Student Experience

We’ve had a great first two weeks so far! Last week we took a river tour of St. Petersburg and brought along this semester’s group of peer tutors. All of the students were paired with a tutor – it was a great chance to get to know each other in a beautiful setting. This summer’s group is a mix of graduate students and undergraduates; we have sixteen students studying in St. Petersburg right now. Now that everyone has settled into their host-families and classes, we will start exploring the city in earnest and getting involved in extracurricular activities. Some students have already tried out the local youth dance club and visited the Russian Museum. This week we will be going to see a ballet – Sleeping Beauty and visiting the Russian Political History Museum.

Nathan Cox, St. Petersburg

Here are some highlights, the news from the swamp.

Last month a group of students accompanied Alex Nemchonok to Pskov where he and his ultimate frisbee team from St. Pete went on to take 3rd place out of 12 teams in a regional tournament.

Meanwhile, Julianna Bores gave a presentation for UNESCO on a report she compiled from a published work on the state of education in Russia and several of the former Soviet Republics. Her thirty-minute presentation to a group of UNESCO and university representatives constituted the culmination of several months of preparation, including the compilation of the report from a general UNESCO report in English, the translation of the report into Russian, and the presentation. Her work may be published by the university and has already been noted online.

In other news, with the help of the assistant resident director, Alec Luhn, a journalism major, secured an internship at the St. Petersburg Times, for which he's now written several special reports on exhibits around the city, including one on representations of Lenin at the political history museum, frequent news briefs and restaurant reviews.

In the realm of studies, five students presented abstracts of their term papers to an audience of students and teachers as part of a university-wide student research conference. Some topics included insights on the LGBT community in Russia and the state of its civil liberties; shifting perspectives and significance of the parade of victory, a memorial to those who fought in WWII and a decidedly Soviet demonstration that perhaps has taken on more meaning since Putin came to power; the life and times of rock samizdat' in the seventies and eighties; and a comparative analysis of Chekhov's short story "Lady with a Dog" and Maupassant's "Mademoiselle Perle."

Finally, to the kids. Following Cecilia Leugers's initiative, many Spring 2009 students have attended a class of fifth graders who study English to give them opportunities to put theory to practice. While Bridgett Balliett and Andrew Remley have made themselves weekly available to children, ages 3 to 9, at an orphanage on Vasilievsky Island, where they play games with the kids, take them on walks, and excuse themselves at the end of the day for having to go and not being able to take the kids with them.

Nathan Cox, St. Petersburg

On Friday, March 27th, my students and I explored a new project outside of Moscow. It was by far one of the best excursions we have ever been on! A totally interactive approach to giving the tours made learning fun and easy...I have never seen a group (the entire group) as excited about what was taking place. Everyone loved it. On of the students said, "This is the best day I have had in Russia so far".

Another student, Annabel Lee has even written an article about it for the Moscow Times. Check it out!

Annabel's Article

Jon Smith, Moscow