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I guess I have a few things to say in favor of Russian Studies. The job I  have right now, for example, is one which both indirectly and directly  capitalizes on skills I gained in the Russian program, in language and   literature. I happen to be lucky, because I work for a press that has an entire academic series devoted to Russian studies and also publishes many burgeoning authors from other Eastern European countries, but I think that, in general, university presses (and probably publishing houses at large)  favor applicants with foreign language skills, because it usually indicates  that they know something about English grammar as well, something that  often immediately separates one from the average American college graduate.   In my case, knowing other languages (Russian, Italian, and some French) helps me catch mistakes in manuscripts that others are missing, and once in a while, this helps to avoid embarrassing errors on both the author's and   the publisher's part. And I don't think I'm suffering from delusions of grandeur. The mistakes I catch are usually so minute that they would escape most readers' attention, and in publishing, we devote ourselves (somewhat irrationally, it seems at times) almost exclusively to these details. But they are gratifying to detect, and if for this small reason alone, I am valued here, mostly due to my language skills. That is my experience in publishing anyway.

Otherwise, I think extensive experience studying another language and culture make one more attractive to various government employers, but to that (as well as in the business world) I can't speak directly.    In general, however, my praise for the program in Russian at U of M, goes to its rigorous structure, its small class sizes, and its dedicated professors. Although I am obviously biased in this, I feel that devoting much time as an undergraduate to studying foreign languages was one of the most worthwhile decisions I made at Michigan, if only because it  gave me concrete skills. I've been accepted to the Ph.D. program at University of Chicago in comparative literature and plan to start my work there in the fall. I'm not sure which direction I will take there (the freedom is significant), but I hope to continue my study of Russian literature and American literature.