For many foreign language students, studying abroad has long been the moment when classroom learning becomes real. It’s when grammar turns into conversation and culture into lived experience. But in recent years, that opportunity has become harder to reach for students studying Russian.
A new USC program aims to change that with a Russian-language exchange program in Norway.
The Hybrid Student Exchange Program (STEP) reimagines what study abroad can look like for Russian language learners, making it more accessible without losing what matters most: real communication, real relationships and real cultural exchange. Instead of relying on a single semester overseas, the program blends long-term virtual exchange with short-term, high-impact immersion.
Led by Olesya Kisselev, associate professor of Russian in the McCausland College, the project offers a student-centered model for international education. It’s designed for the realities students face today and for the future of language learning.
“The immersion is not just tourism,” Kisselev says. “It is the in-person continuation of the learning community, building on relationships and routines established through the virtual exchange program.”
Students begin by building an online Russian-speaking community with peers at The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø (UiT). Week by week, they work in pairs and small groups, holding conversations and collaborating on tasks. By the time they meet in person, they’re no longer strangers but classmates continuing a shared learning journey.
UiT has strong experience and support for teaching Russian through digital tools, having already created well-tested online resources for learning Russian. At USC, Hybrid STEP builds on this work by adding more opportunities for real conversation and cross-cultural interaction.
The in-person component is short but intensive, including 10 days of cultural immersion where students use Russian to navigate daily life, deepen friendships and apply what they’ve been practicing all semester.
“Norway offers a stable, safe and strategically relevant context for Russian language study right now,” Kisselev says.
Students who participate gain confidence speaking Russian, stronger intercultural skills and a sense of global connection that can otherwise be out of reach. For many, Hybrid STEP makes study abroad possible for the first time.
The first full pilot is currently underway, and will conclude in June 2026, with early results presented at the CALP-5 language conference in Tromsø this March.