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October 4, 2002
Mount
Holyoke Partners with Colgate in Moscow Study Program
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Cathedral
of Christ the Saviour in downtown Moscow
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Since the breakup
of the USSR in 1991, MHC students interested in Russian language
and culture have taken advantage of various short-term study opportunities
in the post-Soviet republics, from January Term visits in the
Republic of Georgia, to summer- or semester-long national study
programs, such as those offered by the American Council of Teachers
of Russian or the Council on International Educational Exchange.
Next year, beginning in August and continuing through the fall
semester, MHC students will have a new and exciting opportunity
to live and study in Russia.
The College's Russian
and Eurasian studies department has formed a partnership with
Colgate University to support that institution's successful Moscow
Study Program, which has been in place since 1992. The program
has several features that make it very attractive, says Susan
Scotto, senior lecturer in Russian. It begins with four-and-a-half
weeks of language study at KORA, a private language academy in
the small ancient city of Vladimir, northeast of Moscow. Lodging
with Russian families there and studying in small classes designed
specifically for the program makes for very fast progress in the
Russian language, says Scotto, even for those with no previous
background in Russian. Participants also enjoy excursions to historical
and cultural sites with fellow students from MHC and Colgate.
The program continues
with a semester in Moscow, where students again live with Russian
families and enjoy group excursions in and around the city and
a seven-day trip to Saint Petersburg, Russia's "Venice of
the North." In addition to continuing with Russian language
at Moscow's State Academy of Theatrical Arts (GITIS), participants
take two courses taught in English, one on culture or literature
with the program's director, the other on politics, economics,
and history with a Russian political scientist. These English
language courses are another "plus" of the program,
says Scotto, noting that in many Russian-only programs, students'
language limitations force teachers to simplify their literature
or politics courses, making them less challenging and stimulating
than they could be.
Another unusual and
highly prized feature of the program is that its participants
are placed according to interests in supervised internships in
Moscow. Past internships have been with IBM's Moscow office, an
advertising firm, an environmental lobbying group, the Eurasia
Foundation, the American Council of Teachers of Russian, a Russian
stockbrokerage, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and the Moscow
Times. Scotto hopes to add internships at GITIS, where students
interested in theater could work with production crews.
Overseeing the program
will be a resident faculty director from Mount Holyoke or Colgate;
the position will alternate between the two colleges yearly. "Having
a regular member of the faculty as director ensures a strong commitment
to keeping program quality up," said Scotto, who will be
director in fall 2003. "The director is on site daily and
has a vested interest in making sure things go smoothly."
Like MHC's year- or
semester-long program in Senegal and yearlong program at the Université
Paul Valery in Montpellier, France, the Moscow Study Program will
be a College-sponsored program. MHC students selected to participate
in the program who qualify for financial aid will be guaranteed
Laurel Fellowships, provided that they
complete all of the appropriate application forms by the stated
deadlines. For more information about the program, visit http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/russ/moscow.htm
or attend an informational meeting in the Eliot House lounge on
Wednesday, October 16, from 7 to 9 pm.
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