School of Arts and Sciences
Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies

BA in Russian Language & Cultural Studies

The Russian Language and Cultural Studies major provides students with a firm grounding in the Russian language and in-depth knowledge, through comparative and historical approaches, in Russian culture, film, and literature. The major broadly prepares students for professional pursuits with a global outreach as well as for graduate study in a variety of Russia-related fields. It also gives heritage speakers an opportunity to engage in their language and culture more deeply. Graduates have found employment in many fields, including government, international business and law, journalism, teaching, translation, and consulting.

Questions about program requirements should be addressed to the following faculty members:

Russian Program Director, Greg Carleton  
Russian Language Coordinator, Marina Aptekman

Program Requirements and Policies

  • Ten courses are required for the BA in Russian Language & Cultural Studies. 
  • Students who place out of any language courses above Russian 4 still must complete 10 courses for the major
  • Transfer courses requiring program approval:
    • Language courses taken abroad can be counted in the language category upon placement by the Russian Program. Students coming back from a semester in Russia are required to take one 100-level course conducted in Russian.
    • Up to two culture/film/literature courses taken outside of Tufts can be substituted in the culture/film/literature category. They must be equivalent to Tufts courses as determined by the Russian Program.

Course Requirements

  1. Russian 21 and 22.
  2. Two advanced (100-level) courses conducted in Russian, normally RUS 121 and 122. An advanced course in some advanced special topic (e.g., Russian 123, 125, 191, 192) may be substituted for Russian 121 or 122 with program approval. 
  3. Five culture/film/literature courses offered by the Russian Program. One cross-cultural or comparative course is highly recommended. One course in culture/film/literature must be at the advanced level: special topics, a seminar, or directed study, each option at the 100 level with a substantial research paper or project. With the Program Director's approval, any existing course may count if it has an additional research component and project.
  4. One additional related course (with Russian program approval) or an advanced Russian language course above Russian 122 (RUS 123, 124, 125 or special topics in Russian language: 191, 192) with a research component. These language courses above RUS 122 do not count in category 3.