Russian and East European StudiesRussian language courses in the heritage track are intended for students who have been exposed to Russian at home or in the community. If you grew up in a Russian-speaking home and speak some Russian, we have a special program for you.
The visualized program structure with information about language requirements is available at: Program Structure.pdf.
The program for heritage speakers consists of the literacy sequence (introductory sequence), where students acquire writing and reading skills with no or little prior experience in reading and writing (RUSS 0201 and 0401). The literacy sequence satisfy the Penn language requirement in only one year.
Students can continue mastering Russian in RUSS 1100–1200, intermediate-level courses, or move directly to the fourth-level courses: REES language courses with odd numbers and RUSS 3670. A placement test is required to determine the individual trajectory. Some heritage speakers are admitted into the fourth-year courses of Russian as a foreign language.
Heritage courses and count towards major, minor, and language certificate in Russian.
First-year courses:
- Russian 0201 (1 c.u.): Elementary Russian I (offered in Fall)
- Russian 0401 (1 c.u.): Elementary Russian II (offered in Spring) *Course fulfills Penn Language Requirement and Wharton Language Requirement
Fourth-year courses:
A variety of fourth-year level (upper intermediate to advanced) courses taught in Russian on topics including Media Russian, Russian for Business and Intrnational Relations, Literature and Cultural History, Soviet and Russian Film, Global Problems, and Folklore and Song are offered in both fall and spring semesters.
