• Samantha Williams, posing in front of a ship in Russia
    Alumni Updates
    By Alexandra Stepanov, AC Study and Research Abroad

    The Teacher Becomes the Student

    Almost all of the students who packed their bags for American Councils’ Politics and Public Diplomacy in Contemporary Russia program in 2018 were just that: students. All except Samantha Williams. Unlike the rest of her cohort, Ms. Williams was used to grading finals rather than studying for them.
  • Thomas Burns, seated on a staircase, hands folded, looking at the camera
    Alumni Updates
    By Thomas Burns, RLASP alumnus

    Perspective: Thomas in Russia

     In 1996, Thomas Burns decided to take his study of the Russian language to the next level by spending a semester in St. Petersburg and what is now the Russian Language and Area Studies Program. Since then, he's lived and worked in several other countries while building his career as a visual storyteller. Today, he is based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Tanya, headshot, with a seaside background
    Alumni Highlight
    By American Councils Editorial Staff

    An Enduring Friendship Through Exchange

    Caroline and Liza haven’t met yet, but the nearly two-year-olds have been destined for friendship since before they were born. Their moms, Laura Carll and Tatyana Movshevich, have helped them become pen pals, shipping care packages between London and Erie, Pennsylvania. (The toddlers are not yet ready to write their own letters, but they do enjoy remote playdates through video calls.) Nurturing their daughters' friendship was a natural next step for the moms, best friends who have known each other since Ms. Movshevich's high school exchange year in America.  Liza's mom met Caroline’s mom on her first day of high school in 2004, in Blandon, Pennsylvania, shortly after the school assembly that introduced Ms. Movshevich as an exchange student visiting from Russia.
  • Jeff and his friend, Tom, at the Blair House, dressed in suits for the ambassador's farewell gathering
    Across the Globe
    By Jeff Lilley, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation

    AC Insights: From Russia, With Friendship

    When the outgoing Kyrgyz ambassador to the US invited me to join him at his farewell reception in January, I gladly accepted.

  • Veronica Guzman
    Alumni Highlight
    By American Councils Editorial Staff

    Teaching By Example

    Veronica Guzman tells her students that learning a language can open up their worlds to new opportunities. She knows because she’s experienced it. Her first language is Spanish, and she also grew up speaking English. In school, she studied Italian but later switched to Russian because she wanted to further challenge herself.
  • Research Russia
    Announcements
    American Councils Editorial Staff

    Opportunities for Research: Academic Fellowships in Russia

    Provided by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Academic Fellowships in Russia supports US graduate students to conduct on-site research and fieldwork in Russia.