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The Capstone Year (Final Year)

The Capstone Year (Final Year)

The Capstone Year

Once students reach level 2 proficiency at IU they are ready to take their language skills overseas and embark on the final step in completing the Russian Flagship program. The Russian Overseas Flagship, or the Capstone Year, is an IU co-sponsored program operated by American Councils for International Education. It takes place from August-May at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

While completing the Capstone Year, students take intensive Russian language classes, live with Russian-speaking host families, and participate in cultural activities and excursion trips around Almaty and throughout the region. Students also take Kazakh language courses, complete an original research project related to their academic interests, and enroll in a special direct enrollment course of their choosing that is taught in Russian. Imagine being an IU International Studies major who gets to take “Representations of International Conflicts in the Media” taught in Russian. Now, imagine getting to take this course with students from Russia and Central Asia as well as Flagships students from programs across the U.S.

One of the most exciting parts of the Capstone program is the opportunity to complete a professional internship. Students work with American Councils to select an internship based on their career goals and interests. In the past, students have interned at Price Waterhouse Cooper; the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology; the Television Production Company “Business TV”; and various academic departments at KazNU including economics, international cooperation, translation, and linguistics.

By the time students return to IU they will have achieved level 3 proficiency in Russian, become experts in Russian and Central Asian culture, completed an international internship, and joined a global network of like-minded young professionals. Upon successful completion of the Capstone program, students will receive official Flagship Certification from the Department of Defense. They will also receive IU credit for the Russian classes and the Direct Enrollment course.

The Capstone experience

Capstone training: What you‘ll do

Small group: Grammar, reading, writing, speaking, listening, and phonetics
Large group: Intercultural communication and language of academic research

Students can direct-enroll or audit content courses. Students who select direct-enrollment for credit need to confirm with their school or academic unit that the overseas coursework has an IU equivalent, and credits earned at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University will be transferred.

Past direct enrollment courses have included:

Human Rights on the World Stage and in Kazakhstan (Political Science)
Representations of International Conflicts in the Media (Journalism)
Translation and Comparative Linguistics (Philology and World Languages)
Integrated Water Resource Management and Sustainable Development (Geography and Environmental Studies)
Foundations of Bionanotechnology (Biology and Biomechanics)

There will also be optional conversational sessions with language partners.

In Almaty and around Kazakhstan, including trips to Aktau, Astana, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and even other locations in Central Asia, such as Turkestan.

A comfortable and private home-away-from-home where students apply their language skills in informal settings and different social contexts.

During their spring semester in Almaty, students complete internships with local organizations, such as NGOs, higher education, private companies, or state-run organizations (e.g. schools and museums). Past internship sites include: