The Graduate Diploma of Arts at the University of Melbourne builds a solid foundation for your further studies and research. Develop the analytical and critical capacities you need to apply to contemporary contexts, and understand the important issues and conceptual frameworks relating to your area of study. Examine contemporary modules like anthropology, gender studies, and creative writing, or opt to major or minor in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, or French. Tailor your study through a range of electives and benefit from flexible study options, including evening classes.Russian is one of the world's major international languages: it is spoken by over 140 million people and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. A knowledge of Russian may increase access to careers in international relations, development studies, business, science and the arts. The overall objective of the Russian Studies program is to teach students to process information from a wide variety of materials in Russian, both written and spoken, and to produce accounts and discussions of that information in a variety of forms. The core subjects in Russian are organised in a progressive sequence from Russian 1 through to Russian 6. Entry and exit points are determined by the Russian Program based on the student’s background in the language, placement testing or prerequisites. Students normally progress through the subjects in consecutive order. Mid-year entry is also possible into subjects with even numbers, subject to appropriate prior experience and approval from the head of the Russian program. Accelerated progression is possible on advice from the Russian Program.