Russian Studies

European Studies Russian Major

Russian is the fifth most-spoken language in the world. Today Russia is in the news daily. It a major diplomatic, economic and military power, demanding a central role in the European, Asian, and international stages. The opportunities for scientific cooperation in computer science, engineering, and aerospace continue to grow between Russia and the United States. In addition, Russia is home to some of the world’s finest traditions in the arts. Ballet, theatre, cinema, literature, music, and visual arts are only a few of the areas in which Russians have established great traditions.

A major in Russian prepares you for many of the same things that other humanities majors  does, and sometimes better. You may have heard that Russian is hard, but the Russian language is not much harder than any other foreign language. There is a different alphabet, BUT it is very easy to learn. In fact, that's why Russian can give you a real edge.

Russian on your resume shows that you believe in your abilities, that you accept challenges, and that you are not afraid to go off the beaten path

The European Studies Russian Major

The new European Studies – Russian Major allows students to study the language, literature, history and culture of Russia while learning about how Russia fits into the European community. Since Europe is both a geographical space and an idea, which changes throughout history, the study of Russia within Europe encourages an open, pluralistic and interdisciplinary curriculum. Students are strongly encouraged to study abroad.

The Russian Minor

The Russian minor is an interdisciplinary program. Students can select courses in Political Science, History and Russian Literature and Culture. Most classes are taught in English.

The Russian Minor at UC Irvine, in combination with another major, can give you a real edge. Russian is not only one of the official languages of diplomacy at the U.N. and a member language of the G-8, but reasonable functional proficiency will greatly increase your prospects in business, engineering, teaching, law, and medicine.

Study Abroad for Free!

The U.S. government wants Americans to study and to master critical and strategic foreign languages like Russian. Critical Language Scholarships provide fully-funded intensive language instruction for U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. students.