Home > Graduate > MA program in Slavic Literatures

M.A. Program: Slavic Literatures

The program described here presupposes that a student is majoring in Russian literature, the option most frequently selected. Analogous programs are available for students who wish to major in the literatures of Poland, Czechoslovakia, (the former) Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

In the M.A. program the student of Russian literature consolidates his or her knowledge of modern literature (from the end of the eighteenth century to the present) and develops the critical and analytic skills necessary for advanced study and research. The M.A. program consists of the following components:

Coursework

Coursework leading to the M.A. falls into three categories:

A. Courses in literary/cultural history and theory. M.A. candidates, depending on preparation and interests, select a number of these regularly offered courses: Russian Sentimentalism and Romanticism, Russian Realism, Russian Modernism, Contemporary Russian Literature, Russian Poetry (alternately nineteenth or twentieth century), Literary Theory, Topics in Russian Cultural History, Russian Novel and Literatures of Western Europe. A course in Eighteenth-century literature, normally expected of Ph.D. candidates, is sometimes also taken at the M.A. level. Aimed at comprehensive coverage of Russian literary and cultural history, these courses follow a seminar format and include a research component. Ph.D. level students also frequently participate in courses of this series.

B. Research seminars. M.A. students participate in one or more seminars, open to graduate students at all levels, which are aimed specifically at original research. Topics for seminars vary, depending on current interests of faculty and students. Recent seminars were devoted to such topics as: "Vladimir Solov'ev," "Mikhail Bakhtin," "The Poetics of Pushkin," "Tolstoy's War and Peace," "The Semiotics of Soviet Culture," "Individual Experience and Culture," "Conceptualization of Love in Russian Culture."

C. Courses that develop essential professional skills. The series includes: Proseminar: Aims and Methods of Literary Scholarship, Russian Composition and Style, Descriptive Grammar of Russian, Old Church Slavic. These courses are required of all students and are normally taken in the first two or three semesters. In anticipation of work in a Slavic literature other than Russian, M.A. students are required to take two semesters of a second Slavic language, usually during the second year. (An additional semester at an advanced level is required of Ph.D. students.) Students who need further work on their Russian language skills are offered a Russian Proficiency Maintenance Course.

In addition, M.A. (as well as Ph.D.) students often choose to take courses offered by other departments (among the most popular are courses in Russian and Western intellectual and cultural history, comparative literature, and film).

Language Skills

The M.A. student demonstrates proficiency in Russian by passing reading and oral examinations during the first year of study (usually in the first semester). The M.A. student also takes usually two semesters of Polish, Czech, Serbian/Croatian, Bulgarian or another Slavic language.

Before taking the M.A. exams, students of literature must demonstrate a reading knowledge of French or German or must complete two semesters of a second Slavic language. (Before taking the Ph.D. exams, students of literature must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two of the following: one Slavic language other than the major language (3 semesters of study or examination), French or German.)

The M.A. Comprehensive Examinations

The M.A. comprehensive examinations, which students normally take at the end of the fourth semester, are intended to test the basic knowledge of major texts, movements, and events of literary history and the ability to engage in critical thinking about literature. The students take two four-hour written examinations, requiring four essays (to be chosen from suggested topics), each devoted to a specific period (1790s-1840s; 1840s-1890s; 1890s-1920s; 1920s-1990s), and an hour-and-a-half comprehensive oral examination on all periods, conducted by three faculty members. A portion of the oral examination is conducted in Russian.