History
Founded in 1965 by Professor Leon Twarog, the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (CSEEES) promotes the study of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Russia, and Southeastern Europe. Through funding from the International and Foreign Language Education division within the federal Department of Education, CSEEES functions as a Comprehensive National Resource Center (NRC) and administers a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) grant (both under Title VI of the Higher Education Act). CSEEES' overall goal is to promote the study, knowledge, and teaching of this region and its languages at The Ohio State University (OSU), in the state of Ohio, in the Midwest, and beyond. In addition to fostering East European and Eurasian area and language studies at OSU, CSEEES has an outreach program that extends throughout the state of Ohio and the Midwest.
Mission
At OSU, CSEEES seeds faculty positions and courses, sponsors lectures and conferences, brings visiting specialists from the region to campus, administers a Slavic, East European and Eurasian studies MA program, provides monies for library acquisitions, awards FLAS to OSU undergraduate and graduate students, and maintains a large video library. CSEEES' outreach beyond OSU includes teacher workshops, presentations at local schools, partner programs with other higher education institutions, area studies conferences, video loans, and a newsletter.
East European and Eurasian area studies at OSU is facilitated by the presence of approximately 90 area specialist faculty members who teach over 250 different courses in languages and area studies. OSU regularly offers instruction in seven East European/Eurasian languages: Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Modern Greek, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Modern Turkish, and Uzbek. Occasional language offerings include Bulgarian, Czech, Georgian, Hungarian, Old Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, and Yiddish.
Organization
The Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies is part of the Office of International Affairs.
Regional Initiatives
Within CSEEES, two regional initiatives exist, the Polish Studies Initiative and the Slovene Research Initiative.
Serbian Educational Alliance
The Serbian Educational Alliance (SEA) began in January 2020 and connects The Ohio State University and the University of Belgrade in an academic partnership focused on research, scholarly exchange, and strengthening the existing ties between Ohio and Serbia. This partnership is primarily composed of OSU’s Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies and University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Political Science and Centre for Studies of the United States of America.
The SEA funds research collaborations, educational experiences, guest lectures, and faculty trips between OSU and University of Belgrade.
Regional Coverage
CSEEES is the administrative unit at The Ohio State University responsible for the following regions:
- Baltics
- Caucasus
- Central Asia
- Central Europe
- Eastern Europe
- Southeastern Europe
CSEEES is the administrative unit at The Ohio State University responsible for the following countries:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Greece
- Georgia
- Hungary
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- North Macedonia
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Poland
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Tajikistan
- Turkey (as it relates to the Balkans)
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan