Russian and Slavic Languages and Literatures at GW

The Russian Language and Literature program offers a major, minor, and handles language requirements for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Currently we offer four years of Russian language instruction. Ukranian is offered as demand allows with funding from a Petrach Foundation grant. 

So what can one do with a degree in Russian Language and Literature? Here is just a sample of what some of our recent graduates have done:

• Matt Parelman (2009) is a student in international law with a focus on Russia at the University of Michigan.
• Eileen Dorfman (2009) worked for the Smithsonian clearing copyright for Russian folksong recordings.
• Jihane Dancik (2006) is now resident director of the NSEP Russian Flagship program in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• Sarah Rhodin (2006) (now Harvard ’09) interned at the New York Times Moscow bureau in 2008.
• Greg Salomon (2006) is a development expert at TESOL International (Russia market)
• Becky Stakun (2006) works in a firm that supplies the Justice and State Departments with interpreters.
• Carrie Diffenderfer (2005) completed the prestigious ACRT/NCEP program to reach the ACTFL Superior level in Russian. She is at the National Endowment for Democracy.
• Chloe Feinberg (2005) is at the Center for International Science and Technology Advancement and manages international collaborative biological research projects primarily in the former Soviet Union.
• Michelle Bienia (2003) now works for the Department of Defense.
• John McDonough (2003) went to work for Study Group, a New York-based organization that places foreign students in U.S. institutions and from there to the London School of Economics — with proficiency is Russian, Spanish, and Chinese.
• Bryce Bittner (2002) now works for a Washington, DC law firm with Russian-language contacts.
• Rebekah (Jumper) Boone (2001) is a program officer for the National Endowment for Democracy Program, Assistant for the New Independent States in Washington.
• Michael Flores (2001) is a consular officer in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
• Leah Misbin (2000) served as a Peace Corps worker in Uglich, Yaroslavskaya oblast, Russia.