University Hosts Faculty from Across the Northeast at a Conference Examining the Importance of a Workforce Proficient in World Languages

Over the past several years, the federal government, along with employers in the private sector, have identified a need for college graduates who are proficient in Russian and other languages of Eurasia. There are jobs to fill and exciting careers paths for graduates to pursue – immediately. But, at the same time, interest among high school students to pursue languages in college has been waning.

So faculty and staff at Yale University’s MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies decided to create a network of faculty and staff from around the Northeast who would work together to reinvigorate student interest and share innovative curricular ideas and resources to bolster programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in order to meet the needs of an ever-evolving workforce.

Daria Kirjanov-Mueller, Ph.D., practitioner in residence in the University of New Haven’s Department of Human Sciences - Modern Languages was involved from the very start, and the two universities quickly developed a partnership, she said. Dr. Kirjanov-Mueller earned her doctorate at Yale, had attended workshops subsequently, and knew how much each institution had to gain by joining forces.

‘A real win-win for faculty and for students’

Yale University received a generous external grant, which helped to establish the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Northeast Network (REEESNe), with centers, programs, departments, and/or individuals at more than 90 colleges and universities from the Northeast and beyond, including the University of New Haven, Harvard, Amherst, the University of Pittsburgh, Colgate University, New York University, Connecticut College, and Princeton.

“I could see how this collaboration would be – and has been – a win-win for faculty, administrators, and students,” Dr. Kirjanov-Mueller said.

In the Fall, the University of New Haven co-hosted a REEESNe Faculty and Administrator Workshop, which was extremely well received, she said. Panelists discussed ways colleges and universities could build connections with local high schools, showing students that learning a language or a particular country's history and culture can lead to purposeful and exciting careers.

The University of New Haven and other REEESNe members will work with Yale on an extension of the original grant so that the collaborations will continue as will annual student conferences where undergraduate and graduate students present research, network, and share internship and cultural immersion experiences.

The University of New Haven’s partnership with Yale University echoes the robust cross-disciplinary collaboration that exists within the University of New Haven’s faculty, Dr. Kirjanov-Mueller said.

She works closely with University of New Haven professors Bradley Woodworth, Ph.D., professor of history who is also Yale’s Program Manager of Baltic Studies; Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., associate professor of national security/homeland security; and Howard Stoffer, Ph.D., professor of international affairs. Dr. Woodworth chairs the University’s new minor in Ukraine, Russia & Eurasia Studies. The University also offers a Russian Language and Culture Area Studies minor.

Professors Woodworth, Schmidt, Stoffer, and Kirjanov-Mueller all presented talks on “Diversification and Recruitment Practices in History, International Affairs, and Related Social Studies/Social Sciences” on the second day of the REEESNe workshop at Yale.

While many students of REEESNe member universities are liberal arts majors, “our university is an outlier in the best sense,” Dr. Kirjanov-Mueller said. “Our students who study Russian are national security majors and criminal justice majors, as well as majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, who want to pursue careers in homeland security, political analysis, cybersecurity, and many other areas in the federal government and private sector. In areas such as cyber security, for example, the opportunities are tremendous because the dark net is written largely in Russian.”

She said faculty from many other universities were interested in finding out how the University prepares students in languages as they head into professional careers in law enforcement and public safety.

‘I was very proud to show them all that we are doing here’

Dr. Kirjanov-Mueller said it’s vitally important that students become proficient in languages as well as in cultural context and history. She said students need to understand that Russian speakers represent a very diverse group of people and viewpoints. At the conference, she spoke about how students in her class learn to converse in Russian, and they each follow a Russian speaker on social media. They go on to read Russian news headlines and stories as “many of these students will be tasked with analyzing and translating important articles or documents.”

She said students minoring in Russian at the University of New Haven have interned at think tanks and with the FBI and Secret Service, and they have received prestigious fellowships.

“I was very proud to show the other universities that we are doing something different and to show them all what we are doing here,” she said. “We were integrating and finding mutual connections with other schools. It’s so exciting to be part of this coalition and to see all that is possible in the future.”