About Russian and Russian Studies

Our Program and Courses

You can minor in Russian and Russian Studies at F&M through one of two tracks: Russian Studies or Russian Language and Literature. With small class sizes and close collaboration between students and professors, you will sharpen your Russian communication skills in a variety of settings — including in classroom discussions, informal conversations, formal presentations, interpretation, and writing — all while reflecting critically on the cultural practices, products, and perspectives of the Russian-speaking world and your own.

By the time you graduate, you will have developed a wide-ranging understanding of Russian culture, literature, history, politics, and daily life.

Russian Language Placement Exam

If you’ve already begun to study Russian or speak it at home and you’re admitted to F&M and plan to study Russian, you must complete a language placement exam during new student orientation.

Wondering what a Russian and Russian Studies course is like? Take a look at our course catalog to see the depth and breadth of what’s available to you.

Our Faculty and Staff

Jennifer Redmann

Professor of German, Department Chair of German, Russian & East Asian Languages (Chinese, Japanese)

International Studies

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Matthew Schantz

Adjunct Assistant Instructor, Russian

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Jon Stone

Professor of Russian and Russian Studies

Comparative Literary Studies

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Meagan K Tripp

Assistant Professor of German

Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

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Shari Vegso

Academic Department Coordinator

Chinese Language Program; Comparative Literary Studies; French; German and Russian Studies; International Studies; Italian Studies and Hebrew; Japanese Language Program; Latin American Studies; Spanish

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Learning Outside the Classroom

Our Russian professors are committed to tailoring your education to your interests and goals and will help you discover research and study-abroad opportunities to broaden your understanding of the discipline. 

Research and Independent Study

Tolstoy and Dostoevsky developed new novelistic techniques, Mendelev contributed to the invention of the periodic table, Lenin started a revolution, and Stravinsky changed musical hierarchy. As a student of Russian and Russian Studies, you can engage in independent or faculty-led research to further explore Russia’s pioneering contributions to a variety of fields — including physics, biology, literature, music, ballet, technology, and political theory — or to dive into another Russian topic that interests you.
Explore research at F&M

Off-Campus Study

As a student of Russian, it’s only fitting to experience its use in communities that speak it natively. We work with students to find appropriate and safe study abroad programs in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Explore off-campus study at F&M

Success Beyond F&M

Beyond intellectual and personal enrichment, studying Russian at F&M opens doors to enriching professional opportunities. Governmental agencies, think tanks, and nonprofit organizations have made it a high priority to hire individuals with knowledge of Russian.

Graduate School

Russian and Russian Studies minors at F&M have successfully undertaken advanced study at excellent graduate programs in foreign relations, law, art and art history, political science, and medicine.  

Career Paths

F&M graduates with a minor in Russian and Russian Studies are prepared for a wide array of careers. They hold positions such as: 

  • National Security Innovation Associate, Institute for the Study of War
  • Associate, Venn Strategies
  • Associate, Bonterra
  • Strategy and Policy Analyst, George Washington University

Alumni Spotlight

“Before I could even start officially writing, the consequences I was going to predict were already happening.”

As Anna Synakh '22 began researching Russian soft-power politics, her studies took a startling turn. The Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine in February added a new dimension to her work — one that felt particularly close to home. "I am a Ukrainian immigrant who moved here with my parents back in 2012. Only two years later, Russia invaded Crimea," Synakh said.
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Research Spotlight

Translating (Перевести) Russian Works in English

In 2018, when Jon Stone embarked on his project to translate a series of Russian stories by poet and novelist Andrei Bely, he started with the assistance of Isabelle Roman ’20, whose eight weeks of work that summer produced a body of research that helped him land a publishing contract. “She and I worked together on the very early stages of this project,” the Franklin & Marshall College associate professor of Russian and Russian studies said. “Along with my sample translation, the notes that she had come up with were the things that I first took to the publisher.”
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Related Fields of Study

Comparative Literary Studies

Investigate the development of literature in an international and historical context. When you immerse yourself in comparative literary studies at F&M, you’ll explore foundational works of literature from a variety of historical periods and national traditions to better understand the ways in which literary processes unfold in various environments.

Government

F&M’s Department of Government has earned a reputation as one of the finest in the country. Study government at F&M and examine power, politics, justice, equity, and change while developing skills in language, economics, mathematics and philosophy.

International Studies

International studies is an innovative program that combines off-campus study in a non-English-speaking location with on- and off-campus coursework. As a student of international studies at F&M, you will develop a global perspective and immerse yourself in the languages and cultures of non-English-speaking countries and regions.

Explore Russian and Russian Studies at F&M

October 7, 2022

Autocracy and the Challenges to Our Imagination

In the Brooks College House Great Room a few days before Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen addressed a campus audience, a group of students were discussing the writer's works. Franklin & Marshall College offers students a hands-on education that emphasizes close relationships with faculty. Students flourish in a supportive community that treats them as an individual, and their successes continue long after F&M. The College is a national leader in launching students and alumni to opportunities where they make a difference in the community and the world.

February 28, 2022

Faculty, alumni, students react to war in Ukraine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week launched what could possibly become the largest land war in Europe since the end of the Second World War in spring 1945. The aggression has launched renewed interest in the humanities — from history to languages to religion — and prompted requests from local, national and international media for interviews and essays from several in the Franklin & Marshall community.

September 28, 2021

Translating Russian Works in English

In 2018, when Jon Stone, associate professor of Russian and Russian studies said, embarked on his project to translate a series of Russian stories by poet and novelist Andrei Bely, he started with the assistance of Isabelle Roman ’20, whose eight weeks of work that summer produced a body of research that helped him land a publishing contract. “She and I worked together on the very early stages of this project,” Stone said. “Along with my sample translation, the notes that she had come up with were the things that I first took to the publisher.”