Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

The Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (REEES) Certificate Program works to offer students an opportunity to draw on rich resources of the faculty members at the Five Colleges and to coordinate curricula across the five campuses. The program also sponsors special events of interest to students and faculty members working in the field.

This certificate program offers students the opportunity to take advantage of the significant multidisciplinary resources in the Five Colleges on Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The certificate consists of a minimum of six courses. Courses applied to the certificate may also be used to fulfill major requirements. The list of courses fulfilling particular requirements is maintained and regularly updated by the Five College Committee for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

Course Requirements

A. The program's core course, normally taken in the first or second year. The core course is offered every year on a rotating basis at one of the campuses and introduces an interdisciplinary perspective on the historical and contemporary experiences of the peoples of Russia, Eurasia (here understood as the former republics of the Soviet Union) and East (and Central) Europe. The course includes guest lectures by noted specialists in the Five Colleges.

B. Five additional elective courses, distributed as indicated below. (Independent study courses may be included with approval from the student's campus program advisor.) 

C. At least four courses, including the core course, must be taken within the Five Colleges.

Language Requirement

Students receiving the certificate must possess proficiency in a language of one of the certificate regions equivalent to the level achieved after four semesters of post-secondary course work. This proficiency may be demonstrated by course work or examination.

Study Abroad

Students are encouraged to study abroad in one of the certificate regions.

Elective Course Distribution

In choosing the five elective courses satisfying the certificate requirements, the following guidelines should be observed:

Courses should be drawn from more than one of the three geographical areas: Russia, Eurasia (here understood as the former republics of the Soviet Union) and Eastern (and Central) Europe.

• At least one of the elective courses must focus on a period before the 20th century.
• At least one course must be taken from each of the following disciplinary categories: history, social sciences and humanities/arts. No single course can fulfill more than one disciplinary distribution requirement. 
• Elementary or intermediate language courses cannot be included as one of the five electives. A language course beyond the intermediate level can be counted toward one of the electives.
• Credit for one-time courses, special topics courses and transfer or study abroad courses requires approval from the home campus faculty advisor to the program.

Note that if you don't see classes from all campuses currently listed, they will appear as the campuses release their course schedules for the semester. The five campuses release their schedules on different dates. Visit this page for specific dates.

Amherst Center for Russian Culture
Through the generous gift of Thomas P. Whitney '37, Amherst College has acquired what has generally been considered the world's largest private holding of Russian books, manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals. 

Lorna M. Peterson Prize
The Lorna M. Peterson Prize supports scholarly and creative work by undergraduate students taking part in Five College programs. The $500 prize is awarded annually based on nominations from Five College programs.

Program Director:

Sergey Glebov, Five College Professor of History

Five College Staff Liaison:

April Shandor, Academic Programs Coordinator