Information and Departmental Plan of Study
Advanced Placement
The department(link is external) gives its own placement test to all incoming students who have studied Russian. On the basis of this test, students are placed in an appropriate course. Successful completion of RUS 107, RUS 108 (Russian for Heritage Speakers), or immediate assignment to a higher course satisfies the A.B. language requirement. If students have experience speaking Russian at home, but lack formal schooling in the language, they should contact Svetlana Korshunova ([email protected](link sends e-mail)) to discuss placement in Russian for Speakers.
Program of Study
A minimum of eight departmental courses is required, in addition to a required Junior Methods Seminar. Four upper-level courses must be within the department, two of which must be from the core survey courses (SLA 219, 220, 221); the other four courses may be from cognate areas depending on the student's particular interests. For example, if the major field of concentration is 19th-century prose, the program might include courses from French or German literature. Students with a strong interest in Russian and Soviet studies might take area courses in the Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies such as Russian history, politics, anthropology, or sociology. These are only sample suggestions. The program is flexible and strives to satisfy as wide a range of interests as possible.
Concentrators are required to complete RUS 207 and one or more advanced language courses (RUS 208, 405, 406, 407, or 408); or one of the upper-level literature courses taught in Russian (SLA 308, 312, 350, 413). Students who place beyond RUS 207, or who complete the Russian Heritage Speakers courses (RUS 103-108), will work with the director of undergraduate studies to design an appropriate course of study.
Independent Work
Junior Independent Work. Slavic majors are required to take a credit-bearing methods seminar in the fall of their junior year. This seminar will be devoted to various approaches to the field in Russian (or other Slavic languages), including one seminar session on research methods with Dr. Thomas Keenan ([email protected](link sends e-mail)), the Firestone Library Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies librarian; and including, but not limited to, examples of scholarship written by Slavic department faculty. Separate from the grade for the seminar, juniors will receive one JP grade for their year-long independent work, which will be recorded on the spring transcript. The English-language paper (20–25 pages), which will incorporate Russian (or other Slavic language) resources to a significant degree, will comprise one-half of the year-long junior independent work grade. Please refer to the Slavic Department Guide to Independent Work for the most up-to-date guidelines for each assignment.
Senior Independent Work. In the senior year, the student's independent work, written under departmental supervision, consists of a thesis of about 20,000 words to be submitted two weeks before the first day of the spring term reading period. After the thesis is submitted, students do a brief (5-minute) presentation in Russian (or relevant Slavic language), and following after each presentation, there is a question and answer period in English, for the Slavic Department faculty and fellow students. Total presentation time will run roughly 15 minutes per student. This presentation does not receive a grade.
Senior Departmental Examination
Graduating seniors are required to take a comprehension examination on Russian literature. Together with the thesis and departmental grades, this examination is one of three components that determine departmental honors. The take-home exam is based on a core list of works taught in the three survey courses offered by the department. Students may substitute a limited number of works based on their individual interests for the comprehensive exam. The finalized list must be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies one month before the exam.