Language Information:
Romanian is a Balkan Romance language,natively spoken in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine by approximately 24-26 million people there. Romanian is one of 20+ European Union official languages.
On March 16th, 2023, Moldovan parliament has passed the law to changed its official language from "Moldovan" to "Romanian". Moldova was part of Bessarabia area of Romania before WWII (the southern part of historical Bessarabia was now part of Ukraine) but was annexed into the USSR in 1940. The Soviet also changed the name of the language there from Romanian to Moldovan or Moldavian to make them look different to other Romanians. After the collapse of USSR in 1991, Moldova got their independence but has not merged with Romania as Russia has taken Transnistria area of Moldova as a threat and many Russian expats already moved to Moldova, who would favor closer relationship with Russia and oppose the merging with Romania, during the Soviet era. Changing the name of their official language is just a small step for Moldova to rejoin the Romanian family.
Study of the history, language, and culture of Romania has been part of the Indiana University curriculum for East European studies since the early 1950s. In its Russian and East European Institute (REEI) and Department of Slavic and East European Languages & Cultures, Indiana University offers: one of the largest concentrations of Romanian studies specialists in the United States; three years of language instruction during the academic year and a summer intensive language program; library resources sufficient to support advanced research in Romanian studies; strong relationships with Romanian institutions of higher learning; and regular international conferences on Romanian topics.
IU currently discontinued offering Romanian language instruction during the academic year and in the summer.
