REEI Additional Resources

There is much more to the graduate school experience than simply time in the classroom. Indiana University and REEI offer you a wide array of opportunities to complement traditional academic pursuits with outside experiences that expand your understanding of the area and the world.

Academic Opportunities

Summer Workshop in Slavic, East European and Central Asia Languages (SWSEEL)
Intensive language training has been offered at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University since 1950. Up to 200 students participate each year in the Summer Workshop in Slavic, East European and Central Asian Languages and complete a full year of college language instruction during a single eight-week summer session. A four-week program (one semester) in Russian has recently been added.

The summer workshop uses the resources of IU's own specialists as well as native speakers from other universities and abroad. Languages taught at SWSEEL include Russian (six years), Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian 1-2, Romanian, Kazak, Turkish, Uzbek 1-2, Mongolian, Arabic 1-3, Dari 1-2, Pashto 1-2, Tatar, Uyghur 1-2, and Georgian. Exact course offerings vary each year depending on the results of external funding competitions and minimum enrollment requirements. Current offerings can be viewed on the SWSEEL website.

Graduate students attending SWSEEL are typically eligible for the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) and SSRC fellowships. IU students may be eligible for further support from the university. For more details and application information visit the SWSEEL funding page.

Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI)
Associated with SWSEEL is the Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI), which is held in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Washington. These universities take turns hosting BALSSI in successive years. Languages offered in conjunction with BALSSI include first year Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian. The program also includes a three-credit-hour Baltic Cultures course. BALSSI will be held at IU in Summer 2005.

Graduate students attending BALSSI are typically eligible for the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) and SSRC fellowships. IU students may be eligible for further support from the university. For more details and application information visit the SWSEEL funding page.

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Study Abroad

IU strongly encourages students to study abroad, actively pursues exchange relationships with foreign institutions, and provides numerous avenues for funding and other support. The Office of Overseas Study maintains exchanges with Lajos Kossuth University in Hungary, and Warsaw University in Poland, among others. The REEI advisor is available to assist students in locating and arranging study abroad programs, including arranging IU credit for experiences at other institutions. Opportunities for financial support for study abroad include the Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship, International Enhancement Grants, and federal financial aid.

REEI also encourages students to serve internships either domestically or abroad during their course of study. Internships extend classroom learning while providing concrete experience in the workplace. REEI maintains extensive files on internship opportunities, and the REEI advisor provides personal assistance in locating and designing internships to meet specific student needs.

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Student Resources

Computer Resources at IU
A variety of computer resources are available to IU students on the Bloomington campus; in fact, IU has consistently been ranked as one of the most "wired" universities in the nation. Computer labs are available in almost every building on campus, providing access to both IBM and Mac formats with extensive software and hardware capabilities. Students also have access to computing classes at no charge through the University Information Technology Service (UITS). Courses provided include word processing, electronic mail, spreadsheets, database management, graphics, presentations, desktop publishing, statistics, and browsing and publishing on the Web.

In addition, through an exclusive agreement with Microsoft, IU students are able to purchase the most popular Microsoft products, including operating systems, desktop productivity tools, and infrastructure server and messaging products at nominal cost. Students are also able to upgrade to the latest versions at no additional cost throughout the life of the agreement (June 30, 2002).

Newsletters
REEIfication is a quarterly newsletter published by the REEI. It contains feature articles and other news about issues in the field and the work of our faculty, students and alumni. It has a circulation of 2,000 and is sent to alumni, associates, affiliates and friends of the institute.

E-mail Lists
REEI maintains several e-mail lists, which announce REEI events such as guest lectures and conferences, disseminate information regarding course offerings and important dates, and publish job and internship opportunities of interest to our students and alumni.

Workshops and Conferences
REEI and various other units on campus sponsor workshops and conferences for students and faculty throughout the year. These meetings provide young scholars with opportunities to prepare and present papers and network with other students and faculty. Examples of recent topics are: Polonophobia and Polonophilia of the Russians, Beyond the Shtetl: Yiddish Language and Culture in the 20th Century Eastern Europe, Identity Politics in the Former Soviet Union, and Public Opinion in EU Expansion (2004).

