In addition to its in-person Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Armenia and Kazakhstan, American Councils is pleased to offer RLASP coursework by way of distance learning. Participants attend daily, remote language instruction, meet with virtual conversation partners, and take part in a variety of virtual cultural activities. The semester program is available on a part-time or full-time track; the summer program is available for full-time only.

About The Program

RLASP serves both graduate and undergraduate students as well as working professionals. The online program provides in-class instruction in Russian grammar, phonetics, conversation, and cultural studies conducted by faculty who are native speakers of Russian.

Academics and Courses

The academic program features daily online (synchronous and asynchronous) instruction that focuses on developing language skills in speaking, reading, listening, grammar, and writing, and through regional studies coursework on history and culture. Participants also complete regular assignments outside of class that expand upon the activities covered in online classes.

Summer Program

Live instruction is approximately 12 academic hours per week, with class sizes of two to six students depending on language level. Participants can expect at least two hours per day of synchronous instruction conducted Monday through Friday. Additional academic hours per week will be delivered in an asynchronous (recorded) format. 

American Councils will administer pre- and post-program testing with an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to measure participants’ language gains.

Upon successful completion of the summer online program, participants will receive academic credit equivalent to 8 undergraduate credit hours or 10 graduate credit hours from Bryn Mawr College as follows:

RUSS 320 Advanced Conversation (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 515 Advanced Conversation (for graduate students)

RUSS 330 Advanced Grammar (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 525 Advanced Grammar (for graduate students)

Semester, Full-Time Program

Live instruction is approximately 14 academic hours per week for the full-time program. Class sizes range from two to six students depending on language level. Participants can expect at least two hours per day of synchronous instruction conducted Monday through Friday. Additional academic hours per week will be delivered in an asynchronous (recorded) format.

American Councils will administer pre- and post-program testing with an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to measure participants’ language gains.

Upon successful completion of the online program, participants will receive academic credit equivalent to 16 undergraduate credit hours or 15 graduate credit hours from Bryn Mawr College as follows:

RUSS 360 Advanced Grammar and Lexical Study (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 560 Advanced Grammar and Lexical Study (for graduate students)

RUSS 328 Russian Culture and Society (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 528 Russian Culture and Society (for graduate students)

HIST 324 Modern Russia (for undergraduate students)
HIST 524 Modern Russia (for graduate students)

Semester, Part-Time Program

Live instruction is approximately 6 academic hours per week for the part-time program. Class sizes range from two to six students depending on language level. Participants can expect each class session to meet for at least one hour in length and not to exceed two hours in a session. Additional academic hours per week will be delivered in an asynchronous (recorded) format. The total number of live instruction hours will be 84 hours throughout the semester.

American Councils will administer pre- and post-program testing with an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to measure participants’ language gains.

Upon successful completion of the online program, participants will receive academic credit equivalent to 8 undergraduate credit hours or 10 graduate credit hours from Bryn Mawr College as follows:

RUSS 360 Advanced Grammar and Lexical Study (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 560 Advanced Grammar and Lexical Study (for graduate students)

RUSS 328 Russian Culture and Society (for undergraduate students)
RUSS 528 Russian Culture and Society (for graduate students)

Conversation Partners

To provide opportunities for informal Russian language practice and connections with locals, participants are paired with host country conversation partners. Participants and their conversation partners meet remotely for approximately an hour every week to provide additional contact hours in Russian throughout the program.

Cultural Activities

American Councils will arrange virtual cultural activities and excursions to places of historical and cultural importance. The virtual activities and excursions are conducted in Russian by local alumni and staff, who share different aspects of local culture or traditions in order to increase cultural understanding on a local level.

Past virtual activities and excursions include virtual host family visits, virtual tours of city sights and local museums, cooking lessons, music and dance lessons, virtual holiday celebrations, discussion groups with local students.

Class Schedule

Live classes will be scheduled Monday through Friday, ranging from 1 to three academic hours per day. Classes take place between 11 am and 3 pm E.S.T. Daily schedule varies based on group placement and teacher availability.

Financial Aid

American Councils has several scholarships available for students applying to the RLASP Online program. Applicants can apply for financial aid in the program application. Learn more about financial aid available on this program.

Featured scholarship: Fulbright-Hays Fellowship

Program Snapshot

Program Focus

Intensive Russian language study and cultural immersion; area studies

Language of Instruction

Russian

Program Format

Online

Program Dates

Spring 2024
January 23 - May 12, 2024

Summer 2024
June 12 - August 4, 2024

Fall 2024
September 4 - December 15, 2024

Program Cost

Summer: $4,100
Semester, Part-Time: $4,100
Semester, Full-Time: $8,100

Applications Deadlines

Summer 2024: May 1, 2024
Fall 2024: July 1, 2024

Program Eligibility

• At least two semesters of college-level Russian language instruction or the equivalent

• Minimum GPA of 2.7

• Applicants must be at least 18 years old by the application deadline