The University of Illinois, one of the most renowned academic institutions in the United States, will introduce courses in Bulgarian language, history, folklore, and traditions as part of its Bulgarian Studies curriculum. This initiative marks the first official Bulgarian language lectureship in the U.S. in decades, as Bulgarian has previously only been taught in weekend schools, according to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education and Science.

The effort to restore Bulgarian language instruction at the university level in the U.S. has been underway for the past two years, led by the Bulgarian Consulate General in Chicago. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was chosen as the partner institution, given its previous experience in offering Bulgarian courses and its location in Illinois, a state that hosts the largest Bulgarian community in the United States. Agreements have been formalized with Sofia University and Veliko Tarnovo University to facilitate the program.

The Bulgarian Studies program will officially launch in the 2025/2026 academic year. The Ministry of Education will soon initiate the selection process for a visiting lecturer who will collaborate with the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Centre at the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The establishment of a Bulgarian lectureship in the U.S. is expected to strengthen Bulgarian Studies academically and institutionally, creating opportunities for American students and researchers to deepen their understanding of the Bulgarian language, literature, and historical context. For the Bulgarian community in the U.S., it represents a chance to maintain cultural ties with the homeland while fostering academic research in Slavic and Balkan Studies, the Ministry of Education emphasized.