ACTR and their program in Moscow

[Francoise Rosset]

On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 00:03:34 +0300
  "Dustin H." <iamlearningenglish at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Dear SEELANGers,
> 
> I am not exactly sure how to address it, so I wanted to discuss it 
>in the
> open 

Fair enough, but then please don't appear to insult the people who
responded to your post by reducing our responses to claims that ACTR
is "flawless" -- which nobody claimed, -- or dismissing us as ancients
who went "15-20 years ago."  At least two of your responders 
identified
themselves as recent participants. I went in 2002, a good friend of 
mine
in 2003, and my best student in spring 2007. Is that recent enough ???
We all had experiences that were hardly flawless but nevertheless
great.

> I have several acquaintanes, friends, and colleagues who have dealt 
>with ACTR from within the past few years up until the present.
  
You don't say whether you've been yourself. Are you speaking
only for others, and in what capacity? Of course you can air this
on SEELangs, but why shouldn't you address your comments
to ACTR directly?

> 1) Why were students told to take a long Thanksgiving break, but not 
>told
> until approximately one week before Thanksgiving that their visas 
>would have
> to be extended (or renewed?) and therefore they would not have their
> passports, which are necessary for travel within Russia?

Some of this may very well depend on the Russian end of things,
and visa bureaucracy is notoriously haphazard. (As a one-time
foreign student in the US, I can tell you hair-raising stories about
the American visa people ...!). Students should expect such problems
to arise, even unexpectedly.
But yes, ACTR should address this issue and respond.

> 2) Why were students told that they could audit courses with Russian
> university students, but at the same time the students were not 
>given information on exactly how to do this?

Because if they audit courses they are being treated like Russian
students, who do have to do the legwork themselves. The resident
director is usually better equipped to handle the standard
ACTR program offerings. A student who is planning to audit
courses directly should probably (1) find out about procedures
beforehand, from the US office; (2) ask their instructors for
hints or help, which the instructors may or may not be able to
provide; (3) ask Russian students they've met and (4) expect
that this might -- or might not -- be a considerably more
frustrating process than in the U.S.; American universities
have turned registration into "matriculating for dummies."
By the way, OUR group had a terrific RD who had been living
in Russia, knew absolutely everything and took no prisoners,
but not every one will get that.
  
(I have no information on job applications).

I do know that one frustration for the Faculty-Grad student
summer programs was the uneven quality of the homestays.
My student, however, got a terrific family four blocks from
Dvortsovaia ploshchad'.

I think people were trying to make the point that sending
out the word that ALL is wrong in ACTR-land, perhaps
based on second-hand information, is fine but completely
ignores the good the organization has done or is doing.
At any rate, you need to address these concerns to ACTR
as well, and they need to come from your informants too.

Great tag line!
-FR

Francoise Rosset
Russian and Russian Studies
Coordinator, German and Russian
Wheaton College
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
Office: (508) 285-3696
FAX:   (508) 286-3640

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------