News and Events
Summer Experience in Russia
May 18-29, 2009
Between May 18 and May 29, Associate Professor of History Clayton Black introduced a group of twelve intrepid travelers, including students, faculty, and his own parents, to the sights and experiences of St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, allowing everyone to step outside of their comfort zones and learn about a new culture and country while bonding as a group.
Click to enlarge photos by Clayton Black and Maria Rose Hynson.
Maria Hynson, Allison Jones '09, Brenna Bychowski '09, Khalil Karrakchou '12, Gillian Bourassa '09, Caitlin Wolfe '12, Jennifer Senkevich '12, and Amanda Moore '11 on a tour of St. Petersburg canals.
Caitlin Wolfe '12, Maria Hynson, Khalil Karrakchou '12, Young Taylor, and Virginia Black on Vassilievsky Island.
Allison Jones '09 on the point of Vassilievsky Island, with the Peter and Paul Fortress in the background.
Amanda Moore '11, Jennifer Senkevich '12, and Brenna Bychowski '09.
Gillian Bourassa '09 takes in a view of the Winter Palace from across the Neva River.
The group on Palace Square, before the Winter Palace.
Gillian Bourassa '09, Jennifer Senkevich '12, Brenna Bychowski '09, and Caitlin Wolfe '12 in the Mikhailovsky Garden.
Taking in the sights at Catherine's Palace.
A brass band greeted the group on its arrival to Catherine's Palace.
Morning arrival at Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Group photo in front of Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Proud display of the WAC banner in front of the Gulf of Finland.
Jennifer Senkevich '12 takes in the fountains at Peterhof, Peter the Great's palace.
Group photo in Moscow, with the Kremlin in the background.
The WAC presence on Red Square, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background.
Brenna Bychowski '09 and Gillian Bourassa '09 before Zurab Tsereteli's monument to the defeat of fascism in Victory Park, Moscow.
The WAC group happened to visit Victory Park in Moscow on the day that honors border guards of the Russian military. Here, recent veterans of that branch conduct annual celebrations in the park.
Detail of the Cathedral of the Savior on the Spilt Blood, St. Petersburg.
The Cruiser Aurora, a vessel that survived Russia's ill-fated war with Japan in 1905 and that was used to intimidate the Provisional Government during the Bolshevik seizure of power in October, 1917.
The "Little Coffee House" in the Summer Garden, St. Petersburg.
The Mikhailov Palace, St. Petersburg.
Arch of the General Headquarters, St. Petersburg.
The Winter Palace (Hermitage), St. Petersburg.
Falconet's "Bronze Horseman," a monument in honor of Peter the Great, presented by Catherine the Great in the year of WAC's founding, 1782.
The Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great).
Professor Black and his nephew, Yefim, discuss plans for the afternoon.
Exterior of the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.
Details from the fence surrounding Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
The entry hall of Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Cameron's Gallery at Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Spectacular ceilings at Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Interior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, inside the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Khalil Karrakchou '12 and Jennifer Senkevich '12 prepare for dinner at the Literary Cafe in St. Petersburg.
Bronze replica of "Dying Gaul" on the lakeshore of Catherine's Palace.
The iconostasis of the Cathedral of the Savior on the Spilt Blood.
Peterhof, Peter the Great's answer to the Versailles palace.
Among the gardens at Peter the Great's palace, Peterhof.
WAC visitors found much that was familiar among the ads on St. Petersburg streets.
Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg, site of the coronation of Catherine the Great in 1762.
Detail of the Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg.
Professor Black discusses the importance of Sergei Witte, Russian statesman whose tomb was among those of many cultural and political figures in the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky monastery, St. Petersburg.
The "Tsar cannon" in the Kremlin, Moscow. Meant to intimidate rather than destroy, it was never fired.
Kremlin offices and residences.
Maria Hynson shows her College pride in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow.
A recently built monument to Alexander II (r. 1855-1881) in Moscow.
Brenna Bychowski '09, Gillian Bourassa '09, Jennifer Senkevich '12, and Khalil Karrakchou '12 enjoy a moment of rest in the Arbat after a long day of sightseeing in Moscow.
Domes of the Cathedral of the Savior on the Spilt Blood, St. Petersburg.
Maria Hynson before the Cathedral of the Savior on the Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg, site of the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881.