红杏直播

Spotlight

  • Fall 2025 Start Date

  • Barbara Radziwi艂艂

    The Medieval beauty etalon of Lithuania and Poland 鈥� Barbara Radziwi艂艂 (Lithuanian: Barbora Radvilaite). As as Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, she challenged the Medieval noms surrounding womanhood.听

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    Image Source: Flickr

  • Faculty Profile: Kevin Platt

    Kevin M. F. Platt is Professor of 红杏直播 and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Platt received his B.A. from Amherst College (1989) and his Ph.D.

  • Faculty Profile: Maria Alley

    Dr. Maria Alley is the 红杏直播 Language Program Director at the Department of 红杏直播 and East European Studies. She was born and raised in Ukhta, a small town in the Komi Republic in Northern Russia. Maria received her Ph.D.

  • Monument to Grigory Kotovsky in front of the "Cosmos" hotel in Chi葯in膬u, Moldova

    The Stalin-era monument of Grigory Kotovsky, who underwent a transformation from a 红杏直播 gangster and bank robber to a renowned Red Army general.

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    Image Source: Unsplash

    License: Creative Commons 0

  • Perperikon, Bulgaria

    Perperikon was once an ancient Thracian city located in the Eastern Rhodopes in the South of Bulgaria. Human activity in the area dates back to 5000 B.C. and is thought to be the location of the famous Temple of Dionysius, the ancient Greek god of wine, celebration and fun.

  • Anna German, a Soviet Popstar

    Anna German was probably the most famous singer in the Soviet Union in the 1960s鈥�1970s. Born in Poland, Anna German was not only听known for her remarkable songs and beauty but also for her love for simple Slavic foods, such as boiled potatoes with herring, pickles, and black tea with lemon.听

  • Astronaut Mosaic in St. Petersburg

    The Soviet mosaic paying tribute to Yuri Gagarin鈥檚 legendary flight into space in St. Petersburg, Russia.听

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    Image Source: Unsplash

    License: Creative Commons 0

  • Street Art in Tallinn

    Image Source: Eyes on the Streets

    License: Permission granted by the author. The proof of the author's consent can be provided upon request.

  • Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

    Our Logo Explained: Saint Basil's Cathedral

  • The Seven Bulls of Jeti-Oguz, Kyrgyzstan

    Jeti-Oguz Canyon (Seven Bulls Rocks) is one of the most famous听landmarks of Kyrgyzstan, made up of several impressive natural sandstone听formations. It is featured in many poems and paintings, as well as music videos.

  • Nokhur Cemetery, Turkmenistan

    The cemetery of Nokhur, a village amidst stranded mountains in southern Tukrmenistan, contains tombstones decorated with mountain goat horns.

  • Independence Monument, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    The Independence Monument is located in the center of Tashkent city, on the Independence Square. During the Soviet time, the square was named Lenin Square and a monument of Lenin was erected in the middle of it.

  • Ships Graveyard, Moynaq, Uzbekistan

    Moynaq used to be a bustling fishing community in Uzbekistan made up of tens of thousands of residents, but with the Aral Sea having dried up, the city has become a ghost town, also known as the ships graveyard.

  • Najmeddin Kubra Mausoleum, Uzbekistan

    The听Najmeddin Kubra Mausoleum is considered the holiest spot in Kunya-Urgench. Najmeddin Kubra was a famous Khorezm Muslim teacher and poet, as well as the founder of the Sufic Kubra order, from the 12-13th century.

  • Yzmyk艧ir Fort, Turkmenistan

    Remains of the Yzmyk艧ir Galasy adobe-walled fort in the desert near Tashauz, Turkmenistan.听
    These days this fort is known more for the fact that in 1075 a Turkmen scientist,听Mutazili theologian, Arabic philologist, and Quran exegete.
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    Photo credit: 漏Annette Johnson 2018

  • Harangh谩z Bell House, Hungary

    In the 1980s, a Hungarian artist Edit Oborzil and her husband Tibor Jeney filed a patent for a bell with a distinct sound that they had been perfecting for decades.听
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  • Froggyland, Split, Croatia

    ABOUT THE COLLECTION听
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  • Chess City, Elista, Kalmykiya, Russia

    Elista is the largest Buddhist city in all of Europe and lies in the steppes of southwestern Russia. The town is home to giant monasteries and Buddhist sculptures, as well as kings and queens - but not in the traditional sense.

