As tensions between Russia and the United States continue to deepen, the U.S. State
Department has listed Russian among a group of languages “critical” to American national
security. The U.S. government recognizes the need to train a new generation of Russia
experts to maintain US security goals in the face of Russia’s global use of military
force and disinformation campaigns to advance an anti-democratic agenda. Alumni of
USC’s Russian Program are now serving in the intelligence community, including in
the military. Several of the former Soviet republics—where Russian remains a key common
language—have provided crucial assistance to the U.S. in recent involvements in Central
Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Knowledge of Russian language and culture can lead to interesting job opportunities
in law and business in Russian-speaking countries in Central Asia, the Baltics, and
more. Western businesses, law firms, consulting firms, and banks have hired young
Americans who speak Russian. Experts in international law have played a role in responding
to Russia’s war in Ukraine, even as businesses seek employees who understand the issues
involved in pivoting from work in Russia to Russian-speaking nations formerly in the
Russian orbit. USC graduates are playing a role in this complex area.
Russian scientists, engineers, and other STEM field participants have played a significant
role in their areas of expertise worldwide. The Russian Program is fortunate to be
able to encourage STEM students by offering awards from the prestigious Ludmilla Ignatiev
Callaham Fund for Russian Language and Scientific Study (see below).
Try to imagine world culture without Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy's War and Peace, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, the paintings of Chagall and Kandinsky, the pioneering cinematographic techniques
of Sergei Eisenstein, or the Russian ballet. Russian is the language of Empress Catherine
the Great, Czar Nicholas II, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, Rasputin, Stalin, and Putin. It
is also the language of some of the top athletes in the NHL and the world of figure
skating. The Russophone world is larger than Russia itself, and many significant cultural
figures in the larger region have written significant works in Russian. Read classics
in the original, learn about the cultural context of your favorite book or movie,
or add a new dimension to your enjoyment of such American film classics as Air Force One, Dr. Strangelove, The Hunt for Red October, and many of the James Bond movies! Can Sean Connery really speak Russian?
Russian Program graduates number among the most impressive at the university. Recipients
of major national fellowships, such as the Critical Language Scholarship, Boren, Fulbright,
Marshall, and Udall, they have gone on to exciting post-graduate opportunities, from
graduate school at institutions such as Georgetown University, George Washington University,
and Columbia University, to jobs all over the globe. USC Russian Program graduates
have found employment in government service, the military, business, law, journalism,
the Peace Corps, and education,. Especially in the light of recent world events,
demand for qualified Russian-language experts to fill national security jobs has been
greater than the pool of available applicants. Combining a Russian major with International
Relations, Cybersecurity, Economics, International Business, or Global Studies, among
others, can prepare students well for these opportunities.