Program Requirements

Russian Flagship prerequisite coursework includes first- through fourth-year Russian or the equivalent. These courses can be completed at UW-Madison or elsewhere. (For example, if a student studies Russian in high school and places into second-year Russian, he or she would enroll in Slavic 203 and apply for admission to begin the Russian Flagship Program at that level). Students do not need to complete prerequisite coursework before they apply for admission to the Russian Flagship Program.

The majority of Russian Flagship students begin their study of Russian at UW-Madison and condense the prerequisite coursework into two academic years and two summers: Students complete second-year Russian (Slavic 203-204) during an intensive summer at UW-Madison and fourth-year Russian (Slavic 321-322/465) during an intensive summer study abroad program. Students must complete these prerequisites before enrolling in advanced Russian Flagship coursework.

Please note that Slavic 315-316 can be taken concurrently with either Slavic 275-276 or Slavic 321-465 (during the academic year only).

Students choose one of the following courses:

Tutoring is a critical component of the Russian Flagship Program that provides students with 1-4 hours per week of extra practice and focused, small-group or individualized attention as they progress through the program and work to meet proficiency goals.

Kazakhstan is a multilingual and multiethnic country in which both Russian and Kazakh are widely used, in addition to many other languages, including English. Although Russian is widely spoken in Almaty, the city where the Russian Overseas Flagship (ROF) is located, both Russian and Kazakh are official languages of Kazakhstan, and knowing some basic Kazakh can go a long way in showing respect for and interest in Kazakh culture.
As part of their linguistic and cultural preparation for the ROF, Russian Flagship students must complete a series of introductory, non-credit Kazakh language lessons, and pass the end-of-lesson quizzes, in Salem, Kazakhstan, an online Kazakh language course for Russian Flagship students. Students can also fulfill this requirement by taking Kazakh language courses for credit at UW-Madison and passing the end-of-lesson quizzes in Salem, Kazakhstan. Students must complete this requirement by August 1, before they depart for the ROF.
The required Salem, Kazakhstan lessons are:

• Вводный урок (Introductory lesson)
• Тема 1: Все обо мне (All about me)
• Тема 2: Где я живу (Where I live)
• Тема 3: Едим дома или идем в ресторан? (Do we eat at home or go out to eat?)

A link to the Salem, Kazakhstan course is in the Russian Flagship’s Canvas site. The course is hosted by the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center at the University of Hawai’i.

Students interested in studying Kazakh for credit at any point before the capstone ROF are encouraged to take advantage of one or both of the following opportunities at UW-Madison:

• Kazakh language courses are offered during the academic year through the Department of German, Nordic, & Slavic+. The first course in the sequence, offered in the fall, is GNS 331: First Semester Kazakh, 4 credits.
• Intensive summer instruction in Kazakh, 8 credits, is offered through the Central Eurasian Studies Summer Institute (CESSI).

Students on the ROF take an introductory course in Kazakh in the fall semester. Kazakh language is offered on the ROF in the spring semester as well, as an optional course.

Russian Flagship students must participate in regular assessments of their developing proficiency in Russian, used to determine if students are reaching targeted levels of proficiency, and to identify areas of focus for Russian Flagship tutoring.

To make satisfactory progress in the Russian Flagship, students must:

• Meet proficiency benchmarks and complete course requirements, as specified in their individualized study plan;
• Maintain a GPA of 3.5 in Russian courses, and cumulative GPA of 3.0;
• Enroll in at least 3 credits of Russian each semester;
• Participate in 1-4 hours of tutoring, following program policies and tutoring guidelines;
• Actively participate in Russian Flagship extracurricular activities and other programming for Russian Flagship students;
• Participate in Russian Flagship assessments;
• Create and maintain a profile in the National Security Education Program Student Certification System (SCS).

Students who are not making satisfactory progress will be notified first orally, then, if necessary, in writing. Students who receive a written notice may be placed on probation. Students on probation must meet the terms of the probation to remain a student in the Russian Flagship Program.