Russian In Georgia
Dates
Applications open January 7 - February 4, 2025
Travel Summer of 2025: May 31 - July 28, 2025
Language
Russian
Area of Focus
Arts & Humanities
Credits
4 Yale credits for First-, Second-, or Third Year of Russian + Culture RUSS S244
2 Yale credits for Advanced Russian RUSS S184 + Culture RUSS S244
Applications
The application will open on January 7, 2025, and the deadline for submission is February 4, 2025.
For more information and to apply go to https://studyabroad.yale.edu/yale-summer
About the program
An intensive summer program abroad featuring language study at the first-year, second-year, third-year, or advanced level of Russian that uses a four-skill approach - reading, writing, listening, and speaking with an emphasis on grammatical structure and communication practice. Students stay with local Russian-speaking families in the main resort city of Georgia on the Black Sea coast, known from Greek mythology as the land of Colchis where the Argonauts traveled for the Golden Fleece. In addition to rigorous language training, it features a rich cultural program that contextualizes Georgia’s historical and contemporary relationship with Russia past and present . Students experience the ancient and modern history of Georgia, its vibrant society, and stunning natural beauty.
The program consists of a three-credit language course (one-credit for RUSS S184) in conjunction with a separate one-credit Culture course (RUSS S244) – Georgia, Russia, and the Caucasus in Literature, Cinema, and Visual Arts – that meets for 90 minutes twice per week. The Culture course is an interdisciplinary exploration of Georgian and Russian cultural history through literature, cinema, and visual arts. Topics include Georgian and Russian cultures in their historical transformations and interrelations, representations of Georgia and the Caucasus in Russian literature, Georgian contributions to world literature and artistic culture, Russian-Georgian literary and visual avant-garde connections, the age of Stalin, and the politics and culture of Soviet and post-Soviet Georgia. The course is also supplemented by 20 hours of Georgian language instruction at the elementary level.
Our hosting institution in Batumi is a private school Euro-2000 that offers instruction in various languages, including Russian. It’s conveniently located in the center of the city close to the Black Sea waterfront and Europe Square.
Budget
Yale Summer Session Programs Abroad updates program budgets in late January.
Trips and Activities
Numerous field trips to important Georgian museums, historical, and natural sites align with the readings and lectures of the Culture class. These trips include a three-night stay in Tbilisi – the country’s capital, a trip to Kutaisi, one of the oldest cities in the world and the capital of the ancient United Kingdom of Georgia, Gelati – an Orthodox monastery of the early 12th century and a religious, cultural, and academic center in West Georgia, the cave city Vardzia – the cultural center of South Georgia in the Golden Age of Queen Tamar and Shota Rustaveli, David-Gareja – a 12th century Christian Orthodox monastery and the cultural center of East Georgia, the Niko Pirosmani Museum in Sighnaghi in the heart of Kakheti, the main wine-region of Georgia, the Vladimir Mayakovsky Museum in Bagdati, his birthplace near Borjomi, the 9th-century city-fortress Akhaltsikhe, a trip to the mountains of Svaneti higher than the Alps, and a visit to the Museum of Joseph Stalin in his birthplace, the town of Gori.
You will receive a tentative schedule of all activities a week before your departure for Georgia. Please note that all excursion plans are subject to change at any time.
Entrance fees to museums and other sites are included in the cost of the program as well as all transportation costs to all program sites.