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IU Centers Associated with REEI

Center for Languages of the Central Asian Regions (CeLCAR)
Indiana University's Center for Languages of the Central Asian Regions (CeLCAR) is one of fourteen Title VI Foreign Language Resource Centers in the United States and the only one dedicated to the critical languages of Central Asia (and Afghanistan and Pakistan). CeLCAR is dedicated to promoting the teaching and learning of the languages and cultures of Central Asia through the development of language learning materials (textbooks, workbooks, and multimedia resources), teacher training, distance language courses, and intensive language summer institutes. The less commonly taught languages currently being focused on at CeLCAR are Dari, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Pashto, Tajiki, Turkmen, Uyghur, and Uzbek.

Department of Central Eurasian Studies (CEUS)
The Department of Central Eurasian Studies at IU is unique. The Department is the sole independent degree-granting academic unit in the United States focusing on Central Asia, Mongolia, Tibet, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Estonia, and Finland. Language and other courses taught in Central Eurasian Studies are cross-listed with REEI.

Gyorgy Ranki Hungarian Chair
The establishment of a Chair of Hungarian Studies along with the expansion of the Hungarian language and culture curriculum has greatly enhanced the possibilities for joint study programs between REEI and the Department of Central Eurasian Studies. This link facilitates the participation of REEI students in study and research programs in Hungary. The Hungarian Chair also sponsors annual conferences and publications.

Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC)
The Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center is funded by a Title VI grant from the US Department of Education. It finances research in studies of Central Asia and related areas of Altaic and Uralic language and culture, and supports outreach programs to educate the general public about the region.

The Polish Studies Center
The Polish Studies Center's activities offer IU students opportunities for close, professional working relationships with prominent scholars from Poland, as well as access to an increasing number of IU faculty who have had first-hand experience in Poland. The center also offers special doctoral fellowships on a competitive basis for study or research at Warsaw University. IU and Warsaw University exchange several faculty and graduate research students each year. The program supports an extensive book exchange: since 1977 over 50,000 volumes have been added to each library. The center promotes lectures on topics in Polish studies and offers a weekly Polish conversation hour for those interested in practicing their language skills. The center is also beginning an internship program (Young Professionals Abroad) in Poland for recent graduates of IU's professional schools (Business or SPEA). REEI degree or certificate recipients affiliated with the professional schools may teach aspects of professional fields to Polish students while holding business internships.

West European Studies Center
Indiana University's Center for West European Studies promotes knowledge of Western Europe and the European Union through education, scholarship, and public outreach. Their academic degree programs train specialists committed to strengthening transatlantic ties through careers in public service, business, research, and teaching. Through their flexible degree programs, students have the opportunity to tailor an educational experience to their unique interests and goals. Courses offerings from 20 departments in eight schools and the chance to study any of ten West European Languages ensures that WEST students have the expertise, analytical ability, and communication skills necessary to be an asset to any team. WEST offers two undergraduate minors, a Master's degree, a Ph.D. minor, and the opportunity to earn joint Master's degrees with the prestigious Kelley School of Business (MA/MBA) or renowned School of Public and Environmental Affairs (MA/MPA).

Indiana University Press
The highly respected IU Press boasts one of the most distinguished academic publishing programs in the Russian and East European field. Typically, six to eight new titles in our field are published each year by the press. A key part of this program is the Indiana/Michigan series in Russian and East European Studies.

Slavica Publishers
Slavica is a well-known publisher of scholarly work in the field of Slavic languages and literatures. Its titles range from grammar and dictionaries to linguistics and literary criticism. Slavica also publishes a number of scholarly journals including Kritika and Indiana Slavic Studies.

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Life in Bloomington

Bloomington is a town of 70,000 nestled in the rolling hills and wooded countryside of southern Indiana. It is within commuting distance of Indianapolis and only four to five hours from Chicago and two hours from Louisville. Special attractions include Big Ten sports, a wide variety of international cuisine, and a full array of arts programs including classical music, drama, dance, opera, jazz, folk music, art studios, and galleries. The IU School of Music alone stages almost 1,000 performances a year. Bloomington also hosts the famous Lotus World Music Festival.

Housing
A variety of housing options, on and off campus, are available in Bloomington. Students interested in living on campus should call, write or visit the Halls of Residence. There is a great demand for campus housing. If you want to live in the dormitories or campus apartments, it is recommended that you apply as early as possible. The advantages of on campus housing include a direct connection to the Internet through the university network and free university cable television. Most utilities are also included in the price of rent.
Students interested in living off campus are advised to visit Bloomington personally to find accommodations. For fall leasing it is best to search during late spring. The university owns a number of off campus properties, but the availability of these for fall is usually unknown until late April or early May. For more details contact Halls of Residence, Indiana University Real Estate or the Bloomington Herald-Times.

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