The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures have jointly formed the Illinois Ukrainian Studies Committee. This standing committee coordinates efforts across the university related to Ukraine. Its members come from departments in various colleges and schools, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Law, the School of Music, the Gies College of Business, and the University Library. The committee includes faculty, students, and staff with an interest in Ukrainian topics.
Among the primary goals of the committee are sharing information about campus activities related to Ukraine, ensuring student enrollment in Ukrainian language classes, connecting students with resources to support the study of Ukraine, and fostering connections across disciplines. The committee also assists in the university’s public engagement efforts, including outreach to the Ukrainian community in Illinois as well as advancement efforts related to Ukraine.
The committee seeks to build on longstanding campus programming such as the Dmytro Shtohryn International Ukrainian Studies Conference, campus lecture series on Ukrainian topics sponsored by REEEC and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, and the outstanding Library collections in Ukrainian Studies.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a major center of Ukrainian Studies. Its Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures offers Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Slavic Languages and Literatures as well as a BALAS in Slavic Studies with a Ukrainian Studies concentration. In addition, REEEC offers MA and BA degrees as well as graduate and undergraduate minors in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.
Since its founding in 1959, REEEC @ Illinois has been one of the leading centers promoting the study of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia in the U.S. The Center has received the National Resource Center grant and has offered Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships, both of which are funded by the U.S. Department of Education. REEEC has also cosponsored, along with the Slavic Reference Service, the annual Summer Research Laboratory, bringing scholars to campus to make use of the University Library collection. In recent years, REEEC has supported the Illinois Scholars at Risk Program in bringing Ukrainian scholars to campus as visiting fellows. REEEC also participates in the Indiana-Ukraine Nonresidential Scholars Program.
