Q: How did your Slavic studies prepare you for your future career? What was the most important thing you learned?
A: Russian language was absolutely essential for postgraduate study in Russian history, but the study of Russian culture was an important part of a rounded understanding of the country.
Q: How did your Slavic studies contribute more generally to your life?
A: I made many friends with whom I am still close after nearly 30 years.
Q: What did you do immediately upon graduation?
A: MA and PhD.
Q: What advice would you give to graduating students, or to students thinking about the Slavic program?
A: Go to Russia--or more broadly those parts of the Slavic world you've been studying. I hugely enjoyed my trips. They deepened my understanding of the country, sharpened my linguistic skills, gave me a much stronger sense of what I wanted to do with what I had learned in the Slavic department.