The war in Ukraine has sparked responses all over the world. That includes here at Indiana University.

The Russian flagship program has been directly impacted by the war, since it will be impossible for students in the program to travel to Russia or Ukraine for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, that doesn’t strip the program of its usefulness. If anything, it seems the program will end up being more relevant than ever. “Russian studies in general across the country was very, I think, under-appreciated in the past several years since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” said Kyle Tucker, IU senior in the flagship program. “It’s nice to know I’m a bit ahead of the curve in that way,” he said of his studies.

The Russian flagship program exists at only seven universities outside of IU, including UW-Madison, Bryn Mawr College, Portland State University, UCLA, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, UNC-Chapel Hill, and the University of Georgia. In the mission statement on their website, the Language Flagship program states that it,  “seeks to graduate students who will take their place among the next generation of global professionals, commanding a superior level of proficiency in one of many languages critical to U.S. competitiveness and security.”

The program director at IU, Dr. Maria Shardakova, feels differently. “This is my fear–that for many years to come this language and culture will be taken only for the purpose of actually defending [the] ‘normal’ world, defending democracies.” Shadakova survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, making her an expert on the subject in both experience and education. Shardakova follows from a long legacy of Russian studies at IU, originally started by president Herman B. Wells.

 

 

Decades before the flagship was introduced at IU in 2018, Wells worked simultaneously at IU and for the United States government in various foreign trade and cultural affairs positions. Wells saw Russia as an adversary for which to base American policy. He gave several speeches from 1958 to 1960 regarding the standard of Russian education compared to that of American education. In his speech at Anderson College during that time, he said, “I think there is little likelihood that the Russian regime will disappear simply because we don’t like it. We therefore must take the steps that are required to meet its challenge.” In a note following that section he suggested a potential solution was to, “get more Russians over here–we can stand comparisons.” More of his speeches can be found here.

Back in the present, a month away from his graduation, Tucker advised future students of the program: “It’s only going to grow in importance, I think…I would still encourage you, of course, to study this language and this region.” The program consists of political science coverage as well as cultural exploration of the language and artworks. “There’s lots of social events that really build a community in the Russian flagship,” he said, emphasizing his appreciation of the personal tutor experience. Each student in the flagship is assigned a personal tutor that they meet with multiple times a week to work on the language together. “It’s really personalized to you,” he said. “Although the commitment is pretty high, obviously the rewards of learning a language, expanding your world view, and getting these really cool opportunities are a massive bonus to the Russian flagship program.”