Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies
About CREEES
CREEES facilitates numerous close connections among departments and programs across the university and the region. The center’s seventy-two core and supporting faculty work across a wide range of university units to create a coherent set of area related programs, which span from the arts to the professional schools, as well as to make possible a variety of educational and cultural events of benefit to the entire Midwest. Undergraduate students at The University of Iowa may earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies with emphasis in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (REEES).
To achieve maximum impact, CREEES makes use of the innovative and cost-effective organization of The University of Iowa's International Programs. It seeks collaborative arrangements with other institutions in regional consortia (e.g., Iowa State University, Grinnell College) or in national consortia organized around specific languages or subject matter (e.g., the Baltic Studies Summer Institute, the Central Eurasian Studies Society, the Junior Faculty Development Program). It also maintains numerous interdepartmental and intercollegiate collaborative arrangements for joint or visiting appointments of faculty (e.g., with Political Science, History, the School of Law). Finally, it works extensively with a host of programs that are unique to the University of Iowa or, where present elsewhere, not traditionally associated with REEES (e.g., the International Writing Program, the Center for New Music, Theatre Arts, Family Medicine, and the Center for International and Environmental Health).
CREEES is committed to training teachers and leaders of the future. Its aims are to promote academic excellence in teaching, research, and outreach, to serve as a regional resource center, and to collaborate with educational insitutions throughout Iowa and the greater Midwest. CREEES programs place special emphasis on curricular development, support for graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and K-12 teachers, and access to informational materials through the UI's extensive film and library collections. One of its primary goals is the training of REEES area specialists for work in academia, private enterprise, and both governmental and non-governmental agencies. CREEES at Iowa is also strongly committed to placing the knowledge available in the center at the service of the local, regional, and national community.