I’m also thinking about taking Slavic languages and I’d like to know which schools have the best such programs. They can be any school but I again prefer they be in the Big 10 or Pac-12.
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Wisconsin
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Wisconsin and UCLA are the only Big 10 and Pac-12 universities with Russian flagship programs.
http://flagship.americancouncils.org/russian/?q=content/domestic-flagship-programs
As a plus for students studying Russian at UCLA, WeHo claims to have [“the most concentrated Russian-speaking region in the US outside of New York.”](http://www.weho.org/residents/russian-speaking-community)
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U Chicago.
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For more info about the language flagship program:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/09/10/flagship
Russian is currently the only Slavic language in the flagship program. The only other schools for Russian in the program (besides UCLA and Wisconsin) are Bryn Mawr (including Haverford and Swarthmore) and Portland State.
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U Toronto has programs in ten Slavic languages, plus Slavic Linguistics.
http://sites.utoronto.ca/slavic/programs/program_index.html
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What about Middlebury? I haven’t looked, but it’s famous for its Foregin Language program. Bates offers Russian, but not the others. Dickinson has a decent language program. There are probsbly quite a few LACs that offer Russian, but the others might be more difficult to find.
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Middlebury is good for the languages it offers, but like most LACs, those are extremely limited – currently 10 modern languages and 2 ancient languages. Polish is not among them. It does offer Japanese and Russian, OP’s other interests.
That said, I’m not sure whether a small LAC in rural Vermont is a good fit for someone looking for a bustling Big 10 or Pac-12 university.
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Check out University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
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While Wisconsin and UCLA have Russian Flagship programs, there is a wealth of good Slavic programs among the Big 10 and Pac 12 universities. Others would include Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Berkeley, and Washington.
You also could look at Illinois at Chicago which also includes Baltic languages in its program. While it has a large number of commuters, the surrounding area might appeal to someone who really likes urban campuses and there is a large Polish-speaking population in Chicago (along with Lithuanian and Ukrainian speakers as well). While it’s not a Big 10 school, U Kansas might be worth a look, too.
“Russia Direct” did a ranking of Russian Studies M.A. programs in 2015 (for some reason, UCLA didn’t get included in the ranking), and its report might be worth a look (http://www.russia-direct.org/search/node?keys=ranking+russian+studies&x=0&y=0).
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The University of Michigan has a wealth of offerings in Russian and Polish language/studies.
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I know someone who left Bates because she started Russian there and loved it, but their program didn’t go far enough, so you should definitely look at this carefully. It is one thing to offer a language - it is another to offer enough courses for someone to really get immersed in it.
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Although Cornell isn’t listed on the above list under New York, I took Polish there. I think however, they offered it at students’ request. You had to have so many kids interested in a language, and then they would find someone in the community who was qualified to teach. I think on our Yale tour, they said the same thing for uncommon languages, as long as you had a group of 3 I think, they would make it happen. I think a lot of universities in larger cities accommodate like this.
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OP is asking for “best programs” which I assume to mean something deeper than just language instruction if you can come up with more than 3 people.
UChicago’s Dept. of Slavic Languages & Literatures covers Polish as well as several other Slavic and East European cultures.
Here’s the full course catalog listing:
https://slavic.uchicago.edu/courses
For Autumn 2017, the online time schedule shows available courses in first year, second year, and third year Polish (although so far, no students are enrolled in the first year course).
UMichigan’s Autumn 2017 schedule also shows available courses in first year, second year, and third year Polish. In addition, a course in fourth year Polish is listed. Some of these may be pending sufficient student interest.
Wisconsin’s Autumn 2017 schedule shows available courses in “third semester” Polish, third year Polish, and fourth year Polish. Maybe no demand yet for first and second year courses next Fall?
I suspect there is very limited undergraduate demand for Polish even at these 3 universities.
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My point is that wherever you end up, at a large university, you can probably take Polish if you find a couple other takers. Even Yale which you would expect serves up nothing but the best and considers itself as having a “best program” operates this way on less popular languages.
Interesting…the OP’s post elicited more replies than one would usually expect for the topic.
Anyway, the OP didn’t provide much information about his/her academic and professional interests in Russian and Polish. For example, is he/she primarily interested in literature/comparative literature, area studies, or linguistics? Does he/she just want to learn these languages for their cultural interest, as a tool for a career interest (journalism, international relations, business), or as preparation for graduate study in Slavic studies or another field? Does he/she want to major in one of them and minor in the other, or major in both? Has he/she previously studied either language or is he/she a heritage speaker of either? Also, does he/she currently reside in particular Big 10 or Pac 12 state whose public university offers a recommended program in these languages?
In addition to whether a department offers a major program in these language with sufficient coursework for 4-5 years of language study, some other factors to consider are those that are relevant for any language program: How many faculty are there for each language? Are some of them native speakers? What are the faculty’s areas of research interest? Are there adequate printed (books, journals, newspapers) and audio-visual resources in these languages in the language lab and library? Is there a Russian student club and a Polish student club and how active are they? Are there language tables? Is there a language dorm or house (Russian)? Are there study abroad programs with adequate support? Are there any language courses for heritage speakers? Are there intensive language courses? Are there summer language programs? Does the department utilize any special language teaching methodologies? Is there a film series in these languages? Are there Russian and Polish speaking populations in a nearby city? How many students major in the department? Do other departments offer relevant supporting coursework (e.g., history, linguistics, folklore, politics/international relations, comparative literature, film, music, etc.)? Is there any coursework offered in translation and interpretation? Is there any special funding for critical languages (Russian) or are there any special scholarships from state-wide or local cultural organizations? Is coursework offered in other relevant languages (e.g., Baltic languages)? Is the department stable (e.g., anticipated or pending organizational changes, funding, faculty positions, number of majors)? Are there any special tracks within the major (e.g., linguistics, area studies)? Apart from special tracks within the major, is there a separate interdisciplinary major or certificate program in Russian & East European Studies? What graduate or career pathways have majors followed in recent years? How easy is it at a particular university to combine a language major with a major outside the liberal arts (e.g., business, journalism)?
For any programs that interest the OP, I would encourage him/her to email the undergrad advisor in the department or arrange an in-person meeting during a campus visit. Most departments will be relatively small and would welcome inquires from prospective majors.
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I agree with @zapfino that the OP should contact individual depts. we just went through this last yr with our Dd. We have been through the college process with her older siblings, but I found foreign languages to be a completely different beast than engineering, math, physics, and health majors. The standards from school to school are all over the place. Some depts just offer what the catalog states. Some depts offer lots of out of classroom experiences (language tables, movie nights, monthly cultural events, etc) You cannot make meaningful comparisons without really talking to every single dept at the schools being considered.
ETA: Also, pay close attention to study abroad options. Those also range wildly. We met with one dept that offered up through grad level courses but had no affiliated study abroad option and had no idea if courses taken through any of the other options would transfer back. Also, pay attention to the destination country for the program’s study.
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You could check offerings at University of Pittsburgh.
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