Dear Friends,
For better or worse, our region continues to ignite the imagination of people in the United States. Russia and Ukraine dominate the news media and remind us constantly how much the knowledge we produce and instill in our students matters. With pride, I can acknowledge that our faculty pursue exciting research projects and generate cutting-edge findings through publications and public presentations. Measured by Academic Analytics, our publication record per faculty ranks third among 25+ Slavic and Russian programs in peer institutions. Equally important, excellence in teaching and innovative curriculum development guide our work. In the spring of 2020, we will teach four new courses: Slavic 2365.99 - Sports, Socialists, and Society; Russian 3480 - The Russian Spy: Cultures of Surveillance, Secret Agents, and Hacking from the Cold War through Today; Russian 3490 – Russian Youth Culture; and Russian 5630 – Russian Translation: Theory, Practice, and the Profession.
The outcomes of our teaching, informed by our research and best pedagogy practices, are evident in the successes and promising career trajectories of our graduates and alumni. Last but not least, we tirelessly collaborate with our community partners: from hosting the annual Russian Olympiada for high schools students from Ohio and Kentucky and our long-standing programmatic support for Howard University in Washington, DC, to our collaboration with the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) for an enhanced joint operations Interpreter Training Workshop. For these and many more of our achievements, you will read on the pages of this Newsletter.
On behalf of all of my colleagues and our students, I would like to express my deep gratitude for your support of our work, programs, and students! Your financial assistance assures our excellence and our students’ successes! Please give today!
With nothing but best wishes for a peaceful and cheerful holiday season,
Yana Hashamova, Chair
