Undergraduate Degrees

Graduate Degrees

Courses of Instruction

Taper Hall of Humanities 408
(213) 740-2735

Chair: Thomas Seifrid, Ph.D.

Faculty

Professors: John Bowlt, Ph.D.; Alexander Zholkovsky, Ph.D.

Associate Professors: Marcus Levitt, Ph.D.; Maria Polinsky, Ph.D.; Sarah Pratt, Ph.D.; Thomas Seifrid, Ph.D.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers a major in Russian at the undergraduate level. The major focuses on a thorough study of the Russian language. Students are required to study four semesters of Russian language as a prerequisite to the major. The major itself requires an additional three semesters of language study, three semesters of Russian literature and culture in Russian, and two elective courses, either in Russian literature and culture in translation or in Russian area studies.

In addition to regular language courses, the department offers individualized instruction in elementary and intermediate Russian, allowing students to take from two to eight units of language in increments of two units.

Graduate Programs

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers, under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School, the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Undergraduate Degrees

Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Russian

Required courses, Lower division		Units
SLL 120	Beginning Russian I	4
SLL 150	Elementary Russian II	4
SLL 220	Intermediate Russian I	4
SLL 250	Intermediate Russian II	4

Required courses, Upper division		Units
SLL 320	Advanced Russian I	4
SLL 321	Russian Culture	4
SLL 325	Advanced Russian II	4
SLL 400	Survey of Russian Literature	4
SLL 420	Seminar in the Russian Language	4
SLL 430	Russian Poetry through the Centuries, or
SLL 450	Current Issues in Russian Culture	4

And two elective courses*

*For majors with a concentration in Russian language, literature and culture, these electives will be from Slavic Department courses on Russian literature and culture. For majors with a concentration in Russian studies, one or both electives may be taken, with prior departmental approval, from other related fields.

Department Minor Requirements

Requirements for a Minor in the Russian Language

Lower division requirements for the major plus:		Units
SLL 320	Advanced Russian I	4
SLL 321	Russian Culture	4
SLL 325	Advanced Russian II	4
SLL 400	Survey of Russian Literature	4

Requirements for a Minor in Russian Literature

Lower division requirements for the major plus:		Units
SLL 300	The Russian Novel	4
SLL 301	The Russian Literary Avant-Garde, or
SLL 302	Modern Russian Literature	4

And two elective courses in Russian literature or culture

Requirements for the Interdisciplinary Russian Area Studies Minor

Lower division requirements

The core course, SLL 200 Russian Moral Dilemmas in the 20th Century, and three semesters of Russian language (SLL 120, 150 and 250, or Individualized Instruction, SLL 125ab, 155ab, and 225ab), or its equivalent.

Upper division requirements

Four courses chosen from the following course offerings of three participating departments, which must include a course from the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and from the Department of History: SLL 300, 301, 302, 320, 330, 344, 345, 346, 380; ECON 346, 427; HIST 320, 324, 328, 415, 416, 424; IR 345, 483; POSC 464, 631 (by petition); SOCI 462.

Journalism-Russian Combined Major

Students admitted to the School of Journalism may elect to follow a combined Journalism/Russian major. The major consists of eight journalism classes; four classes in literature and culture from the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; two electives from a selected list of history, international relations, political science, Slavic literature and culture, and sociology courses; and four semesters of Russian. Majors will be required to fulfill the general education requirements for the Social Sciences. To be awarded the B.A. degree in Journalism/Russian, students must complete the 48 units required in Journalism and Slavic Languages and Literatures courses with at least a B- (2.7) grade point average and no grade lower than a C (2.0).

Required journalism courses		Units
JOUR 201	History of News in Modern America	4
JOUR 205	Newswriting	4
JOUR 350	Principles of Public Relations	4
JOUR 307	News Editing	4
JOUR 462	Law of Mass Communication	4

one course chosen from among:
JOUR 300L	Principles of Television Production	4
JOUR 351a	Public Relations Media	4
JOUR 400	Interpretive Writing	4
JOUR 435	Writing Magazine Non-Fiction	4
JOUR 440	Specialized Reporting	4
JOUR 441	Sports Reporting	4
JOUR 443	Business Reporting	4
JOUR 447	Arts Reporting	4
JOUR 448	Governmental Reporting	4
JOUR 474	Interviewing and Profile Writing	4

The required classes in Slavic languages and literatures are: four semesters of Russian language (SLL 120, 150, 220 and 250), of which 12 units will satisfy the university's language requirement; and SLL 330 Russian Thought and Civilization; plus three classes chosen from among SLL 200, 210, 300, 302, 303, 344, 345, 348, 378, 400; plus two classes chosen from among History 320, 324, 328, 415, 416, 424; International Relations 345, 370, 483; Political Science 464; SLL 301, 321; or Sociology 462.

Students meeting the School of Journalism graduation requirements will be awarded a B.A. degree in Journalism/Russian.

Graduate Degrees

Admission Requirements

An undergraduate major in Slavic Languages and Literatures or equivalent is a prerequisite for graduate work. Undergraduate major requirements must include four language and four literature courses at the upper division level.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to Requirements for Graduation and the Graduate School for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Transfer credit to be applied toward the master's degree must have been earned no earlier than 10 years prior to the date of application.

Master of Arts in Slavic Languages and Literatures

A student must complete 30 units in Russian, three units of which may be taken in a related department. Students who lack undergraduate preparation in any given area may be required to take appropriate courses at the 400 level before enrolling in 500-level courses. Command of spoken and written Russian must be demonstrated; a proficiency examination must be taken at the beginning of the first semester of study and again before the completion of the degree to demonstrate sufficient progress. Written and oral examinations or a thesis are required on completion of course work. The thesis is an honors option. The departmental Graduate Committee will consider thesis requests on the basis of a student's performance in graduate courses, units completed, and individual background in Russian literature. The thesis may be taken in lieu of four units of course work.

Required courses		Units
SLL 500	Topics in Advanced Russian (2 units each semester to total 8 units)	8
SLL 501	Proseminar in Russian Literature	3
SLL 516	Structure of Modern Russian: Morphology	3
SLL 530	Early Russian Literature and Culture (11th-17th Centuries), or
SLL 532	18th Century Russian Literature	3

Two courses in 19th century Russian literature, and two courses in 20th century Russian literature (one course in Russian art or culture may be substituted for one course in either 19th or 20th century literature).

One elective may be selected from relevant courses in any department with approval of the graduate advisor.

Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures

The course of study leading to the Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures requires 30 units of course work beyond the M.A. Requirements include: demonstrated proficiency in spoken and written Russian; reading knowledge of French and German; comprehensive examinations in primary and secondary fields of concentration; dissertation. Required courses are: SLL 510 or 512, 548, 584, 585; and two courses selected from SLL 650, 660, and 665.

Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics

Specialization in Slavic

See Linguistics.

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