About us
Russian and East European Studies is a discipline area within the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, one of the best language-based Schools in the UK in both teaching and research. The Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, of which Russian and East European Studies is the core, faciliates collaboration in research, teaching and postgraduate supervision between academic staff across the University with expertise in Russia, other countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern and East Central Europe. The journal Slavonica, devoted to the cultures, languages and histories of Russia and Eastern Europe, is edited here.
One of the oldest departments of this kind in the UK, Russian and East European Studies at Manchester offers students an impressive range of broadly focused, interdisciplinary undergraduate programmes. Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees are available for students with no prior knowledge of Russian, for those who have a good A-level in the language, and also for students with native or near-native Russian language skills. Polish language is taught as an option. In all our degree programmes, the core Modern Languages subjects of language and literature are complemented by offerings in history and sociology as well as the rapidly expanding field of cultural studies (including popular culture). This dynamic, interdisciplinary focus not only reflects the exciting breadth of approaches to studying Russia and Eastern Europe, but it also helps to prepare students for an increasingly wide range of academic and career opportunities.
The broad-based, interdisciplinary MA in Russian and East European Cultures and Societies covers the histories of and cultural, social and political developments in Russia and Eastern Europe. This is one of the very few programmes in Russian and East European studies in the UK that admits students with no prior knowledge of Russian or another East European language and that offers opportunities to acquire such knowledge at the postgraduate level. Excellent resources and supervision on a wide variety of topics are available for postgraduate researchers.