Utah Valley University (UVU) recently received a $220,582 grant from the U.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) that will provide scholarships for language and diplomacy as well as support for a public lecture series on civil society in Russia.
This grant, the second awarded to UVU by USRF, provides continued funding for the accelerated Russian language program and travel money to visit the United Nations to meet with Russian and Russian-speaking government officials.
The grant was awarded to UVU’s Department of Languages and Cultures to expand its accelerated Russian language program, enabling students to complete four semesters of language training in just two semesters. The trip to the United Nations focuses on foreign policy, diplomacy, civil society, history, and political science, offering students a chance to graduate earlier while gaining critical expertise.
Thanks to the grant, 15 students will have the opportunity for academic credit to visit the United Nations in New York City in spring 2026 and spring 2027 to meet with Russian-speaking representatives, including many of the former Soviet Republics. The trip will include accelerated Russian language students and others as part of the course “The Cold War: Culture and Politics,” offered each spring semester for students of Russian studies, integrated studies, and national security studies. This opportunity will enhance UVU students’ understanding of existing diplomatic, governmental, and business connections.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the untimely death of Alexei Navalny, and the decline of Russian civil society, direct exchanges with Russian academic, cultural, and business entities are limited. This shift has created an urgent demand for expertise in the Russian language, diplomacy, national security, and cultural knowledge within the U.S. federal government.
In response, UVU’s Russian Studies Program partnered with the university’s national security studies and homeland security programs to provide graduates with additional career opportunities.
“The accelerated Russian language program was strategically created to partner and work more closely with national security studies and homeland security studies to give our students additional career opportunities in the state department, diplomatic relations, federal government, and security services,” said Frederick H. White, Ph.D., professor of Russian and integrated studies and fellow of the UVU Center for National Security Studies. “To become part of the next generation of Russia experts, students must engage in studies to develop knowledge of Russia and its surrounding region to fill critical roles in government.”
In addition, the grant will fund a public speaker series about pro-democracy candidates inside and outside of Russia to discuss opposition efforts and the re-establishment of civil society in Russia. Program leaders will work with Oleg Troyanovsky of the Baltic Center to invite leading figures who can address general audiences in English. It will allow students to see diplomacy in action and understand foreign policy issues that challenge the U.S.-Russia relationship.
For more information about UVU’s Russian studies program, visit www.uvu.edu/lang/russian/.
Since 2008, The U.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) has supported the building blocks of democracy in Russia, including rule of law, freedom of information, and free enterprise.
The Foundation is the legacy organization of the U.S. Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF), a $329 million 501(c)(4) organization founded by the U.S. Government under the Support for Eastern European Democracy Act of 1989 and the Freedom Support Act of 1992. USRF works in partnership with the U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which was assigned to oversee congressional appropriations to the Fund.
USRF makes grants in three main areas, Media & Free Enterprise, Rule of Law, and Civil Society & Expertise.
