[TCNJ Russia Program has been cancelled for Maymester 2012. For alternative programs in Russia, please contact the Center for Global Engagement at goglobal@tcnj.edu in Green 111.]
TCNJ Maymester in Russia – May 14-May 31, 2012
RUS 171 – Contemporary Russia (1 unit, Liberal Learning Elective in Literary, Visual and Performing Arts; Global)
Program Director: Dr. Benjamin Rifkin, Professor of Russian and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (rifkin@tcnj.edu; 609-771-3434)
No Pre-Requisites, Language Requirements, or GPA Restrictions – Open to all students (including current first-year students)
Application Forms Available Here
This 3-week experience is designed to acquaint students first-hand with the historical landmarks and culture of Russia’s two capital cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg. Led by Benjamin Rifkin, Professor of Russian and Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, students will explore Russian culture in its historical context in these two extraordinary cities, cities rich in turbulent history in the middle of astonishingly rapid transition in the post-Soviet era.
Moscow Excursions
- Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and Red Square
- Preserved 19th Century Arbat Neighborhood (Moscow’s “Montmartre”)
- Memorial Human Rights Center
- Tour of the Moscow Metro
- Tretiakov Gallery
- Christ the Savior Cathedral
- Choral Synagogue
- Performance at the Bol’shoi Theatre
- Walking Tour of Moscow’s primary commercial district
- Yaroslavsky Train Station
St. Petersburg Excursions
- Hermitage (Tsar’s Palace and Art Museum)
- Russian Museum
- Peter and Paul Fortress
- St. Isaac’s Cathedral
- Cathedral on the Blood
- Peskarevskoe Cemetery
- Petrodvorets (Catherine the Great’s Answer to Versailles)
- Dostoevsky’s Petersburg Walking Tour
- Walking Tour of the Imperial Capital’s Palaces and Canals
- Boat tour of St. Petersburg’s Canals
- Performance at the Marinsky (formerly Kirov) Theatre


The College of New Jersey | 2000 Pennington Road Ewing, NJ 08628-0718