Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

The Bulgarian studies program will support scientific research in the field of Slavic and Balkan studies

Bulgarian language will be taught at the University of Illinois

This will be the first Bulgarian language lectureship in the USA in decades

Photo: Ministry of Education

The Bulgarian Studies program at the University of Illinois – one of the most prestigious in the United States – will include Bulgarian language, Bulgarian history, folklore and traditions as of the next academic year, Bulgaria's Ministry of Education and Science announced last week. 

This will be the first Bulgarian language lectureship in the USA in decades, as until now it has been taught only in weekend schools.


The teaching of Bulgarian language at the university level in the United States is being restored thanks to the two-year efforts of the Bulgarian Consulate General in Chicago.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which once taught Bulgarian, has been chosen as a partner for the initiative, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed between it and the Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo Universities. 

The state of Illinois and Chicago are also home to the largest Bulgarian community in America.
The 2025/2026 academic year will be the first year in which the Bulgarian Studies program will be taught. Bulgaria's  Ministry of Education is about to announce a procedure for selecting a guest lecturer, who will work in collaboration with the Department of Slavic Languages ​​and Literature and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at the University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Thanks to the Bulgarian lectureship, many Bulgarians living in the USA - including students and scholars - will be able to maintain contact with their homeland. In addition, it will strengthen the positions of Bulgarian studies and contribute to the restoration of its institutional presence in America.

The Bulgarian studies program will support scientific research in the field of Slavic and Balkan studies, giving American students and scholars the opportunity to become closely acquainted with the Bulgarian language, literature and history, the Ministry of Education added.


Editor: Diana Tsankova
English version: Rositsa Petkova
Photo: BTA



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Prominent artists to participate in a plein air on the banks of the Danube

The twenty-ninth national plein air in fine arts “Creator and Nature” will take place in the village of Vetren on the banks of the Danube from August 22 to 28, the organizers from the local Association of Artists and the Municipality of Silistra told..

published on 8/22/25 8:00 AM

Kyustendil hosts the ''Short Film, Long Bus'' festival for short documentaries

"Short Film, Long Bus" is the name of an intriguing event set to take place from August 22 to 24 in the town of Kyustendil (Southwestern Bulgaria). The project by the Students’ Community Center St. Kliment Ohridski 1997 combines a festival of  short..

published on 8/22/25 6:10 AM

Ognyanovo Classic Fest – a new initiative by State Opera Stara Zagora

On July 1, 2025, State Opera Stara Zagora celebrated its 100th anniversary. To mark the centennial of the first opera company established outside the capital city, the program featured ten premieres, performances by the Children's and Adolescents’..

published on 8/21/25 11:49 AM