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- Utah Valley University received a $220,000-plus grant to boost interest in U.S.-Russia relations.
- The program includes Russian language classes, cultural studies and meetings with diplomats.
- UVU aims to prepare students for jobs amid increasing demand for Russian expertise.
OREM — If anyone is looking for an expert on U.S.-Russia relations anytime soon, they will have to go to Orem.
Utah Valley University has received a $220,000-plus grant to create a program to increase student interest in U.S.-Russia relations and educate people who will one day be experts on the topic.
With the help of this U.S. Russia Foundation grant, students will take classes on the Cold War, Vladimir Putin's Russia, and others on Russian cultures, as well as take accelerated Russian language classes. They will also meet with Russian diplomats at the United Nations and hear lectures from current experts in the field.
Based on all that they learn, these students will have a leg up on finding jobs in Washington, D.C.
"The state Legislature keeps asking us at universities and wants us to think, 'How will this get you a job?'" said Frederick H. White, professor of Russian and integrated studies at UVU. "Yes, this program will help you get a job at the State Department, CIA, defense, anywhere in Washington. Being able to speak Russian and know about Russia will be a major advantage."
That is especially the case given the present political climate toward Russia in and outside of the United States. For years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nation's focus in the Department of Homeland Security and other Washington agencies was on teaching people Arabic, as well as what has been called Middle Eastern area studies, an interdisciplinary focus on the people and places in the Middle East.
With Russia's war with Ukraine, the need for Russian speakers and those with a greater understanding of Russia and her people has also increased, according to the Department of State. Diplomats, policymakers, journalists, and cultural studies professors are and will be needed based on job announcements for government jobs in Russia.
The U.S. Russia Foundations works to foster free enterprise and democracy in Russia while working with colleges and universities to engage students in the subject of Russia area studies and teach them the language. The traditional winners of their grants have been the elite private universities on the East Coast and the large public institutions out West, not a commuter school in Utah County with 46,000 students, at last count.
It is a source of pride for UVU that it has received support to prepare the next generation of U.S.-Russia experts, not BYU or the University of Utah. As the judges said, the structure at UVU and the potential for student participation are great for this program.
The presence and strength of UVU's national security studies program was a feather in the school's cap when applying for the funding. As well as the general desire to introduce Russia to a population of students who did not experience duck-and-cover drills or even have an understanding of the Berlin Wall, UVU faculty applied for the grant under the encouragement of the school's president, Astrid S. Tuminez. She studied and wrote academically about Russia and believed the program could interest students.
The $220,000-plus grant will not be able to cover every expense needed to create and expand a new academic program. There is currently no Russian major at the university, and Russian classes have been organized to allow for at least an advanced understanding of the language. Financial support will come from the community, as well as the growth in awareness on how to get things rolling.
"We don't have a lot of donors like BYU ... but we're the most dynamic program in the valley and Utah, really," White said. "We have a lot of students with interest in CIA, cybersecurity, FBI ... the valley is filling up with many of these jobs, so people can apply, and we can get them started fall 2025."
