PopKult is devoted to the popular, contemporary cultures of the former Soviet bloc. This includes Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Baltics. It also includes all indigenous cultures native to these countries. Note that we have categorized our media materials based on language, not nationality. Thus, a Latvian band that sings in both Latvian and Russian can be found in both of those categories. Meanwhile, a Tatar band that sings in only Tatar will be listed as only Tatar and not Russian.
This site looks at music, movies, television, and sports. We examine our subjects broadly in terms of their works, but also within political, economic, and cultural contexts. We hope that the songs and movies here will be used as authentic materials to help students build language skills. We also hope that this will excite students to better understand life on the ground within the cultures that these pop culture artifacts come from.
Materials for PopKult were largely generated by SRAS students and are always published in the SRAS newsletter. PopKult is one of several projects hosted by SRAS, an organization dedicated to promoting study abroad to Eurasia and encouraging students to study little-understood places.
SRAS specializes programs and services to assist you in study and research in Russia and Eurasia. SRAS also maintains this site and provides other free info for students studying Russia and Eurasia. Explore our Family of Sites to find out more!
