The Berkeley Program in Eurasian and East European Studies (BPS) is a leading center for graduate training and research on the former Soviet Union, its successor states, and Eastern Europe. Founded in 1983, BPS's mission is to train graduate students in both cross-disciplinary social science methodology and theory, as well as the history, languages, and cultures of Eurasia and Eastern Europe; to carry out an innovative program of scholarly research and publication on the region; and to undertake an active public outreach program for the local community, other national and international academic centers, and governmental agencies.
The Program helps affiliated faculty and graduate students take advantage of the many opportunities for innovative research on Eurasia and Eastern Europe by awarding fellowships, language training grants, and dissertation fellowships; sponsoring new courses on understudied topics; hosting visiting scholars who offer alternative approaches to the study of the region; and organizing conferences, workshops, graduate student colloquia, and lectures by faculty and visiting speakers.
Administratively part of the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES), BPS is chaired by Yuri Slezkine (History) and directed by Edward W. Walker (Political Science).