In order to determine student placement, SES offers oral and written proficiency testing In Russian, Polish, and Turkish languages at the beginning of fall semester. In addition, the Department offers oral and written proficiency testing in Russian at the beginning and end of each semester.
Duke offers both summer and semester programs at St. Petersburg University in St. Petersburg, Russia, and summer programs at Bogazici University in Istanbul. Brochures are available in both the Study Abroad office and the SES office.
NOTE: To fulfill the FL requirement, courses taken abroad must be taken in a Duke-administered or Duke-approved program.
I. Interested in learning Russian?
For students beginning RUSSIAN for the first time:
Why take Russian? Russian continues to be the 4th most important language in the world. Russian is a crucial language for students of science and math, as well as those interested in national security, foreign service, film and cultural studies, and the arts.
How long does it take to learn the Cyrillic alphabet? Students easily learn the Cyrillic alphabet in the first 2 class periods. It takes about one hour of memorization.
The Duke Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers students 4 distinct options for completing the language proficiency requirement in Russian at the beginning level:
A new experimental, accelerated introductory course will also be offered.
For students wishing to continue their study of Russian:
A. Duke University has the richest course offerings in Russian language and culture in the United States. Furthermore, Duke has the oldest student-faculty exchange program with a Russian university in the U.S. The Duke Slavic Department regularly offers 5 fill years of language study EVERY SEMESTER as well as uniquely designed specialized language courses at the advanced levels, such as:
[All Russian language courses are taught in Russian from the 100-level.]
B. In order to determine placement, the Duke Slavic Department offers oral and written proficiency testing in Russian language at the beginning and end of each semester.
C. The Duke Slavic. Department has several advanced Russian courses designed to meet the needs of heritage learners.
II. How do I get there?
Some possible course combinations for completing the Foreign Language Requirement in Russian:
A. No prior knowledge of Russian (or no more than 3 years of high school Russian study):
First Course | Second Course | Third Course |
1st half Elementary (Russian 1) | 2nd half Elementary (Russian 2) | Intermediate (Russian 63) |
Intensive Elementary (Russian 14) | 1st half Intermediate (Russian 63) | Continuation optional |
First Course | Second Course | Third Course |
Intensive Elementary (Russian 14) | DUKE IN RUSSIA [Summer] (Russian 63) | Continuation optional |
1st half Elementary (Russian 1) | DUKE IN RUSSIA (Russian 2, Russian 63) | Continuation optional |
DUKE IN RUSSIA (Russian 2) | 1st half Intermediate (Russian 63) | Continuation optional |
B. Some previous study of Russian:
Elementary (101-102), Intermediate (201-202), and Advanced (301-302) Polish language courses are offered at Duke. Advanced Polish may be taught as an individual tutorial, depending on student demand.
Polish is spoken by almost 40 million people in Poland as well as by millions throughout a global diaspora of Poles in countries as diverse as Brazil, Australia, Germany, Russia, and the United States. The earliest organized Polish settlement in the United States was near San Antonio, in Panna Maria, Texas (1854), which actively preserves its heritage.
Over the span of more than a thousand years, Poland existed variously as multi-ethnic empire, a sovereign nation, and a national state of mind when its territory was occupied by foreign powers. Regardless of their political fortunes, Polish citizens have contributed mightily to world culture and science; consider, for example, the works of medieval astronomer Mikolaj Kopernik (‘Copernicus’), the two-time Nobel prize winning chemist/physicist Maria Sklodowska (‘Marie Curie’, who discovered radiation) and the composer Fryderyk Chopin. The twentieth century has added two Nobel prizes in literature in 16 years (Czeslaw Milosz and Wieslawa Szymborska). Polish poets, fiction writers, playwrights, filmmakers, visual artists, performers, and philosophers have made their mark on global culture from the Renaissance to the present day.
For centuries Poland served as the diasporic home of the largest Jewish population in the world and the center of Yiddish culture (Warsaw was overtaken by New York as the home of the largest Jewish community in the world only in the twentieth century). The tragedy of the Holocaust played out to a large extent in Poland during the German Nazi occupation. There has been a resurgence of interest in Poland in the country’s Jewish heritage, and there are many museums, festivals, and research facilities devoted to the topic.
In addition to facilitating cultural, sociological, and political studies of this fascinating and complex nation, at once traditional and modern, a knowledge of Polish enhances your qualifications to pursue a career in the foreign service or other U.S. government positions; U.S.-Poland business relations; and development and exchange work in Central/Eastern Europe. A member of NATO and the European Union, Poland is in the mainstream of the latest political and economic developments in Europe.
Intensive Romanian is offered every other year so that students may complete the language requirement in one academic year (Fall – Romanian 14 (2 credits); Spring – Romanian 63 or 70 (1 credit)).
For students wishing to study another Slavic and East European languages, including Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, and Hungarian: These languages are not offered on a regular basis, but are offered regularly at UNC-Chapel Hill. See the UNC-CH Slavic Department for more information.
For more information about Russian Language, please consult the Slavic Department Web site: http://www.duke.edu/web/slavic. Consult the Official Schedule of Courses (ACES) http://www.aas.duke.edu/reg/synopsis for more detailed information on courses being offered each semester. Also, feel free to contact the DUS, Professor Edna Andrews ().
Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
http://www.duke.edu/web/Slavic
Russian Language Program
316 Languages Building Box 90259
Durham, NC 27708-0259
(919) 660-3140
e-mail: