Career Information
Studying REEES will enrich your personal life and open many doors—some of them leading to careers in closely related fields such as academia, diplomacy, or international law, and others seemingly unrelated. Whatever professional direction you eventually decide to pursue, we guarantee that you will develop strengths in the course of your studies that will remain with you for life.
Below you will find a list of some of the skills you will cultivate in your coursework in the department that are highly sought after by employers in a wide range of fields. Lower down, we invite you to browse a collection of links to recent articles that attest to the value of a humanities or foreign language major in general, and to the current demand for specialists on the region in particular.
Benefits of Studying REEES
- Research Skills and Problem Solving: learn to think analytically and creatively, develop research skills, be able to understand information and interpret information critically, have access to new knowledge in other languages besides English
- Communication: communicate effectively and confidently in writing and in person, become aware of socio-linguistic and cultural aspects of language, recognize how language shapes cognition, practice instructional skills by tutoring others, develop skills in translation, editing, and interpreting
- Cross-Cultural Understanding: be able to act with versatility and flexibility, communicate and connect with people of other cultures and nationalities, establish and maintain personal and professional contacts, adapt to new environments, develop awareness of how language preserves history, culture, and traditions
- Attitudes and Habits of Mind: be willing to go outside your comfort zone and develop personal courage, become an effective participant in local and national discussions, develop sensitivity to linguistic and cultural difference, gain new perspectives on your own language, culture and society, cultivate life skills such as memory, diligence, and empathy
Recent Articles on the Benefits of a REEES Major
Why Study REEES?
- Russian Studies is Thriving, not Dying
- Why Study a Less-Commonly Taught Language
- The State of Russian Studies in the United States: An Assessment by the ASEEES
- An Inside Look at the State of Russian Studies in the US
On Foreign Languages and Jobs
- What Business Wants: Language Needs in the 21st Century
- A “Languages for Jobs” Initiative
- Bilingual Jobs: Foreign-Language Careers on Rise
- The International Benefits of Language Education
- Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for US Economic and National Security
- Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World
- Twenty-Five Reasons to Study Foreign Languages
- Language Study in the Age of Globalization: The College-Level Experience
On the Intrinsic Benefits of Foreign Language Study
- New Research Explains Why Moving Abroad is the Best Way to Find Yourself
- Learning a New Language Changes the Way You Perceive Reality
- Learning a Second Language Can Alter Sensory Perception
- How Long to Learn That Language? Here’s a Map for That
- The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual
- The Cognitive Benefits of Foreign Language Learning