Sheridan Cordova ’20 studied Russian in high school but had no intention of continuing with the language in college — until she took a Russian film course that rekindled her interest in the language, culture, and country. She’d found an academic home. Here are three of her favorite things about studying Russian at Hamilton.
1. The Russian department is welcoming. I really like the other students in the program as well. We’re all friends, we all hang out. We do homework together and study together but we’re also genuinely friends. And it’s the professors. I absolutely love Professor John Bartle. He’s super funny, easy to talk to, but he’s also been very supportive. If I ever need anything, I know I can go talk to him. He’s been very welcoming to all of us. We’ve had a couple of dinners at his house — all the Russian students. He brings us all together every single year.
Major: Russian Studies
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
High School: Brackenridge H.S.
2. I really like how interdisciplinary the classes are. In our film class we learn about film techniques and how they changed over the years, but also we learn about Russian history — and how it was connected back to what was going on in the U.S. at the time. Every course that I’ve taken, besides the language courses, very much (showed) how what you’re learning is relevant.
3. Going abroad. A lot of people go for French or Spanish as something to study abroad and don’t consider they can study abroad in Russia as well. Russia is full of all of these beautiful cities and beautiful cultures that (some people) don’t think about because everyone has so many stereotypes about Russia, especially with everything going on in the news.
