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The largest nation on earth, Russia spans 11 time zones and two continents. While the cosmopolitan cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow look westward toward Europe, Russia’s far east maintains close cultural and economic ties with Asia. Throughout this expanse, modern Russia’s ethnic, social, and cultural minorities are finding new voices, thanks in part to the drastic political, economic, and social changes of the last decade.

With bases in St. Petersburg and the beautiful Siberian city of Irkutsk, this program offers an unparalleled opportunity to examine Russia’s diversity as it is evolving and changing. Your classes in contemporary Russian society are complemented by homestays with families of diverse ethnic backgrounds (in both St. Petersburg and Irkutsk, as well as in rural Siberia). The program also facilitates profound encounters that include rural and urban, east and west, old and young. Opportunities to interact with Russia’s isolated and often overlooked communities, including nomads near the Mongolian border and monks at rejuvenated Buddhist monasteries, increase your understanding of the cultural microcosms that make up this vast nation.

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Photos by Heidi Fischer