Miguel Angel Bahena Schott, Tekla Maisashvili, Micah McMinn, Quintin Gay, and Samuel Quesada represented the UNC-CH Russian Flagship Program at the National Language Flagship Program Hackathon (University of Maryland, College Park, April 8–9, 2022), where they worked with other Flagship students from all across the country to create technology-based innovations (“hacks”) to improve language learning.
Reilly Robinson received the ACTR Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Award, which recognizes one student from each Russian program across the country for their commitment to excellence in Russian language studies and an enthusiasm for developing their knowledge of the Russian-speaking world.
Max Hazerjian, Quintin Gay, Reilly Robinson, and David Green have successfully passed their examination for the Advanced Russian level, as defined by ACTFL, and will spend their capstone year abroad at al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to advance their Russian language skills to the professional superior level. Max received a Boren Scholarship for the Language Flagship Program to support his participation in the capstone year in Almaty.
Russian Flagship students have been awarded prestigious awards for intensive summer and year-long programs in Russian domestically and overseas. Colton Treadwell, Yueun Kang, Darian Allen, and Roariker Senson were awarded highly competitive Critical Language Scholarships. Alexandra Love was awarded the rigorous Gilman Scholarship. Sebastian Farris received a Fulbright-Hays fellowship for his participation in the Summer 2022 Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Caroline Ross will be participating in Project Global Officer, a fully-funded opportunity for ROTC cadets to study critical languages this summer in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Lucas Bonomo, Samuel Quesada, Aden Laws, Maxwell Hudgins, and Ellie Koenig served as research assistants in KGB archival material under the direction of Professor Simon Miles at Duke University through the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS) funded by UNCRFP Student Professional Development Funds.
Russian Flagship students participated in the UNC Undergraduate Conference on Slavic and East/Central European Studies. Max Hazerjian presented on “The world of ‘Russian’ Harbin: Armenians in China’s Russian diaspora,” and Yueun Kang discussed “‘Russian stoicism’: A critical perspective.”
– Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, published on April 28, 2022 (source).