Slavic Studies

Description

Slavic Studies is concerned with the languages, literatures, and civilizations of the Slavic world. Built on sound knowledge of one or two Slavic languages (normally Russian or Czech) the program allows students to develop an in-depth appreciation and understanding of East European cultures and civilizations through a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary fields. Students take courses in literature, history, culture, theater, political science, economics, and international relations. Concentrators focusing on Russia learn one of the world’s most commonly spoken languages and study some of the world’s best-regarded authors and composers: Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Gogol and Bulgakov, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky. Focusing on Czech allows students to explore, for example, how Czechs distinguished themselves by peacefully transitioning from communism to capitalism (the “Velvet Revolution”) and separating peacefully with the Slovak Republic (the “Velvet Divorce”). Most concentrators study abroad in a Slavic country, either during the academic year or the summer. 

Student Goals

Students in this concentration will:

• Understand the history, politics, and expressive cultures of the Slavic world
• Acquire intermediate proficiency in Russian, Czech, Polish, or other Slavic language
• Develop sophisticated skills in close reading and textual analysis
• Study abroad in a Slavic culture
• Produce a body of critical papers relating to a specific Slavic literature or culture

Requirements

Click here for a list of the Slavic Studies concentration requirements. For more information about this concentration, please visit the department's website.

Honors and Capstones

Honors candidacy in Slavic Studies assumes an excellent academic record, particularly in the concentration. Honors candidates must write a senior thesis and enroll in either RU, SL, or CZ198. Please see the department's website for a complete description of program requirements.

Liberal Learning

This concentration allows you to address the following Liberal Learning goals:

• Enhance your aesthetic sensibility
• Expand your reading skills
• Collaborate fully
• Understand differences among cultures
• Embrace Diversity
• Engage with your community
• Develop a facility with symbolic languages
• Learn what it means to study the past
• Evaluate human behavior
• Work on your speaking and writing

Download the full statement on Liberal Learning at Brown

Affiliated Departments

• Comparative Literature
• History
• International Relations
• Language Studies
• Political Science
• Theate Arts and Performance Studies

Advisors

• Michal Oklot

Graduating Class

Alumni Pathways

Slavic Studies alumni have worked in areas as diverse as medicine, diplomacy, museum curatorship and the arts, translation, publishing, and business. They've earned competitive research awards such as the Fulbright, and have pursued masters and doctoral programs in European and Central Asian Studies and Slavic Studies at Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, University of Michigan, Stanford, and Columbia.

Dept. Undergraduate Group

Student Leaders:

• Kelley McKee