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This archived information is dated to the 2008-09 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Bachelor of Arts in Slavic Languages and Literatures

Up one level:

Undergraduate Programs in Slavic Languages and Literatures

The Department offers two fields of study for undergraduate majors: Russian Language and Literature; and Russian Language, Culture, and History. These fields of study are declared on Axess and appear on the transcript but not on the diploma. The department also offers a degree option in Russian and Philosophy. This option is not declared on Axess and does not appear on the transcript or the diploma.

Writing in the Major—Undergraduates are required by the University to pass at least one writing-intensive course in their field of concentration in order to graduate. Majors in any Slavic track may satisfy the writing requirement by passing SLAVGEN 146.

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The Russian Language and Literature field of study is designed for those students who wish to gain command of the Russian language and to study the nation's literary tradition. Emphasis is placed on the linguistic and philological study of literature, as well as the history of Russian literature and related media in the broader context of Russian culture. Students may explore historically related literary traditions (for example, English, French, German), as well as other related fields. The Russian Language and Literature field of study also welcomes students with an interest in Russian and Slavic linguistics.

Majors who concentrate in Russian Language and Literature must earn a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 (C) or better in order to receive credit toward the major.

Prerequisites—Completion of SLAVLANG 51, 52, 53, or the equivalent, as determined by the results of the department placement examination.

Requirements—Candidates for the B.A. degree with a Russian Language and Literature field of study must complete an additional 56 units according to the following distribution:

Russian Language—A minimum of 12 units from: SLAVLANG 111, 112, 113, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183.

Russian Literature—The 20-unit core literature sequence consisting of:

SLAVGEN 145. Age of Experiment: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol

SLAVGEN 146. The Great Russian Novel

SLAVGEN 147. The Age of Revolution

SLAVGEN 148. The Age of Dissent

SLAVLIT 187 or 188

Electives—Students must take 24 units of electives embracing at least two of the following categories. These courses are chosen in consultation with the department's director of undergraduate studies. With department consent, work in related academic fields may be applied toward the degree requirements. Students who have completed IHUM 28A,B, Poetic Justice: Order and Imagination in Russian Culture, with a grade of 'B' or better may count these 10 units towards elective courses required for the major.

  1. Russian language or linguistics; courses for 2008-09 include:

    SLAVLIT 211. Introduction to Old Church Slavic

    LINGUIST 173/273. Structure of Russian

  2. Russian literature; courses for 2008-09 include:

    SLAVGEN 77Q. Russia's Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol

    SLAVGEN 195/295. Contemporary Russian Theater

    SLAVGEN 151/251. Dostoevsky and His Time

    SLAVGEN 153/253. Russian Jewish Literature

    SLAVGEN 155/255. Anton Chekhov and the Turn of the Century

    SLAVGEN 156/256. Nabokov and Modernism

    SLAVLIT 190/290. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Social Thought of Its Time

    SLAVLIT 227. Boris Pasternak and the Poetry of the Russian Avant-Garde

    SLAVLIT 289B. Literature and Culture of Kievan Rus and Muscovy

  3. Historically related literatures

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND HISTORY

The Russian Language, Culture, and History field of study is for students who want to obtain command of the Russian language and to pursue a broad, interdisciplinary study of Russian literature and culture in an historical context. Emphasis is on the relation of the Russian literary tradition to other arts, including film, as well as the disciplines that have enriched the historical understanding of Russian literature: history, anthropology, communications, art history, political science, and sociology. Majors in the Russian Language, Culture, and History field of study must earn a GPA of 2.0 (C) or better in order to receive credit toward the major.

Prerequisites—Completion of SLAVLANG 51, 52, 53, or the equivalent, as determined by the results of the department placement examination.

Requirements—Candidates for the B.A. degree with a Russian Language, Culture, and History field of study must complete an additional 56 units according to the following distribution.

Russian Language—A minimum of 12 units from: SLAVLANG 111, 112, 113, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183.

19th-Century Russian Literature and History—A minimum of 12 units chosen from the following courses or the equivalent; students must choose one course from Slavic and one course from History.

SLAVGEN 145, 146

HISTORY 120B or equivalent

20th-Century Russian Literature and History—A minimum of 12 units chosen from the following or the equivalent; students must choose one course from Slavic and one course from History.

SLAVGEN 147 or 148

HISTORY 120C or equivalent

Electives—In order to complete the basic degree requirements, students must take 24 additional units of course work embracing at least two of the following categories. These courses are chosen in consultation with the undergraduate director. With department consent, work in related academic fields (for example, anthropology, communications, political science, religion, sociology) may apply toward the degree requirements. Students who have completed IHUM 28A, B, Poetic Justice: Order and Imagination in Russian Culture, with a grade of 'B' or better may count these 10 units towards elective courses required for the major.

  1. Russian language or linguistics; courses for 2008-09 include:

    SLAVLIT 211. Introduction to Old Church Slavic

    LINGUIST 173/273. Structure of Russian

  2. Russian literature; courses for 2008-09 include:

    SLAVGEN 77Q. Russia's Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol

    SLAVGEN 151/251. Dostoevsky and His Time

    SLAVGEN 153/253. Russian Jewish Literature

    SLAVGEN 155/255. Anton Chekhov and the Turn of the Century

    SLAVGEN 156/256. Nabokov and Modernism

    SLAVGEN 195/295. Contemporary Russian Theater

    SLAVLIT 190/290. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Social Thought of Its Time

    SLAVLIT 227. Boris Pasternak and the Poetry of the Russian Avant-Garde

    SLAVLIT 289B. Literature and Culture of Kievan Rus and Muscovy

  3. Russian history

COGNATE COURSES

Units earned for completion of the following cognate courses may be applied to unit requirements for the departmental major. Other courses may also be applied toward unit requirements, with the approval of the department.

ANTHRO 248A. Nomads of Eurasia

ARTHIST 245. Photo Utopias under Stalin

ARTHIST 248. Futurisms

ARTHIST 409. Iconoclasm

ARTHIST 475. Media Cultures of the Cold War

HISTORY 221B. Woman Question in Modern Russia

HISTORY 223. Art and Ideas in Imperial Russia

HISTORY 321C. Soviet Historiography

HISTORY 424C. End of Communism in Europe

INTNLREL 166. Russia and Islam

LINGUIST 173/273. Structure of Russian

POLISCI 140C. Post-Communist Transitions

REES 130/330. With God in Russia: Orthodox Christianity in the 19th and 20th Centuries

RUSSIAN AND PHILOSOPHY

The Russian and Philosophy option offers students the opportunity to gain a command of the Russian language and literary tradition, while gaining a background in philosophical thought, broadly construed. They take courses alongside students in other departments participating in the program in Philosophical and Literary Thought, with administrative staff in the DLCL. This option is not declared on Axess. Majors who concentrate in Russian and Philosophy must earn a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 (C) or better in order to receive credit toward the major. Courses in other departments may not, in general, be counted toward the Russian language, Russian literature, and elective requirements, but may be counted toward the other requirements.

Prerequisites—Completion of SLAVLANG 51, 52, 53, or the equivalent, as determined by the results of the department placement examination.

Requirements—Candidates for the B.A. degree with a concentration in Russian and Philosophy must complete an additional 67 units according to the following distribution:

Russian Language—A minimum of 12 units selected from: SLAVLANG 111, 112, 113, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183.

Russian Literature—A minimum of 16 units of Russian literature, including the following:

SLAVGEN 145 and 146

SLAVGEN 147 or 148

SLAVLIT 187 or 188

Electives—At least 12 units of electives in Russian language and literature, chosen in consultation with the undergraduate director.

Philosophy and Literature Gateway Course (4 units)—SLAVGEN 181 (same as PHIL 81).

Philosophy Writing in the Major (5 units)—PHIL 80; prerequisite: introductory philosophy course.

Philosophy Core—12 units, including the following:

Value Theory: a course in the PHIL 170 series

Theories of Mind, Language, Action: a course in the PHIL 180 series

History of Philosophy: a course from the PHIL 100-139 series

Related Course—An upper-division course of special relevance to philosophy and literature. A list of approved courses is available from the program director.

Capstone Seminar— One capstone seminar must be taken in the student's senior year. This year's capstone seminars are:

COMPLIT 154/GERLIT 154. Heidegger on Hölderlin

PHIL 173A. Aesthetics: Metaphor across the Arts

DIGITAL HUMANITIES MODULE

The Slavic department also offers a digital humanities module that can be combined with any of the department's major programs. Students who are interested in digital humanities should contact the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students planning to combine the Russian major and the digital humanities module must fulfill the following requirements in addition to the general Russian major requirements:

  1. CS 105 or equivalent
  2. Participate in the gateway core seminar, HUMNTIES 198J/ENGLISH 153H, Digital Humanities: Literature and Technology (5 units)
  3. Complete the HUMNTIES 201, Digital Humanities Practicum (2-5 units), in the junior year
  4. Complete one digital project, in lieu of the course's main writing requirement, in a course offered in the department under the supervision of the course instructor and humanities lab adviser. This should usually be done in an upper-division course.
  5. Students are encouraged to enroll in DLCL 99, Multimedia Course Lab, when working on the digital course project.

HONORS PROGRAM

Majors in any track or option with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 (B+) or better in their major courses are eligible to participate in the department's honors program. Prospective honors students must choose a senior thesis tutor from among the department's regular faculty in their junior year and may enroll for 2 units of credit in SLAVLIT 189B in Spring Quarter of the junior year to conduct preliminary research and draft an honors proposal under the guidance of their tutor. In addition to the program requirements above, students must also complete the following:

  1. Majors who propose a senior project in literature must take a course in literary or cultural theory, such as SLAVLIT 200 (Proseminar in Literary Theory and Study of Russian Literature); this requirement may also be fulfilled by enrollment in DLCL 189 or, with approval of the thesis adviser, in an advanced course related to the area of the student's expected research. Students concentrating in Russian Language, Culture, and History, and pursuing a project in cultural history, must take a course in literary or cultural theory, a graduate seminar in the area of their topic, or DLCL 189, a 5-unit seminar that focuses on researching and writing the honors thesis. DLCL 189 is taken in Autumn Quarter of the senior year. Students concentrating in Russian Language and Literature who propose a senior project in Russian language select their course in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
  2. SLAVLIT 189A, taken for 5 units of credit while composing the thesis during Winter Quarter. Students who did not enroll in a 189B course in the junior year may enroll in SLAVLIT 189B in Spring Quarter of the senior year while revising the thesis, if approved by the thesis adviser.
  3. To qualify for honors, the candidate must receive a grade of 'B' or better on the thesis or project completed during this period. A total of 10-12 units may be awarded for completion of honors course work, independent study, and the finished thesis.

OVERSEAS STUDIES

The department encourages interested students to consider studying abroad at the Stanford Center in Moscow. Some courses taken there may be applied toward the major. Courses approved for the Slavic Languages and Literatures major and taught overseas can be found in the "Overseas Studies" section of this bulletin, or in the Overseas Studies office, 126 Sweet Hall.

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