International Studies
International Studies Program: Russian and East European Studies Concentration

"The most difficult questions, the great unknowns, lie in the eastern rather the western half of the old continent."

Timothy Garton Ash, The Spectator, January 6, 1990

Russian and East European Studies Concentration (REES) is offering IWU students an opportunity to explore various issues related to literary and cultural history, economic and political development of the region. Study on campus, travel courses, and study abroad, invites students to examine how the yearning for national independence changed both spiritual and physical geography of Eastern Europe today. The interdisciplinary nature of REES courses enables students to better understand the difficult past and often controversial present of the region.

A diverse group of REES faculty represent different schools and departments of the university: History Department, Modern and Classical languages and Literatures Department, Political Science Department, School of Music. Every academic year the REES team sponsors various cultural events, guest lectures, and film viewings.

May Term travel course: Tale of Three Cities

Cathedral of St. Basil The Blessed, Moscow

Fishermen's Bastion, Budapest

Benedictine Monastery in Tyniec in the neighborhood of Krakow

Requirements for the major or minor sequence in Russian and East European Studies.

Team Members

Marina Balina Modern and Classical Languages and Literature (309)556 3082
Stephen Press Music (309)556 3983
Scott Ferguson Music (309)556 3073
Sonja Fritzsche Modern and Classical Languages and Literature (309)556 3290
Gordon Horowitz History (309)556 3007
Vadim Mazo Music (309)556 3028