Overview

About Us

Bailey Hall

Bailey Hall, the home of CREES.

The University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) is one of seventeen Title VI Comprehensive National Resource Centers for the Russian and East Central European area supported by the U.S. Department of Education. CREES has been a National Resource Center since 1965, offering degree-granting programs and serving as a resource for K-12 teachers, post-secondary educators, business, media, government, and military.

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CREES faculty and students have conducted field work, researched, and taught courses covering the entire region: from new European Union members in the west to the Russian Far East; from indigenous peoples of the Arctic to traditionally Islamic societies of the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Through the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and other language programs, students can study Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Uyghur. KU Library resources are unparalleled in the Central Plains, featuring thousands of bound volumes and electronic resources in all disciplines. CREES also hosts The Russian Review, the renowned Russian studies journal, as well as electronic resources about the South Caucasus and Central Asia (KU Silk Road Resources) in addition to SEEFA website (Slavic & East European Folklore Association).

The Center for Russian, Eastern European & Eurasian Studies is on the third floor of Bailey Hall. Our main office is in Bailey 320 and is open from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Central Standard Time) on university business days. We invite you to either take an online campus tour or visit us in person. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email us.

Mission

Our mission as a resource center and as an academic program is:

  • To meet the national need for Russian, East European & Eurasian specialists in academic, government, and private sectors by producing students with superior language training and an excellent foundation in area studies, and providing them with professional mentoring, enhancement activities, and significant opportunities for study and research abroad.
  • To support students and faculty in their research and intellectual enhancement so that they can become and remain superior teachers, scholars, and mentors.
  • To be a resource locally, regionally, and nationally, providing outreach, support services, and information to other KU units, K-16, media, business, government, military, and community constituencies.

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.