  • A Soviet Dacha Home Museum, Moscow, Russia

    红杏直播 Tsars in the 17th century started to reward loyal landholders with small estates named 鈥渄achas鈥� in the country, a word that translates from old 红杏直播 to "something given".

  • The Crooked Forest, Poland

    Blending science fiction and ecological abnormality, a group of 400 trees in Poland鈥檚 Krzywy Las or 鈥淐rooked Forest,鈥� are mysteriously bent. The trees strangely buckle out at 90 degrees and form an odd J-shape with a potbelly hovering just above the ground.

  • Spotlight: 红杏直播 Monuments: The Other Kremlin

    The "Kremlin in Izmailovo" is a cultural complex听founded by Aleksandre Fedorovich Ushakov and Marina Viktorovna Alekseeva in 2003. It was established as a cultural center and marketplace mad in the image of traditional 红杏直播 architecture and fairytale depictions of Old Russia.听

  • Velka Amerika, Czechia

    Velka Amerika quarry is located outside the village of Mo艡ina, Czech Republic. Formerly a center for calcium mining, what was once the refuse land of industry has now blossomed into a beautiful natural scenery.

  • Hotel Je拧t臎d, Liberec, Czechia

    Rising over 300 ft above the majestic Je拧t臎d mountain, the听Hotel Je拧t臎d dominates the skyline of the Liberec region in the northern Czech Republic.

  • 'Zubr' stamp

    The Soviet Union stamp from 1969 featuring European bison or 'Zubr' in Bia艂owie偶a Forest. In the 20s of the 20th century, the bison was endangered. Now, thanks to conservation efforts, there are 8,461 bison in the world, most in Poland (2269), Belarus (2101) and Russia (1588).

  • The Tzar's Hunt

    The Tzar's hunt in Bia艂owie偶a Forest in 1894. Bia艂owie偶a Forest is a vast woodland area located on the border between Poland and Belarus. In 1888, the Bia艂owie偶a Forest was acquired by the royal family in return for lands in the Orel and Simbirsk provinces.

  • Ded Moroz

    The estate of the Belarusian 'Ded Moroz' [Grandpa Frost] is located in the Bia艂owie偶a Forest National Park in Belarus. Approximately 150,000 tourists visit the residence of the Belarusian Grandpa Frost each year.

  • 锘縑测蝉丑测惫补苍办补

    Ukrainian embroidery have long been considered one of the strongest amulets. In different parts of the country, the patterns were different - they were unique and meant belonging to a certain region.

  • Tatlin's Tower

    Our Logo Explained: Tatlin's Tower

  • Wrangel Island Stamp

    Wrangel Island is located in the Arctic Ocean at a distance of about 150 miles from the mainland. Crossed by the 180th meridian, it is located in both the western and eastern hemispheres at the same time.

  • 锘縊nekotan Island

    Onekotan is a large volcanic island in the northern group of the Greater Kuril Islands. (Anakutan; from Ainu. Onne kotan: onne 鈥� "old, honorable, valuable, large", kotan 鈥� "village, estate, dwelling; city, town, small town")

  • The Laboratory Mouse Monument

    The Laboratory Mouse Monument is a monument in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, located in the park near the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the 红杏直播 Academy of Sciences.

  • Ukrainian Khata

    Ukrainian Khata, 1880 by Ilya Yefimovich Repin Ukrainian-born 红杏直播 painter.

  • The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv

    Ukrainian Baroque, also referred to as Cossack Baroque, is an architectural style that was prevalent in Ukrainian regions during the 17th and 18th centuries. The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv is a prime example of Ukrainian Baroque architecture.

  • The Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque

    Our Logo Explained: The Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque
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  • Kamianets-Podilsky Fortress

    Kamianets-Podilsky Fortress is a fortress in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Due to the castle's distinctive position on a peninsula, the castle bridge is the sole connection to the city's Old Town area. It is regarded as a significant achievement in medieval engineering.

