Brian Yang is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and a 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 REEEC FLAS fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before coming to the University of Illinois, Brian received his B.A. in 2017 from the University of California, Riverside, in Languages, concentrating on Russian and German, and his M.A. in 2019 from the University of Toronto in Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Interested in the indigenous languages and cultures of Siberia, Brian’s current research focuses on analyzing and contextualizing ethnographic texts on indigenous Siberians that were written during the colonial expansion of the Russian Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. With the support of FLAS, Brian is studying Russian to be able to read the various ethnographies, travelogues, and other academic works written during this time, as well as being able to access Russian language learning materials that teach indigenous languages. After completing his Ph.D., he hopes to become a professor and help spread awareness of the histories, languages, cultures, and stories of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.