New Russian Flagship program at UGA

The power and importance of language skills, from global collaboration and entrepreneurship to defense and diplomatic capabilities, continues to grow and expand at UGA:

The development of global partnerships and a growing Eastern European economy have created an expansion of job opportunities for professionals with Russian language skills in fields ranging from the biological and mathematical sciences to the social sciences and international affairs.

To meet this growing need, a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Security Education Program was recently awarded to the University of Georgia to establish the Russian Domestic Undergraduate Flagship Program. The renewable grant brings more than $275,000 to UGA in the first year and is expected to provide more than $1 million, pending congressional approval, during the first full grant cycle.

The Language Flagship Programs are administered by the Institute of International Education, which oversees several elite grant programs, such as Fulbright. The Language Flagship currently funds 25 Flagship Centers across the country in languages considered vital to national security and to the challenges of a global society, such as environmental degradation, global disease and hunger and economic pressures.

Congratulations to our faculty in the department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and colleagues in the College of Education for their work in establishing the new program. UGA as a Language Flagship Center provides for one of its most important roles for our students and for the world.

Image: Russian Flagship Director Victoria Hasko (center) and Assistant Director Olga Thomason (left) speak with Flagship students at an event sponsored by UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security. (Photo by Kathryn Kao)