In 2018, the Faculty of History and Philology hosted the first graduation of foreign students who studied Russian-language in order to get higher education in Russian universities. The training programme proved to be so popular that in 2019 the Russian as a Foreign Language Department was established, on the basis of which new supplementary general educational programmes were opened: short-term, annual, one and a half year programmes. Their attendees were citizens of China, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. Since 2024, the department has been implementing educational programmes in cooperation with other universities, including the South Ural State Medical University and the Tianquan Department of Education, Science and Technology LLC (Tianjin, PRC).
Professors of the department teach Russian-language not only to students of supplementary general educational programmes, but also to foreign students of Bachelor's, Specialist's, Master's and Postgraduate (PhD) programmes, as well as give lectures and practical classes on the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language. In addition, lecturers and staff of the department are involved in extracurricular activities aimed at the adaptation of foreign citizens in new cultural environment: attendees and students of the department attend excursions, take part in educational events, university and interuniversity competitions and concerts.