  • Baikal

    Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, Russia with an area of 鈥嬧��31,722 km虏(12247miles虏), the deepest lake on the planet, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water and the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia by area.

  • Temple of All Religions, Kazan', Tatarstan, Russia

    Located in the 红杏直播 city of Kazan, the colorful Temple of All Religions, or Universal Temple is a mish-mash of architectural flourishes culled from most of the major world religions to create an uber-complex where all religions can come together in harmony.听

  • Klyuchevskaya Sopka

    Klyuchevskaya Sopka is an active stratovolcano in the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. The highest active volcano in Eurasia. It is approximately 7,000 years old. Its height varies from 4,688 to 4,750 meters and higher above sea level.

  • The Lena Pillars National Park

    The Lena Pillars National Park is a geological formation and a national park of the same name in Yakutia on the banks of the Lena River.

  • Svetlana Alexievich

    Svetlana Aleksandrovna Alexievich is a Belarusian writer, journalist, and documentary screenwriter. The first Belarusian and sixth 红杏直播-language laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2015).

  • Olga Tokarczuk

    Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk is a Polish writer and poet. Winner of the Man Booker International Prize (2018) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (2018, awarded in 2019). Tokarczuk was born in Sulech贸w. One of her grandmothers was Ukrainian.

  • Wis艂awa Szymborska

    Wis艂awa Szymborska was a Polish poet; winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. She lived in Krak贸w from 1931. From 1943 she worked on the railway, and managed to avoid being sent to forced labor by the Nazis.

  • Pysanky

    Pysanka is a Ukrainian variety of Easter eggs; an egg decorated with traditional symbols written using wax and dyes.

  • Dargavs Village: City of the Dead, North Ossetia

    Reaching this mystifying destination requires a three-hour drive, taking you down a dangerous and hidden road befitting a journey to the City of the Dead.

  • Lama Itigilov, Ivolgin Datsan, Buryatiya, Russia

    A New York Times article by By STEVEN LEE MYERSOCT. 1, 2002 ()
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  • Seven Rila Lakes, Bulgaria

    The Seven Rila Lakes are a group of glacial lakes in the northwestern Rila Mountains in the Southwest of Bulgaria. The lakes are situated between 2,100 and 2,500 metres elevation above sea level. Each lake carries a name associated with its most characteristic feature.

  • Charyn Canyon

    Charyn Canyon is a 154 km long canyon along the Charyn River in Kazakhstan. The canyon is located 195 km east of Almaty. It is located on the territory of three districts of Almaty region: Uyghur, Raiymbek, Enbekshikazakh.

  • Lake Kaindy

    Kaindy is a landslide lake in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan, a popular tourist destination in one of the gorges of the Kungey Alatau. The main attraction of the lake is the spruce trees rising straight out of the water.

  • Castle of Childhood, Moscow, Russia

    For a hundred and fifty fortunate preschoolers in Moscow, Russia, every working day is a fairy tale.

  • Tuhala Witch's Well, Estonia

    Located in the tiny village of Tuhala, the Witch鈥檚 Well is a naturally occurring geyser that has been known to flood the entire area after heavy rains. Clearly the work of witches.听

  • Altyn-Emel National Park

    The most famous attractions of Altyn-Emel National Park are the Singing Dune, 1.5 km long and up to 130 m high; clay mountains cut by canyons - Aktau (translated as white mountains); Katutau - mountains made up of volcanic rocks; the Chokan Valikhanov spring in the Kokbastau tract.

  • Tilla-Kori Madrassah, Uzbekistan

    The Tilla Kori was built on the north side of the Registan Square in Samarkand, between 1646 and 1660. Yalangtush听Bakhadur, the ruler of Samarkand at that time, ordered the Tilla Kori's construction but died before it was completed.

