University of Montana Russian Program

What a marvelous day! We are so proud of our graduates—for pursuing a challenging discipline like Russian, for taking on leadership roles in Russian Club, for applying to (and winning!) national awards and placement in top tier graduate programs. We have four majors this year, Tatyana and Jack and two who graduated in December, Scout McMahon and Matthew Fassett! We also have six accomplished minors to congratulate, as well! Поздравляем Caeley Hunter, Jake Kahn, Micaela Moe, Ro O’Mary, Katya Potkonjak, and Maxwell Woodcock! Keep in touch, ребята!

It’s the last day of the semester!
Congratulations to all of our students on a year of both successes and pushing through hardships.
This photo exemplifies what we love about our program— our students are close knit, creative, and resourceful. To celebrate the end of the year, our second-year language class surprised their professor by dressing like him. IYKYK! Как весело! 💙

A big thanks to our Russian Club leadership this year! Tatyana, Alison, and Rae Lynn hosted weekly conversation tables, organized a potluck and attendance at films (including at the Roxy Theater), developed a great partnership with a local pel’meni business (we ❤️ !), and more. Tatyana is graduating (Ураааа! but also жалько!), but our election results for next year are in and we are excited about what next year will bring! See next photo for the reveal! (Добро пожаловать, Марина! 😉)

This weekend Professor Renner attended the national conference of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages in the wonderful city of New Orleans. In her role as Book Review Editor of the Slavic and East European Journal, she presented on a panel dedicated to academic publishing. Conference highlights included meeting up with one of our former UM Fulbright TAs Ellina Sattarova (now a USC Professor!) and the Director of the study abroad organization SRAS (Renee Stillings).

Professor Walker’s “Last Lecture” through the Mortarboard Society was titled “Corporate Culture, Profit, and the Value of the Humanities.” Thanks to everyone who attended!

Tomorrow evening! Please join us for this prestigious lecture by our own Professor Clint Walker!

This semester we have a Learning Assistant in Russian 102!

Katya Potkonjak is a senior, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Russian and a certificate in Philosophy, Politics, and Law. Katya is in the classroom with us one day a week and also holds office hours where she helps students practice for their oral tests. We are thrilled to have her help and helpful insights!

Спасибо Вам большое, Катя!

On Friday at UM's Global Homecoming celebration the Department of World Languages and Cultures got to celebrate alumna Julie Ammons. A CLS and Fulbright recipient, Julie is now pursuing a PhD in Slavic at the University of Southern California! Congratulations, Yulya!

Drum roll, please…
Two years in a row we’ve had THREE students place in ACTR’s National Post-Secondary Essay Contest!

Fifty-two U.S. universities and colleges and 941 students participated this year. Today we announced and celebrated this year’s recipients in our program. Please help us congratulate these impressive students!

Level Two:
Matthew Fassett: Silver Medal
Ro O’Mary: Honorable Mention

Level Three:
Liam Chandlee: Bronze Medal

Congratulations to Courtney! Since graduating with her degree in Russian in 2020 (with a Minor in European Studies and a Certificate in Global Leadership), she has been winning awards, traveling the world, and making the world a better place. Give this article a read to find out the fascinating details!