Harvard Master's in Regional Studies: REECA

Wed Dec 6 21:45:25 UTC 2006

Harvard Master's Program in Regional Studies:
Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia

Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies 
invites applicants to its two-year, interdisciplinary master's degree 
program in Regional Studies: Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia 
(REECA). Students in the program deepen their knowledge of this world 
region through coursework in such disciplines as history, political 
science, economics, languages, linguistics, and literature, and in 
such professional fields as finance, management, public policy, and 
security studies. Limited financial aid in the form of Harvard grants 
is available to students, regardless of citizenship. Harvard grants, 
which may cover up to full tuition and a modest living stipend, are 
offered at the time of admission and are renewable for a second year. 
We also offer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to 
eligible US citizens and permanent residents. FLAS fellowships are 
awarded annually on a competitive basis and cover full tuition plus a 
living stipend of $15,000.

For admission to the class entering September 2007, applications are 
due on January 2, 2007. We require general GRE scores for all 
applicants; applicants whose native language is other than English 
and who do not hold a degree from an institution at which English is 
the language of instruction must also submit TOEFL scores.

For full details on the program and other resources of the Davis 
Center, please see our web site at 
http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/student_programs/masters.html. 
Interested students are encouraged to contact the Davis Center's 
student programs officer, Donna Griesenbeck 
(griesenb at fas.harvard.edu, tel. 617-495-1194), with any questions.

Profile of Typical REECA Student
As a rule, entering students have taken the equivalent of three or 
more years of college Russian and have spent a summer or a semester 
studying abroad in the region. All students are required to 
demonstrate proficiency in reading Russian before graduation from the 
program. Most REECA students have an undergraduate degree in Russian 
studies, Russian language and literature, history, political science, 
or international studies. Some students have worked one or more years 
in the region before enrolling in the master's program.

Individualized Program of Study
Each student works individually with the REECA academic advisor to 
develop a program of study, taking into account his or her career 
goals, previous training, experience, and academic qualifications. A 
limited enrollment in the program facilitates individual guidance and 
personal attention. We enroll between 8-10 students each year, so 
that we have 16-20 students in residence at any particular time.

Faculty
REECA students may take classes with virtually any member of the 
Harvard faculty whose course offerings relate to their individual 
plan of study. Selected members of the faculty are available as REECA 
thesis supervisors. Davis Center Faculty Associates are listed at 
http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/people/faculty_assoc.html.

Courses and Cross-Registration
Please see 
http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/student_programs/reeca_courses.html 
for course listings and links to Harvard's online course catalog.

REECA students may cross-register for individual courses at other 
Harvard Schools (Business, Design, Divinity, Education, Law, Public 
Health, Kennedy School of Government), the Fletcher School of Law and 
Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology.

Studying Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Most REECA students fulfill their core program requirements with 
courses on Russia, and use elective courses to pursue other regional 
interests. Students who enter the program with an unusually strong 
background in Russian studies may choose to focus primarily on 
another region of the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe.

The Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus 
(http://centasia.fas.harvard.edu), the Ukrainian Research Institute 
(http://www.huri.harvard.edu), the Center for European Studies 
(http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/index.html), and the Kokkalis Program 
on Southeastern and East-Central Europe 
(http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/index.html) are valuable 
resources for students whose interests extend beyond Russia.

Master's Thesis
Since 1993, students in the REECA program have written master's 
theses under the supervision of a faculty member. The thesis is 
intended as the capstone of the two-year program. It is supervised by 
a Harvard faculty member and is based to a significant extent on 
sources in one or more languages of the region. Many students conduct 
in-country thesis research between program years with the help of a 
research travel grant from the Davis Center.

Sample Thesis Topics
"Reconciling Reform with Reality: Enforcement of Intellectual 
Property Rights in Russia"

"Questions of Identity: Islam and Ethnicity in St. Petersburg and Moscow"

"Scaling the East: Orientalism in 19th-Century Russian Music"

"Growing Against the Odds: Russian Small Business Development and the 
Role of External Finance"

"The Re-emergence of Ethnic-Nationalistic Concepts in Modern Russian 
Philosophical and Political Thought"

"The Trials and Tribulations of the Soviet Timur: Historiography, 
Ethnogenesis, and the Scholarly Origins of Uzbekistan's National Hero"

"The Political Economy of Mass Privatization in Kazakhstan"

"Russian Experimental Jury Trials: A Preliminary Examination"

Career Planning and Development
REECA students have full access to the services of Harvard's Office 
of Career Services (http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/index.htm), 
including its career library, counselors, and undergraduate and 
graduate recruiting programs. The REECA Program Office develops and 
maintains area-related career resources and facilitates networking 
with program alumni. Graduates of the program are currently pursuing 
doctoral studies at Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, UC-Berkeley, and 
Trinity University in Dublin. Other program alumni work in 
journalism, NGOs, think tanks, development, diplomacy, consulting, 
law, investment banking, and in the intelligence and military 
communities.

-- 
Donna Griesenbeck
Student Programs Officer
Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies
CGIS South Building
1730 Cambridge Street, Suite 301
Cambridge, MA 02138

Tel. 617.495.1194
Fax 617.495.8319

griesenb at fas.harvard.edu
http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

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