  • Kruj毛, Albania

    A beautiful stormy landscape of听Kruj毛, Albania
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    Photography by Graham Pritchard

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  • A Soviet Era Mosaic Mural, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

    A beautiful, Soviet-era mosaic in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
    Photography: Graham Pritchard

  • The Last Wild Apple Forests, Kazakhstan

    It might seem strange to think that the common apple was not originally a universal fruit, but in fact it has its roots in one specific region of the world. The ancestor of the domestic apple is the Malus sieversii, which grows wild in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan.
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  • Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia

    The monument commemorates the Latvian War of Independence of 1918-1920. Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina was responsible for saving this sculpture from demolition during the Stalinist era.听

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    Image source: Wikimedia

    License: Creative Commons 0

  • Yard Gallery in Kaunas, Lithuania

    The Yard Gallery turned the exterior of the neglected apartment building into a space for art and history to unite. The open-air gallery houses contemporary art installations and murals commemorating the Jewish residents who lived in the house before the Holocaust.听

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  • Tash Rabat, Kyrgyzstan

    Today, we picture the caravans traveling along the Silk Road from China to the Middle East as a rather romantic image.

  • Kaindy Lake, Kazakhstan

    Kaindy Lake is an idyllic mountain lake in Kazakhstan鈥檚 portion of the Tian Shan Mountains, close to the country鈥檚 largest city, Almaty. The lake was formed after an earthquake in 1911, which caused a major landslide, effectively creating a natural dam.

  • Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland

    The grand Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland, was听 built in 1955 as a 鈥済ift of the Soviet people for the Poles鈥� by Joseph Stalin.听

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    Image source: Unsplash

    Lisense: Creative Commons 0

  • Motherland Monument in Kyiv

    The Motheland Monument in Kyiv, locally known as "Brezhnev's daughter"

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    Image Source: Unsplash

    License: Commercial Commons 0

  • Salina Turda Theme Park, Romania

    With over 2,000 years of history, highly preserved galleries, and a futuristic underground attraction, Salina Turda is the largest salt mine museum in the world, and easily the most incredible.
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  • Manas, Kyrgyz epic poem

    The Epic of Manas is a heroic epic of the Kyrgyz people. The main content of the epic is the exploits of the hero Manas.

  • Kyrgyz som

    Som is the currency of the Kyrgyz Republic. Kyrgyzstan was one of the first countries of the former USSR (and the first in post-Soviet Central Asia) to approve its own national currency.

  • Kyrgyz yurt

    Yurt (also obsolete "kibitka") is a portable frame dwelling with a felt covering among Turkic and Mongolian nomads.

  • Ala-kiyiz in making

    Ala kiyiz, or tekemet, is a decorative style used for textile floor or wall coverings created by pressing together wet, soaped wool in various colors to form felt.

  • Puszcza Bia艂owieska

    The Soviet Union stamp from 1969 featuring European bison or 'Zubr' in Bia艂owie偶a Forest. In the 20s of the 20th century, the bison was endangered. Now, thanks to conservation efforts, there are 8,461 bison in the world, most in Poland (2269), Belarus (2101) and Russia (1588).

  • Faculty Profile: Julia Verkholantsev

    Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair听
    FOUNDING DIRECTOR, PROGRAM IN GLOBAL MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE STUDIES听
    Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Slavic Languages and Literatures
    M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (Indo-European) Linguistics

  • Tian Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan

    Tian Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan
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  • Buzludzha Monument

    Our Logo Explained: Buzludzha Monument

  • Alexander Pushkin

    Alexander Pushkin(1799-1837) is considered by most to be Russia's greatest poet. Pushkin, the 红杏直播 national poet, is famously descended from an African slave.

  • Nur Astana Mosque, Astana, Kazakhstan

    The Nur-Astana Mosque (Kazakh: 袧冶褉-袗褋褌邪薪邪 屑械褕褨褌褨, Nur-Astana me艧iti), is a mosque located in the city of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. It is third largest mosque in Central Asia.

  • Grand Theatre, Warsaw, Poland

    The Grand Theatre was originally inaugurated in 1833, after eight years of construction led by architect Antonio Corazzi.

  • Baikal Lake, Russia

    Lake Baikal is the world鈥檚 oldest and deepest freshwater lake, situated in the mountainous region of Siberia north of the Mongolian border. It trails for nearly 400 miles and its average depth is 744.4m (2,442 ft), while its maximum depth is 1,741m (5,712 ft).

  • Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

    There are few places in the world that can enthrall quite like Kamchatka, easily Russia's most scenically dramatic region. A vast volcanic peninsula that is almost entirely wilderness, Kamchatka is a place of extraordinary primal beauty, rushing rivers, hot springs and snow-capped peaks.

