Taper Hall of Humanities 408
(213) 740-2735
E-mail: slavic@bcf.usc.edu
FAX: (213) 740-8550Chair: Thomas Seifrid, Ph.D.
Faculty
Professors: John Bowlt, Ph.D.; Alexander Zholkovsky, Ph.D.
Associate Professors: Marcus Levitt, Ph.D.; Maria Polinsky, Ph.D. (Linguistics); Sarah Pratt, Ph.D.; Thomas Seifrid, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor: Daniel L. Bayer, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor: Anthony M. Mlikotin, 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 six 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 the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue 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 (In exceptional cases a second Slavic language may substitute for either French or German. Instruction in Slavic languages other than Russian is not scheduled on a regular basis); 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 in this catalogue.
USC Source BookCampus MapAdmissionUSCweb
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs,
Office of University Publications
univpub@usc.edu