As I embark on spring travel season this month, I reflect on my first year with SRAS and I am beaming with gratitude. I appreciate all the warm welcomes from Russian faculty and other departments from across the US and my amazing SRAS team. I worked and lived in Russia in the 1990’s. After moving… Read More
SRAS Blog
How SRAS Combines Programs & Locations
I realized during the filming of the video below that I was focused almost exclusively on our programming in the post-Soviet states, which has really been the core of our programming for nearly 25 years. Of course, with the Kremlin as a backdrop, this was a bit natural. Our general philosophy holds true for all… Read More
Video: Strange Things in Russia – Student Produced
SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar Tanya Tanyarattinan created this video as a capstone project during her program in St. Petersburg. The video covers her experiences living in St. Petersburg and visiting Moscow, as well as served as an introduction to a talk she gave on how she became curious about round, concrete traffic barriers that… Read More
Cuba: Food for the Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul (SRAS Site Visit)
It is difficult to know where to begin when describing the experience of visiting Cuba. To those who might not have the same reference points I might describe it as walking into a time warp. The visual cue of classic American cars reinforces this feeling. But there is more. Much more. To those of us… Read More
SRAS’ Central Asian Studies Summer Adds Weeklong Uzbekistan Trip
SRAS has added a week-long trip to Uzbekistan to the summer session of our Central Asian Studies program. Students on this program will now have both the opportunity to experience rural, nomadic Kyrgyz life during a weeklong horse trek through the nearby mountains and also contrast this with the Uzbekistan’s ancient culture of great cities…. Read More
The Future in Science Fiction – New Course This Summer in Poland
Explore the thin line between reality and fiction in literature, film, and gaming. We will look at science fiction from the perspectives of sociology, security, and political science. We will consider science fiction as a predictor – and ponder upon futurology and foresight. Alongside a series of discussions and workshops, we will be working on… Read More
SRAS Supporting UCSD With Siberian Study Abroad Program
SRAS is proud to support a new program from University of California – San Diego (UCSD) that will take students to Irkutsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Olkhon Island, Balagansk, and Ulan Ude. This faculty led program is open to non-UCSD students. Students will enroll in UCSD’s Summer Session I (June 28-August 2) and receive credit for… Read More
Join SRAS at ASEEES and AATSEEL!
SRAS will be at: The ASEEES Conference in San Francisco in November 2019 The AATSEEL Conference in San Diego in February 2020 Each year we look forward to getting together with old friends and making new connections in the field. Let us know if you will be at either conference! The following are a few… Read More
Vladivostok: Russia’s Gateway to the East (SRAS Site Visit)
My last visit to Vladivostok was in 2013, not long after the city hosted the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference. Then, considerable investment was being made in infrastructure. The airport had been refurbished and a new bridge stretched to Russkiy Island, where a new campus for Far Eastern Federal University had been built. Then, I… Read More
New Visa Application Procedures for Applicants Under 21 Years of Age
The Russian embassy in Washington DC has announced new rules for those applying for Russian visas who are under 21 years of age. In addition to the regular materials and procedures, those under 21 will need to submit: Copy of birth certificate Copy of both parents’ passports (data pages) – If one or both parents’… Read More