The University of Wisconsin–Madison, home to one of the largest and strongest Russian programs in the nation, has received a four-year grant of $1.3 million from the National Security Education Program in the U.S. Department of Defense to support the UW-Madison Russian Flagship Program through 2024. This award recognizes the Russian Flagship’s decade-long record of providing an exceptional academic program for undergraduate students of any major to achieve professional-level proficiency in Russian, a language that is designated by the Department of Defense as critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
The innovative program combines work at UW-Madison and overseas and is designed for student success.
“Russian Flagship students are able to attain professional-level proficiency in Russian by graduation, a feat previously unheard of in undergraduate education. They are able to apply their Russian language skills and cultural knowledge in a wide variety of professions, from computer science and engineering to diplomacy and economics,” says Karen Evans-Romaine, co-director of the UW-Madison Russian Flagship.
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Student impact
The UW-Madison Russian Flagship was established in 2010. Over the last decade, more than 150 students have enrolled in the program, each aiming to globalize their Wisconsin Experience, expand their intercultural competencies and take their education beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
“The program took my major to the heights I intended to reach,” reflects Justin Magoon, a 2020 graduate who just returned from studying abroad in Almaty, Kazakhstan. “It helped me understand other parts of the world and admire and be curious about them while also making me appreciate things about my home that I never noticed before.”
Kate Sandy, a current student who transferred to UW–Madison for the Russian Flagship, has also experienced considerable growth. “I’d say the progress that I’ve made so far has been enormous. I’ve gone from knowing nothing to being able to have extended conversations with native speakers of Russian. The resources available to us are unparalleled.”
Campus impact
At UW–Madison, the program has generated tremendous enthusiasm for Russian studies and distinguished itself as a model for innovation, collaboration and leadership.
The program regularly hosts visiting scholars of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA) for informal conversations in Russian. Students have met with Andrei Kozyrev, the first Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, members of the punk activist group Pussy Riot, and Tymofiy Mylovanov, former Minister of the Economy of Ukraine.
"CREECA affiliates on campus have benefited enormously from the advanced-level Russian language instruction facilitated by the Russian Flagship Program, and many of our native-speaking guest lecturers and other visitors have enjoyed discussing their work with Russian Flagship students, says Ted Gerber, CREECA’S director. "Since its inception the Russian Flagship has been instrumental in maintaining UW-Madison’s international reputation as leading center not only for Russian language instruction, but also for research and training on political, social, and economic aspects of contemporary Russia and Eurasia.”
For many graduate students, especially those in the Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic (GNS), the Russian Flagship has enhanced the development of their teaching skills, in part through a robust program of individual and small-group tutoring.
“This experience is different from classroom teaching in that it requires more improvisation from tutors and students,” says Marina Tsylina, a graduate student in SLA. “For me, it is very interesting to experience teaching in an environment where students may feel more relaxed and more willing to speak without fear of making mistakes or caring about their grades.”
National impact
The Language Flagship is part of a network of 31 programs at 21 institutions of higher education that aim to change the way Americans learn languages and increase the workforce pool of specialists in a variety of fields with professional-level proficiency in one of ten languages critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
Graduates of the UW-Madison Russian Flagship are now working in the federal government, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, or enrolled in graduate or professional school.
“Five years ago, I had no idea that the Russian Flagship Program would have such a profound impact on my career trajectory,” remarks Leah Shapiro, a 2015 UW-Madison graduate. “I have been able to pair my knowledge of the language and the region with my interest in international education in such unexpected ways… traveling to Georgia, Ukraine, Mongolia, and back to Kazakhstan.”
Dianna Murphy, Russian Flagship co-director and director of the Language Institute, speaks to the program’s national impact.
“Our students are our nation’s future leaders," she says. "The UW-Madison Russian Flagship not only helps students to develop valuable language skills and cultural competencies, it provides them with an unparalled range of intercultural and international experiences that will enable them to become global professionals and future leaders in their chosen fields.”