My fascination for the Caucasus region began on my first journey to Georgia as an SRAS student in 2022. The atmosphere immediately drew me in, and the day trip to Svaneti was enough of a glimpse of the mountains for me to know that this area was a hiker’s paradise. Fast forward another year –… Read More
Programs
Immersed in Central Asia: American Students Explore Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan
This past July, I had the privilege of leading a group of twelve American college students through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on the pilot run of a newly created SRAS program, the RSL+ Travel Adventure. As the coordinator of this program, I had watched these students spend eight intensive weeks in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, studying Russian. By… Read More
SRAS in Conversation with Rikki Brown: Wine, Life, and Learning Abroad
Rikki Brown is a PhD Candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She recently returned from three years of fieldwork in Georgia, examining the wine economy and the impact of geopolitics on traditional winemaking practices. During fieldwork in Georgia, she taught a course for SRAS on the intersection of Food and… Read More
Intent in Language Learning
Okay. Full disclosure. I have a bit of a problem. Of course, my dear husband feels that it is more than a bit of a problem, considering he is the one who has to most often deal with them. They are spread across the tables, randomly stuffed under furniture, and in bags. I am even… Read More
Security and Society Journal, New Issue Published
We are pleased to announce the publication of the fourth scholarly volume bringing together a unique series of research papers by talented students – participants in the Security and Society in the Information Age program held at Civitas University in Warsaw, Poland. This program is organized jointly by SRAS and Civitas University and is composed… Read More
Meet Lily in Kyrgyzstan – SRAS Program Coordinator for Bishkek
On the flight home from my first study abroad trip to Kyrgyzstan, I was already imagining how and when I would be able to return to the country I had grown to love. Less than a year later— 359 days, to be exact—I was elated to see that dream realized, this time landing in Bishkek… Read More
Meet Kiara in Tbilisi – SRAS Program Manager for the Caucasus
No one intends to stay. I certainly didn’t when I first arrived. In truth, I didn’t even really want to come to Tbilisi in the first place. My arrival to the city was purely out of obligation—for work—and beyond the two months of my assignment, I had no plans of prolonging my time here. So,… Read More
Introduction to Karakalpakstan as a Study Destination
When I first arrived in Nukus, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, my immediate impression was that everything was salty. I mean this literally. As my friends and I exited the back seat of the taxi that had delivered us the three hours from Khiva, the first sensation I experienced was a distinct… Read More
SRAS in Conversation with Lee Sullivan: Studying Across Eurasia
Lee Sullivan has studied with SRAS in nearly all our locations – many of them new. Back home at Stetson University in Florida, she’s majoring in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies while also taking extensive coursework in computer science and cybersecurity. She has won multiple scholarships that have allowed her to study in, travel… Read More
SRAS in Conversation with Dr. Katarzyna Maniszewska: Security Studies in Poland
Katarzyna Maniszewska is the long-time director of SRAS’ Security and Society in the Information Age program in Warsaw. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Warsaw and her research focuses on the history and development of political extremism and terrorism with particular emphasis on media coverage of terrorism. She completed postgraduate studies in Issues… Read More