Russian Culture Minor

The Russian culture minor in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures (GSLL) equips students with regional expert knowledge and communicative, literary, cultural, and medial competencies necessary to answer geostrategic and civilizational challenges emerging from the post-Soviet and Russophone spheres. This minor can complement major concentrations in diverse fields across the humanities, arts, and natural and social sciences. The Russian minor prepares students for their professional careers in sectors like banking, business, education, government, IT, journalism, law, military or civil service, non-governmental organizations, non-profits, policy think tanks, start-ups, research labs, and a wide variety of careers associated with national security.

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:

take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the minor core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for minor or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Core Requirements
A minimum of five RUSS courses (15 hours) covering any aspect of Russian language, literature, or culture. ¹		15
Total Hours		15

¹: The first two semesters of Russian (i.e., RUSS 101 and RUSS 102) may not be counted toward this minor.

GSLL courses numbered above 200 may count toward the minor with the approval of the director of undergraduate studies.
At least nine credit hours beyond RUSS 102 must be taken at UNC–Chapel Hill to fulfill the requirements of the minor. Minors who study abroad or wish to transfer credit from another institution may apply to transfer one course counting toward the minor. Before their departure for a study abroad program, students should consult the director of undergraduate studies about appropriate courses taken abroad for the minor.
Students who receive placement credit (PL) or By-Examination credit (BE) for RUSS 203, RUSS 204, RUSS 409 and/or RUSS 410 must substitute this credit with coursework (three credit hours each to replace each course with PL or BE credit) to complete the requirements for the minor. Students may not re-enroll in a course for which they have received PL or BE credit.

Russian (RUSS) course descriptions.

On This Page

Honors in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures
Student Involvement and Cultural Enrichment beyond the Classroom
Study Abroad
Languages across the Curriculum
Undergraduate Awards
Undergraduate Research

Special Opportunities in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures

Honors in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures

Students majoring in Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures who are qualified for honors work are strongly encouraged to consider writing an honors thesis during their senior year. Undertaking an honors project gives students the opportunity to explore a topic in depth under the direction of a faculty member. Students who wish to do honors work should confer with the director of undergraduate studies and choose an honors thesis advisor during the first or second semester of their junior year, and complete an honors thesis contract. Second-semester juniors or first-semester seniors will be enrolled in GSLL 691H (honors reading and special studies) for their first semester of honors thesis work, once the honors thesis contract is fully approved. For the second semester, once an updated contract is completed, students will be enrolled in GSLL 692H (writing the honors thesis). When GSLL 693H is offered, the course replaces GSLL 692H and provides an opportunity for students majoring in any of our concentrations to complete their thesis in the context of a small seminar with other honors students. One of these honors courses may count toward the major.

Student Involvement and Cultural Enrichment beyond the Classroom

Numerous social and educational events hosted by the department, as well as by student clubs such as the German Club and Slavic Club, provide an atmosphere for effective learning and for enjoying German and Slavic cultures. There are weekly opportunities in German, Russian, and other languages for informal conversation suitable for both beginning and advanced students. The department periodically sponsors lectures, roundtables, small conferences, and film series for the various languages. Those considering an undergraduate major or minor should request to be added to the appropriate e-mail listserv, in order to ensure they receive information regarding special events and opportunities.

The department also hosts receptions and informational meetings for students interested in pursuing a major or minor, or for those seeking opportunities for internships, study abroad, graduate study, and employment in Germany, Austria, and Eastern or Central Europe. The department also often presents a poetry night with poems recited by learners of various languages, as well as full-length plays and dramatic readings in German performed by undergraduate students.

The German and Slavic clubs, sponsored by the department, encourage students to independently plan cultural events, films, and conversation opportunities.

A number of the above events will be approved for IDEAs in Action CLE credit.

Study Abroad

The department encourages students to study and/or engage in internships abroad. These opportunities maximize students’ linguistic and cultural proficiency, particularly once they have acquired sufficient language skills to benefit most from this immersion experience. Students may participate for a whole year, a single term, or a summer.

The Study Abroad Office offers German programs at all universities in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, as well as a dedicated exchange program with the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen; at the Freie University in Berlin; at the University of Zürich, Switzerland (new, starting in fall 2024); at the IES European Union and Environmental Programs in Freiburg, Germany; and at the IES Programs in Vienna and Berlin.

Most German programs require that participating students have passed GERM 204 (or its equivalent); however, students with no prior knowledge of German may attend programs at the Freie University in Berlin, the University of Zürich, in Tübingen, or the IES program in Freiburg, or also the Baden-Württemburg exchange at the University of Mannheim offers a number of courses in English. These programs generally include intensive language instruction in addition to content courses taught in English, and most programs offer an orientation course prior to the start of the semester. The yearlong term may begin in August but more commonly in October, with a two-month vacation between semesters that many students use for travel. Students going abroad for only one term generally do so in the spring semester, which typically begins in late February and ends in late July.

The DAAD in conjunction with German universities usually offers some summer internships. Please see an undergraduate advisor in the department office about these opportunities.

Students who choose to study Dutch may study abroad in Amsterdam through the IES, or attend one of SIT Netherlands’ semester or summer programs, for example "Human Traffic, Sex Trade, and Modern Slavery in Europe," or “International Perspective on Sexuality and Gender,” or exchange programs also are offered at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the University of Groningen, and the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Most courses are offered in English but students can study Dutch and even German. Students in economics and/or communication studies may take courses in English at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Students can study Russian during summer, semester, or yearlong terms through the RLASP (Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program) while earning credit towards their Carolina degree. UNC–Chapel Hill offers semester and summer programs in Prague, Czech Republic, Dobrovnik, Croatia, and Krakow, Poland, and also a semester program in Budapest, Hungary.

For more information about these and other programs in eastern and central Europe, go to the Study Abroad website. Majors and minors should consult with the director of undergraduate studies or the appropriate undergraduate advisor in advance of going abroad about courses they plan to take for the major or minor.

Opportunities specifically for language studies:

DTCH: SIT Netherlands
CZCH: NCSU Prague semester or summer programs, API Czech Republic, SIT Czech Republic, CET in Prague, Czech Republic
BCS: API Croatia, API Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosovo
PLSH: API Poland
HUNG: API Hungary

Languages across the Curriculum

The Languages across the Curriculum (LAC) Program encourages majors and minors to enroll in one-credit-hour recitation or discussion sections that are conducted in German or another of our languages, often associated with a variety of courses offered in English on a related subject. Each of these discussion and recitation sections counts as one German language credit (in addition to the credit granted for any associated course).

Undergraduate Awards

Membership in the Beta Rho chapter of Delta Phi Alpha, the German honors society, is available to majors and minors who have completed at least six credit hours of coursework at the 300 level or above, that was conducted in the German language, and who have maintained high cumulative grade point averages and high grade point averages in the major.

The department selects annually one outstanding graduating senior majoring in German to receive the Undergraduate Ria Stambaugh Award for Excellence in German, a monetary award that is presented at the Chancellor’s Awards Ceremony each spring. Ria Stambaugh was a popular professor of German. After her death in 1984 her sister, friends, and colleagues contributed to a memorial fund to establish the Ria Stambaugh Awards. The undergraduate award was first presented in 1987.

Established in 1999, the Paul Debreczeny Prize is awarded each spring to a graduating senior whose work in Slavic languages and literatures has been judged outstanding. This monetary prize honors one of the founding faculty members of the program in Slavic languages and literatures.

Undergraduate Research

In addition to honors thesis work, students are encouraged to work on course-complementary or independent research projects with department faculty. Funding may be available through the Office of Undergraduate Research.