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
- Prof. Buchanan is one of fifteen talented scholars from Eastern Europe and North America convening for a two-week residency hosted by the American University in Bulgaria The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is... Read full story Donna Buchanan Named to Participate in 2024 Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe
- On April 2, the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois presents the highly anticipated academic world premiere of Black Square. An absurdist fable commemorating the October Revolution, Black Square is, as described by its creators, “a tragicomic love story that mixes intellectual traditions of... Read full story Unveiling Black Square: Behind the Scenes with the Creative Team
- Note: The courses listed below are not an exhaustive list of courses being offered on the REEE region. Please see course explorer for additional classes. *Check with Advisor or FLAS Coordinator whether the course will fulfill area studies course requirements Area Studies... Read full story Fall 2024 Courses with Russia, East Europe, and Eurasian Content
M.A. REEES/M.S. LIS Student Profile: Sonia Kelly
Sonia Kelly is a first-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
2024-01-22 - Call for Applications: 2024 Research Training Workshop At the Summer Research Laboratory on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign June 14-15, 2024 Moderators: Professor Anna Whittington (Department of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) Dr. Nataliia Laas (Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs) ...
2023-12-19 - REEEC joins the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva and the United States government in expressing extreme concern about the dire humanitarian and human rights crisis impacting the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh and those who have fled the region. In its ...
2023-12-15 - REEEC faculty affiliate David Cooper (Associate Professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures, University of Illinois) was recently featured by the University of Illinois News Bureau in an article by Jodi Heckel. Read more about Professor Cooper's recent book, "The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth" (Cornell University Press), and how it investigates the role of...
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.