Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
REEEC at Illinois
The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center is home to a wide variety of programs for members of the university community and the general public designed to expand understanding of and promote knowledge about Russia, and the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. REEEC receives major support for programming and FLAS fellowships through the U.S. Department of Education through its Title VI program, for which REEEC serves as a designated National Resource Center.
Featured News
- This fall, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will welcome a distinguished cohort of Ukrainian scholars as part of the BridgeUSA program, an exchange initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State and managed by American Councils. This program, aimed at supporting the recovery of... Read full story BridgeUSA Scholars to Visit Illinois
- By Karina Povsteva (PhD student, Slavic Languages and Literatures) Tori Paige is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History, The Ohio State University, and the 2024 recipient of the Fisher Fellow Award. The Fisher Fellow Award offers support to junior scholars to attend... Read full story Interview with the 2024 Fisher Fellow, Victoria Paige
- Under the auspices of the mobilization drive in the 1930s, Soviet media started actively encouraging women to participate in armed forces as civilian soldiers. As World War II raged, in April 1942 women could officially enlist in combat positions. As the war ended, the Soviet legislation prohibited... Read full story REEEC Summer Research Laboratory Fisher Fellow Talk: Victoria Paige, “Mother, Maiden, Martyr: Media Portrayals of Soviet Women in the Second World War”
M.A. REEES/M.S. LIS Student Profile: Sonia Kelly
Sonia Kelly is a second-year student in the dual M.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies/M.S. in Library and Information Science program and a 2023-2024 REEEC FLAS fellow, studying Russian. She also works with e-resources in the Main Library's Acquisitions and Cataloguing Services. Before coming to UIUC, Sonia received her B.A. in History (TESOL minor) jointly from the College of William & Mary and the University of St Andrews (Scotland), studied Russian in Daugavpils, Latvia, and worked in Washington, D.C. at an international education nonprofit.
More News
- 2024-07-11 - The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has announced a search for a new Associate Director. This position is the senior full-time staff position at REEEC. The Associate Director provides academic leadership and staff supervision for the Center, acts as its chief grant and financial officer, directs our interdisciplinary BA...
2024-07-02 - The Illinois Global Institute is pleased to announce the IGI Summer 2024 Global Educators Workshop. This workshop features two days of round-table discussions and keynote addresses focused on the theme of “Critical Thinking in the Technological World.” Educators from across the globe are invited to engage in dynamic discussions, exploring the intersection of critical thinking and technology in...- 2024-06-25 - We extend our congratulations to the recipients of the 2024 Yaro Skalnik Essay Prizes and Grant. The recipients were presented with these awards at the REEEC Spring Reception on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Louise Shannon (BS Student, Mathematics) was the recipient of the Yaro Skalnik Prize for Best Undergraduate Essay in Russian, East European,...
SLAV 452: Kyiv: A Biography of a City
This course traces the historical, social, and artistic development of Kyiv as a city and as an idea from the medieval period to the present day. As we read a variety of literary works and watch several films in which Kyiv figures prominently, we will think about what makes up this city’s “text” and pay special attention to its frequently competing Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, and Jewish versions. The course is conducted in English, and all the texts will be available in English translations.
REES 200: Introduction to Russia and Eurasia
Eurasia, geographically between the “East” and the “West,” encompasses 11 time zones and over 100 different ethnic groups. Its multicultural complexity and political diversity over recent centuries have made it a rich source for the study of political, economic, and social change. This interdisciplinary course introduces students to key issues and themes that cross disciplines and are important for understanding the contemporary socio-politics of the region. As a class we will draw out these themes by examining major texts, novels, poems, film, and music that were not only impactful within their own genre, but whose influence has rippled throughout disciplines to become interdisciplinary. Major themes to be investigated include: regional interactions/geopolitics, socioeconomics, political action, subjectivity and alterity, identity, gender, and ethnicity & race.
BCS 115: South Slavic Cultures
Exploration of South Slavic cultures in the historically rich and complex region sometimes referred to as "the Balkans," focusing particularly on those groups found within the successor states of the former Yugoslavia. Critical look at the traditional view of the region as the crossroads or the bridge between East and West, and at the term Balkanization which has become a pejorative term used to characterize fragmented, and self-defeating social systems.
SLAV 452/CWL 453: The Cinema of Poland
Post-WWII Poland has made an indelible contribution to world cinema. This class offers a close examination of the chief currents of modern Polish film including, but not limited to, the cinema of “the Polish School” of the late 1950s and 60s, works by experimental and avant-garde auteurs, satires and parodies of the late-socialist period, historical “large canvas” film, as well as more recent work that addresses the dramas, desires, and discontents of political transition and the aspirations and memory practices of post-communist society. A main focus will be on the oeuvre of Poland’s most recognized and prodigious filmmakers, including Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Roman Polanski, as well as the work of “Wajda’s children” – a generation of filmmakers that includes Agnieszka Holland, Paweł Pawlikowski, Xawery Zulawski, Jan Komasa, and Malgorzata Szumowska.