. Tried to go for a short trip when living in Kiev, but it would cost me a bit much for such a short trip due to the visa. I might go there this spring though.

I think my time at McGill was a bit too short to really improve my French. Maybe if would have worked out if I'd lived with francophone roommates. I lived with 2 people from Ontario and one American. This is by far not improving your French! My neuroscience program was also really anglophone and I only had 1 true Quebecer in my program.

Edited March 11, 2010 by pietjekanarie

[litvak]

@pietjekanarie--- I was working in Belarus for a couple months in Minsk as part of a fellowship. Belarus is really one of the most fascinating places I have ever been--- and I would love to go back! Unfortunately, what you say about visas is true. I've also heard of a great deal of problems among American academics who have gone to study there, supported by the American gov't or an American foundations, who later lost there funding or were asked by either the US or Belarusian gov'ts to leave based on political troubles...

[pietjekanarie]

Sounds like an interesting experience Litvak! It's sad to hear about people losing their funding because of studying there though..

[Russophile]

@ Litvak: I actually live in Idaho. I went to visit UW because it was the only school close enough to really justify a trip before applying. I should be in Seattle sometime next week though...

@ pietjekanarie Thanks for the heads up on Lingvo, it looks like it could be very useful.

[Russophile]

I don't know if anyone is interested, but since we were discussing languages, I found that http://www.aatseel.org/intensive_language has a list of intensive Slavic summer programs including Belarussian and Romanian, as well as a lot uncommon languages like Yakut.

[JustChill]

Any of you guys have any input on the Notre Dame vs UNC dilemma for Russian history?

[Russophile]

Any of you guys have any input on the Notre Dame vs UNC dilemma for Russian history?

I suppose it really depends on your historical area of interest. Do you know who you would be working with at each school? When I was looking to apply for a history PhD, Dr. Lyandres' current research regarding the provisional revolutionary government seemed to have a lot of potential; however, Notre Dame is a lower ranked school. That being said, I am under the impression that the whole North Carolina university system is suffering more than a lot of systems. Notre Dame is a smaller department, and seemed a bit more friendly when I communicated with them. Then again the partnership between UNC and Duke's Russian departments could give you more funding options in the future. Both are good schools and it seems like a dilemma a lot of people in the grad cafe would love to have at this point. Good luck wherever you decide to go!

[JustChill]

I agree, I am very lucky to have this problem. Both of the offers are fully funded, but ND's is much better. You're right -- UNC does seem to be having a lot of financial issues, and ND has been more than clear in telling me that they have plenty of cash. The two professors at each school that I'd be working with are great, and I'm sure I'd enjoy studying with either of them. I'm just worried that UNC doesn't seem to have the kind of placement record that you'd expect from a top-15 program. On the other hand, I think ND's history reputation is really buoyed by their strengths in medieval and religious history, and I'm not sure whether a degree in Russian history from there would be as well regarded. I hate to make a decision based just o funding, but the fact that ND is offering me quite a bit more makes it more attractive right now.

[pietjekanarie]

I can't really say which one would be better, but did you visit the schools? Which school left the best impression? It's a place where you'll be for the next 5-6 years so apart from the project you'll work on: how where the people? How was the environment, etc?

If you do want to take the offer from the school that offers less funding, calculate how much you have to go into debt. If you really like their work better and the debt is not huge, why not?

[Iffley]

JustChill - I just sent you a pm

[JustChill]

Anyone here been accepted into Stanford's REEESA MA program?

[Russophile]

I will be accepting Indiana's offer tomorrow. Has anyone else made their final decision about where to attend?

[pietjekanarie]

I will be accepting Indiana's offer tomorrow. Has anyone else made their final decision about where to attend?

Not yet. I'm still waiting on U of T... and Columbia.

In the meanwhile I'm talking to current students of the programs I got accepted into to get some more insights. I think Oxford is the most interesting for me until now. I received my first (external) scholarship decision today and the first €10,000 is in!

Good luck at Indiana, Russophile! I understood Indiana is a great place for Russian studies

Edited March 29, 2010 by pietjekanarie

[JustChill]

I will be accepting Indiana's offer tomorrow. Has anyone else made their final decision about where to attend?

Congrats! IU is great, and Bloomington is a lot of fun. I declined my Notre Dame PhD and Harvard MA offers, and probably will be going with UNC PhD.

[litvak]

Hi all,

Sorry I've been off the forum for the past few days.... Congrats to all on their decisions, offers and scholarships!

Russophile, It looks I too will be headed to Indiana! I haven't officially told them yet, and have yet to reject the Harvard offer, but I'm also certain that I will be doing so soon!

pietjekanarie, I still haven't heard from Columbia either, but at this point, although being in NY is much preferred to Bloomington, whatever funding & job opportunities they would give out (Max. FLAS scholarship) wouldn't be able to beat out IU...