Librarians: CARRAS (Slavic Cataloguer), CARTER (Assistant Slavic Cataloguer), LOWERY (Assistant Slavic Cataloguer), RONDESTVEDT (Slavic Bibliographer)

The Center for Russian and East European Studies (REES) plays a coordinating and facilitating role in the education of graduate students about the people, languages, history and contemporary developments in Eastern Europe and Russia and the other newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Designated as a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education, the Center is led by a Director, an Associate Director who has special responsibility for graduate students, an Assistant Director, and an Outreach Coordinator.

Departments offering programs leading to an MA or PhD degree with a specialization in Russian or East European Studies include Anthropology, Communication, Economics, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Music, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, and Sociology. Students interested in such specialization should register in the appropriate department. Advice on such programs may be sought from REES as well as from departmental advisors. REES offers interdisciplinary graduate programs that may be taken in conjunction with work for a graduate degree, leading to a Certificate of Advanced Study in Soviet, Russian or Eastern European Studies. The Center sponsors graduate Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships supported by the U.S. Department of Education for study during the academic year and at the Slavic department's Summer Language Institute.

Graduate Student Support
Students should apply for financial assistance to their academic department. They will be considered for all appropriate fellowships or assistantships, including any administered by the Center for Russian and East European Studies, such as the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships. Applicants should indicate their interest in Russian and East European Studies in their admission applications to departments. Information concerning government and foundation sources of support for study and dissertation research abroad and for summer language training may be obtained from the REES office.

Certificate Requirements
The certificate programs have three components: language proficiency, approved requisite number of courses, and a research paper.

Language: For Russian Studies, demonstration of proficiency in the Russian language equivalent to three years at the college level is required for the certificate. All students are expected to continue language training for at least one year while enrolled in the program, with the exception of native speakers.

For Eastern European or Soviet Studies, demonstration of proficiency of at least one relevant foreign language of the region equivalent to three years of college-level instruction.

Courses: Six courses or seminars approved for the certificate must be successfully completed. Of these six courses, at least four must be taken in two or more departments other than the student's major department. If REES courses are unavailable in the candidate's department, a different mix of six courses will be required. The student is responsible, in consultation with his/her advisor, for choosing a coherent interdisciplinary combination of courses on the area and for justifying the choice in terms of his/her educational and career interests.

Research: A research paper in Soviet, Russian or Eastern European Studies is required of all candidates for the certificate. Students are expected to use primary resource materials in the relevant language(s) in their research paper. This paper may also be used to fulfill degree requirements. Within these requirements, the individual's program will be worked out in consultation with, and is subject to the approval of, his/her departmental advisor and the REES graduate advisor.

Economic and Political Transition: Faculty from Political Science, Economics, History, Sociology, Anthropology, Education, and Business are currently engaged in studying various aspects of the profound transitions taking place in our world area. These efforts are aided by REES's close working relationship with the University's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, which operates two business education programs in the region. The Center and its four specialists on Balkan history and peoples also sponsor a faculty/graduate student seminar on nationalism.

International Relations of the Region: The complex, changing and important dynamics associated with relations among the states within the region, and their relationship to the rest of the world are the subject of numerous publications, research projects and graduate seminars. The relevant faculty are drawn from several social science departments as well as the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Other Areas of Focus
Slovak Studies: The University houses a unique and active program which offers a variety of language and related courses devoted to Slovak Studies.

Summer Language Institute (SLI): Each summer since 1986, REES and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures have jointly offered intensive language instruction in four levels of Russian and other less commonly taught languages of the region.

REES World Wide Web Page: Developed in 1994 as a site devoted to identifying and linking resources and materials dealing with our region, it has been consistently cited as one of the best quality and most visited sites on the World Wide Web. In May 1996 alone, 137,929 users accessed our Web site (http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/reesweb).

Library Resources
Hillman Library's collection in Russian and East European Studies has grown steadily with the support of University and external funds. Acquisitions in all fields are continually expanded and updated; the collection currently has 211,000 volumes in the languages of the area, plus newspapers and periodicals from or about the region. The collection includes substantial holdings in Polish literature, history and culture, as well as rare books and newspapers, that were formerly housed at Alliance College. The collection is managed by a bibliographer, three full-time catalogers and other part-time specialists. The Slavic bibliographer arranges orientation sessions for classes and individuals. The University of Pittsburgh Press publishes its own special series devoted to the region, and the Center publishes The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies, a scholarly paper series with international distribution.

A special pamphlet on REES and further information about the graduate certificate program may be obtained from: Dr. Bob Donnorummo; University of Pittsburgh; Russian and East European Studies; 4G12 Forbes Quadrangle; Pittsburgh, PA 15260; phone: (412) 648-7403; E-mail: tsarpepe@vms.cis.pitt.edu.

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