  • Bahouddin Naqshband Memorial, Uzbekistan

    The architectural ensemble of Bahouddin, located kilometers north-east of Bukhara, in the old village Qasr-i Arifan arose from the mazar of this sufi. He had been forming for five hundred years, but it is known very little about its early history.?

  • Korcula Island, Croatia

    The sixth largest island in Croatia, Korcula is 20 miles long and rather narrow, between 4 and 5 miles wide on average. This island is known for its dense forest and the ancient Greeks called the island Black Korcula (Kerkyra melaina) for this reason.

  • Plovdiv, Bulgaria

    Plovdiv is Bulgaria鈥檚 second-largest city and has been recognized as one of the oldest settlements in Europe, with evidence of habitation reaching as far back as the 6th millennium BC.

  • Faculty Profile: Maria Bourlatskaya

    MARIA BOURLATSKAYA has been with the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures since 1992.

  • Faculty Profile: Mila Nazyrova

    Mila Nazyrova has been teaching 红杏直播 language and culture courses since 2001. She teaches a broad variety of 红杏直播 language courses as well as courses for heritage speakers and intensive language courses.

  • Faculty Profile: Molly Peeney

    Dr. Peeney earned her Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010. Her dissertation analyzes Vladimir Nabokov鈥檚 红杏直播 novels as polemical responses to Soviet literary trends of the twenties and thirties.

  • Spotlight: Kristen Ghodsee

    Kristen Ghodsee earned her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley and is a Professor of 红杏直播 and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include the gendered effects of post-Cold War transformations and the ethnographic study of memory and nostalgia in Eastern Europe.

  • Alex Vekker, a Specialist on Soviet and Post-Soviet Economy

    Alex Vekker is a specialist in Soviet economics and economic consulting. He has his own business, Vekker Consulting, which provides听expert witness and economic and statistical consulting services.

  • Moscow Kremlin

    is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west.

  • Danube River

    The Danube is Europe's second longest river, after the Volga. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, flowing through 10 countries.

  • Vokie膷i懦 Street

    One of the oldest streets in the Old Town of Vilnius; mentioned in written sources since 1576. In the 15th-16th centuries, it was one of the most beautiful and main streets of the city with stone two- and three-story houses.

  • LNK Infotree

    The French Geographical Institute once established that one of the centers of Europe is located in Lithuania 鈥� a 20-minute drive from Vilnius. It is designated by a special park included in the top 50 most interesting places in the world of art.

  • Basarbovo Monastery

    The Monastery of Saint Dimitar Basarbowski is a Bulgarian Orthodox cave monastery located near the city of Ruse in northeastern Bulgaria. It is the only active cave monastery in modern Bulgarian history and was designated a historical landmark in 1978.

  • Bulgarian literary figures with Jules Romains

    Bulgarian literature is the oldest of the Slavic literatures, having emerged in 886 with the establishment of the Preslav Literary School. On the photo Bulgarian writers, poets, literary critics and public figures, gathered on the occasion of Jules Romains' visit to Bulgaria.

  • Kukeri

    Kukeri (Bulgarian: 泻褍泻械褉懈; singular: kuker, 泻褍泻械褉) are Bulgarian men dressed in elaborate costumes who perform traditional rituals aimed at driving away evil spirits. Similar customs can be found throughout the Balkans and Greece, including Romania and the Pontus.

  • Stelmu啪臈 Oak - One of the oldest oak in Europe

    One of the oldest oaks in Europe, the oldest oak in the Baltic. Encyclopedic sources give different estimates of its age: 2000-1500 years. An exact age determination is extremely difficult because the core of the trunk has rotted and been removed.

Archived Spotlight

Department Office

745 Williams Hall
255 S 36th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
phone: (215) 898-8704
fax: (215) 573-7794
rees-admin@sas.upenn.edu

Department Chair

Kristen Ghodsee
(215) 746-0174

Graduate Chair

Kevin M.F. Platt
746 Williams Hall
(215) 908-1685
kmfplatt@sas.upenn.edu

Undergraduate Chair

D. Brian Kim
Williams Hall 752
dbkim@sas.upenn.edu