Thought about Russian?

The School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech now offers a Minor and Certificate in Russian Studies.   Coursework includes three years of language study, as well as electives in Russian literature and film in translation, international affairs (INTA) and cross-cultural communication (The Global Classroom, LCC).   Georgia Tech study abroad programs in Russia will be offered beginning in summer, 2006.

Why Russian?

Science and technology:

Throughout the 20th century, Russia has been a leader in scientific and technological innovation.   In aerospace and other engineering fields, Russia remains a powerhouse.  

Business :

Russia is highly educated and possesses vast natural resources.   Russian is the lingua franca of a huge swath of Eurasia from the Sea of Japan to Ukraine.   Much business in Central Asia and other former Soviet republics is still conducted in Russian.   Want to work in Poland or the Czech Republic after graduation?   It's easy to pick up other Slavic languages after learning Russian.

Security:

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia and the former Soviet states remain central to concerns of global security and nuclear non-proliferation.

Culture:

Russia has an extraordinarily rich cultural tradition.   This includes artists like Chagall, Malevich and Kandinsky, composers -- Tchaikovksy, Mussorgsky, Skriabin, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich; filmmakers -- Eisenstein, Dovzhenko, Paradzhanov, Tarkovsky, Muratova, Sokurov; dancers

and choreographers -- Nijinsky, Plisetskaya, Nuriev, Baryshnikov; writers -- Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel, Zamyatin, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstaya.   Russia is home to one of the world's richest poetic traditions -- Pushkin, Tiutchev, Blok, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak, Mayakovsky, Brodsky and others, whose works can only be truly appreciated in Russian.   Did we mention hockey... figure skating... tennis... wrestling?

They're everywhere!

You won't have to look far to find Russians and Russian speakers among the students and professors of Georgia Tech.   In addition, Atlanta has a large and active Russian community with many cultural events -- films, concerts, exhibitions, lectures, stand-up comedy and just about anything else.