Center for Slavic and East European Studies

Founded in 1965 by Professor Leon Twarog as a United States Department of Education-funded (Title VI) Comprehensive National Resource Center based at the Ohio State University (OSU), the Center for Slavic and East European Studies (CSEES) promotes the study of Russia; South, Central and Eastern Europe; Central Asia; and the Caucasus. CSEES' overall goal is to promote the study, knowledge, and teaching of these regions and their languages at the Ohio State University, in the state of Ohio, in the Midwest, and beyond. In addition to fostering Russian, East European and Eurasian (REE&E) area and language studies at OSU, CSEES hosts numerous nationally-recognized conferences throughout the year and offers an outreach program that extends throughout the state of Ohio and the Midwest.

At OSU, CSEES develops new courses and funds existing classes, sponsors lectures, administers a Slavic and East European studies MA program and a dual MA (CSEES and Glenn School of Public Affairs), supervises exchange programs with foreign universities, provides monies for library acquisitions, awards Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships to OSU graduate and undergraduate students, assists a variety of departments and colleges in furthering the study of the region in numerous ways, and maintains a large video library. CSEES' outreach beyond OSU includes annual academic conferences, K-12 teacher workshops and institutes, guest lectures at local schools, business seminars, area studies conferences, video loans, weekly calendar emails and a Center newsletter.

REE&E area studies at OSU is facilitated by the presence of approximately 80 area specialist faculty members who teach nearly 400 different courses in REE&E languages and area studies. OSU currently offers instruction in eleven REE&E languages: Czech, Georgian, Hungarian, Modern Greek, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Uzbek, and Yiddish. Occasional language offerings include Albanian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian.

The Center for Slavic and East European Studies is a unit under the Office of International Affairs, which is a part of the Office of Academic Affairs.