Russian is a small, congenial and adventurous department devoted to working closely with students and tailoring courses of study to their individual needs. At Wellesley, Russian is always taught in the broader context of Russian society, culture, visual art and music. Numerous activities both inside and outside the classroom are designed to enrich students' appreciation of the achievements and fascinating traditions of Russian civilization. Welcome to our website! We hope you enjoy what you find here.

Why Study Russian?

• Wellesley's Russian Department has a rich historyand was founded in 1943 by Vladimir Nabokov, the great Russian and American novelist. Now, in addition to the Russian langauge, you can study Nabokov in the department where he once taught. We also teach Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and other great Russian writers.

• Our innovative langauge coursesteach Russian through children's culture, humor, movies, music, and history. Our majors have ample opportunity to immerse themselves in the Russian language and culture.

• You canstudy abroadfor a semester or a year in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or a number of other cities. We offer three-week Wintersession porgrams inMoscowand Tbilisi, Georgia. As part of a unique course team-taught by the Russian Area Studies Program and the Environmental Studies Program, twelve students and two professors spend a month in Siberia studying the local culture and biology ofLake Baikal, the world's oldest, deepest, and most voluminous lake.

• Russia, the 8th most commonly spoken language in the world, and one of the State Department's Critical Langauges, can also get you a job. The department now offers threeinternship opportunitiesin Russia. American emissaries with a nuanced knowledge of the Russian language and cultural norms are urgently needed. There have never been so many business opportunities in Russia.