Russian Language & Area Studies at St. Olaf

Author: Ashley Morse

  • Foraging Workshop in the St. Olaf Natural Lands

    On Friday, May 8, Tim Clemens from Ironwood Foraging visited St. Olaf to lead a foraging workshop in the natural lands.

    Foraging is an important tradition in much of the Russian-speaking world, and represents an engaging cultural touchstone linking the Russian-speaking world and Minnesota’s own indigenous past. During the foraging workshop, Tim shared the Ojibwe names and explained the various uses of many edible plants native to Minnesota. Prof. Morse and Russian Language Community President, Yasmina Tsedenova (’27) tried their best to come up with the Russian names for related species found in Southern Russia and Central Asia.

    Foraging can be extremely dangerous if undertaken without expert supervision. Never forage on your own!

  • Congratulations, Honors Students!

    Front Row (From Left): Maria Leyva, Emily Kleiber, Cayla Chun, Eliza Putnam. Back Row (From Left): Elle Davis, Maggie Walker, Prof. Morse, Matt Olson, Prof. Dossi. Max Thomas not pictured.

    We congratulate our honors students, Cayla Chun, Eliza Putnam, Elle Davis, Emily Kleiber, Maggie Walker, Maria Leyva, Matt Olson, and Max Thomas, on being initiated into Dobro Slovo, the National Slavic Honors Society.

    Dobro Slovo National Slavic Honors Society, established in 1926 at the University of California at Berkeley, serves as the leading national Slavic honors society for students of Slavic languages in the United States. Dobro Slovo recognizes the hard work and dedication of students, faculty, and universities aimed at the study of Slavic languages and cultures and currently boasts a membership of 6000 members across over 130 universities.

    Congratulations Cayla, Eliza, Elle, Emily, Maggie, Maria, Matt, and Max!

  • Russian Studies Majors Present their Work at Undergraduate Conferences

    Emily Kleiber (’26) and Cayla Chun (’26) presented papers they wrote in Prof. Dossi’s course on Queer Russian Literature (Fall 2026) at national undergraduate conferences.

    Emily presented at the European and Eurasian Undergraduate Research Symposium (Pittsburgh University) and Cayla presented at the 2026 Jordan Center Masters and Undergraduate Research Symposium (NYU).

    Emily and Cayla were also inducted into Dobro Slovo this year. Congratulations, Emily and Cayla — we’re so proud of you!

  • Oles Perform Musical Accompaniment at Screening of Salt for Svenetsia (1930)

    As part of the Muslim in Russian Literature film festival, Emily Kleiber (’26), Shalizeh Takloobighash (’29), Zlata Krutova (’29), Hayden Williams, and Michael Oaks provided live musical accompaniment to Mikhail Kalatozov’s silent film masterpiece, Salt for Svenetsia (1930).

    The film portrays the Svan people living in the mountains of Soviet Georgia, where they have been cut off from the outside world pretty much year round due to harsh winters and dangerous peaks of the mountains. Among many things they lack, salt is the most important. Without salt, their livestock can die and their survival can be at risk. When the Soviet engineers arrive to build a road to connect Svanetia to the lower land, everything changes.

    You can learn more about the film festival here. The RLAS department plans to organize further silent film screenings with live musical accompaniment on an annual basis.

  • The Inaugural Minnesota Collegiate Olympiada of Russian Language

    Around 40 students and faculty from Russian-language programs across Minnesota gathered at St. Olaf for the inaugural Minnesota Collegiate Olympiada of Spoken Russian.

    On Saturday, April 11, St. Olaf hosted the first-ever college-level “Olympiada” or Olympics of Spoken Russian in Minnesota. We invited around 40 students and faculty from the Russian language programs at the University of Minnesota, Macalester, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Carleton).

    Students competed at the first-, second-, and third-year language levels in three different events: the oral interview, poetry recital, and “bilety” or cards, which required them to draw two random topics cards and choose one to speak about.

    Traditional Russian and Central Asian food for the event was provided by .

    Next year’s Olympiada is provisionally scheduled for mid-April and will be hosted by Macalester.

    The Medalists. Front Row (From Left): Taha Alnasser (UMN), First-Year Silver; Liv Whitmore (Macalester), Third-Year+ Gold; Silas Buryak (UMN), Second-Year Silver; Elle Davis (St. Olaf), Third-Year+ Silver. Back Row (From Left): Gaia Miller-Guitton (St. Olaf), First-Year Bronze; Parker Chelikowsky (St. Olaf), First-Year Gold; Franklin Brezee (Gustavus), Second-year Bronze; Paul Murphy (St. Olaf), Second-Year Gold; Charlie Rhodes (Carleton), Third-Year+ Bronze.

  • Dr. Adeeb Khalid Visits St. Olaf

    On March 26, the Russian Language and Area Studies Department invited Dr. Adeeb Khalid to St. Olaf to give a public lecture title “Muslims in/and Russia: Histories of Coexistence and Contention. Dr. Khalid’s lecture was followed by a lively Q & A and dinner.

    Dr. Khalid also gave a guest lecture in Prof. Dossi’s course, “The Muslim in Russian Literature.”

    Support for Dr. Khalid’s visit was provided by the Walter and Betty Stromseth fund for Intercultural and Interreligious Education.

  • Events Marking 4th Year of Russo-Ukrainian War

    Join GOLOS and the Russian Language and Area Studies department (RLAS) next week at one or more of the events marking four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    On Wednesday, we will hold a moment of silence for the victims of the Russo-Ukrainian war in the RLAS department space. In the evening, Anna Kolesnyk (’28) will lead an introduction to the Ukrainian language. Finally, on Sunday, March 1, we will screen a Ukrainian film, titled “Hunt for the Cossack’s Gold” (1993). See posters below for details.

    Links and Online Events:

    United Help Ukraine

    CSIS: Four Years of War in Ukraine (Monday, Feb. 23 3:30pm EST)

    Carnegie: Russia’s War Against Ukraine: Four Years and Counting (Tues, Feb. 24 10:00am EST, Registration Required)

  • Russia beyond Russia: Histories and Cultures of Indigenous North Asia

    Soviet Postcard, 1963. "Yakutia ASSR. Bone Carving: The National Art."

    How do we approach Russia beyond Russian history and culture? In this course we will delve into the rich histories and cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North. We will engage with a wide range of indigenous texts, ranging from picto- and ideographs and autobiographies, to socialist realist novels, and de- and post-colonial works that have survived the crucibles of Russian colonization and Soviet collectivization. In the process, we will learn about the unique historical structures of Russo-Soviet colonization and the ways in which indigenous groups have fought and continue to fight for their autonomy, cultures, and histories. In so doing, we will foreground their stories while at the same time placing their experiences into the context of the broader indigenous world.

    In development. Offered in Asian Studies, cross-listed with RLAS. Upcoming Spring 2027.