Ohio State’s Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (CSEEES) has a long history of excellence in the field, producing graduates with foreign language skills and cultural knowledge to succeed in business, education and government work. Our quality has been recognized by consistently being awarded National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies grants from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), which allowed our top students to receive fellowships for their studies. Those programs were cancelled last year, and both students and staff scrambled to bridge the gaps. We are excited that a new grant program from ED was announced, called Centers Aligned with Areas for National Need (CAANN), and we’ve applied in the hope of receiving federal support for and recognition of our work; an announcement is expected in mid-September. Regardless of the outcome, CAANN would provide a smaller portion of funds for student support. We are determined to continue to fill the gaps in their finances to the best of our ability.

"My time with CSEEES was instrumental in developing me personally and professionally into the person that I am today…the CSEEES M.A. creates professionals with a cross functional skill set that would be useful in almost any industry."-- CSEEES Survey Respondent

Your past generosity allowed us to establish the CSEEES Excellence Award which starting in autumn 2026 will provide a scholarship to CSEEES students who earn a GPA of 3.9 or higher. Four students have earned the award this fall, with six eligible for it in spring. You will meet some of these students throughout the course of this campaign and learn about their interests and goals. Amazingly, this fall’s Excellence Awardees collectively study eight languages: Albanian, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Hebrew, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Polish and Yiddish.

Your gift to this campaign supports these students, allowing them to continue their education and complete their degree.

Our goal is to raise $6,000 to increase the fall Excellence Award to at least $1,000 per student, ensure we have enough funds to keep our promise to all students who qualify in spring, and continue to offer professional development grants to students along with a well-rounded campus experience of lectures, workshops, film screenings and events.

Your donation of $100 or more will be matched by funds from our Director, a generous alum and friends of the Center, up to $1,500 total.