Report: Russian studies in crisis
by Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
In January 2015, ASEEES commissioned a study, with support provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York, to assess the state of the research and graduate training on Russia in US-based academic institutions. The study, carried out from January through April by Professor Ted Gerberat the University of Wisconsin, Madison, included the following components: an institutional survey of 36 US-based universities that provide graduate-level training in Russian studies, an individual survey of 660 researchers who have conducted work on Russia during the last five years, qualitative interviews of nine current and former US government officials and scholars who work in think tanks, foundations, and networks that focus on Russia in Washington DC, and qualitative case studies of four institutions recognized to be among the top centers for graduate training in Russia-related research.
ASEEES thanks Professor Gerber for conducting the study and authoring a thorough and insightful report. ASEEES is grateful to the Carnegie Corporation for the funding support; to Deana Arsenian at CCNY and the project’s Advisory Committee members for guidance, advice, and feedback; to ASEEES members and other individuals who participated in the institutional and individual surveys and who agreed to be interviewed for the qualitative phase of the project; and to the faculty, staff and students at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, ISEEES at UC Berkeley, the REEI at Indiana University, and the Davis Center at Harvard University for participating in the case studies.
EXCERPT FROM THE REPORT: The State of Russian Studies in the United States: AN ASSESSMENT BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR SLAVIC, EAST EUROPEAN, AND EURASIAN STUDIES (ASEEES)
History and Slavic studies are experiencing declines in job opportunities for graduates and shortfalls in funding for grad students. Slavic/Russian language, literature, and/or culture departments contain the most tenure-line faculty working on Russia (161) and they have granted the most PhDs (127) since 2010, an annual average of approximately 25 PhDs awarded per year. However, only one in four of Slavists who received PhDs in the 2010s have tenure line jobs, and only 62% of those who received their PhDs in the 2000s do. There are at least 69 tenure-line history faculty members who specialize on Russia and 66 PhDs granted to historians whose dissertation included at least 25% Russia content since 2010. One third of recently minted history PhDs have tenure-line jobs, but almost 80% of those who received their PhDs in the 2000s do.
