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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.

Master of Arts in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

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Graduate Programs in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

CREEES offers a one-year intensive interdisciplinary master's degree program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies for students with a strong prior language and area studies background. The program structure allows students the flexibility to pursue their particular academic interests, while providing intellectual cohesion through a required core curriculum that addresses historical and contemporary processes of change in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. This core curriculum consists of three core courses and REES 200, Core Seminar Series. The program may be taken separately or coterminally with a B.A. degree program. The interdisciplinary M.A. program typically serves three types of students:

  1. Those who intend to pursue careers and/or advanced degrees in such fields as business, education, government, journalism, or law, and who wish to establish competence in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies.
  2. Those who intend to apply to a Ph.D. program involving Russian, East European and Eurasian studies and who need to enhance their academic skills and credentials.
  3. Those who are as yet undecided on a career but who wish to continue an interest in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies.

ADVISING

The advising structure is two-tiered: each M.A. candidate works with the CREEES academic coordinator who advises on the program of course work and monitors the student's progress toward completing the degree. Candidates are also assigned a faculty adviser from the Academic Council faculty, who provides intellectual and academic guidance.

ADMISSION

Applicants are encouraged to apply electronically; see http://gradadmissions.stanford.edu for a link to the electronic application and general information regarding graduate admission. In addition, prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with the academic coordinator at CREEES regarding the application process.

To qualify for admission to the program, the following apply:

  1. Applicants must have earned a B.A. or B.S. degree, or the equivalent.
  2. Applicants must have completed at least three years of college-level Russian language study or the equivalent prior to beginning the program. Other languages of Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
  3. Applicants whose native language is not English are ordinarily expected to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and have the results sent to Graduate Admissions, Office of the University Registrar.
  4. All applicants must take the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination and have the results sent to Graduate Admissions, Office of the University Registrar.
  5. Applicants must submit a writing sample on a topic in Russian, East European, or Eurasian studies.

The deadline for submission of applications for admission and for financial aid is January 6, 2009. Admission is normally granted for Autumn Quarter, but requests for exceptions are considered.

The successful applicant generally demonstrates the following strengths: requisite foreign language study, significant course work in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies in multiple disciplines, outstanding grades in previous academic work, strong writing skills, high GRE scores (particularly verbal and analytical writing), study or work experience in the region, strong letters of recommendation, and a persuasive statement of purpose explaining why and how the program fits the applicant's academic and career goals.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Candidates for the M.A. degree must meet University requirements for an M.A. degree as described in the "Graduate Degrees" section of this bulletin.

The M.A. program in REEES can ordinarily be completed in one academic year by a well-prepared student; longer periods of study are permitted.

Requirements to complete the interdisciplinary M.A. degree are principally ones of distribution, with the exception of three required core courses and a core seminar, as described below. Each student, with the advice of the CREEES academic coordinator, selects courses according to the student's interests, needs, and goals.

All students in the M.A. REEES program must complete a minimum of 48 academic credit units within the following guidelines.

  1. Core courses: students must complete three core courses. Each year, eight to ten courses, typically from the History, Political Science, and Slavic Languages and Literatures departments, are designated as M.A. core courses; students may select three of these to meet the core course requirement. Courses selected as core courses examine subject areas of fundamental importance within modern Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and address questions of research, methodology, and current scholarship.
  2. Core seminar: REES 200, Current Issues in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, is required of all students in the M.A. program for a total of three academic quarters. The goal of this course is to survey current methodological and substantive issues in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies, acquaint students with Stanford resources and faculty, and present professional development and career options.
  3. Interdisciplinary course work: a minimum of five graduate courses in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies must be completed and distributed among at least three disciplines. All course work applied to the 48-unit minimum must deal primarily with Russian, Eurasian, or East European studies.
  4. Language study: students in the program are expected to study Russian or another language of the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. Credit towards the 48-unit minimum (maximum 3 units per quarter, 9 units total) is allowed for advanced language work; in the case of Russian, "advanced" is defined as third-year Russian language instruction and above. Similar standards apply for other languages.
  5. All course work qualifying for the 48-unit minimum (except REES 200) must have a letter grade of 'B' or higher. ('B-' does not count for degree credit, nor does 'S' or 'CR'.)
  6. All courses counting towards the 48-unit minimum must be approved by the CREEES academic coordinator, who ensures that planned course work satisfies requirements towards the degree. The CREEES director and steering committee determine the requirements.

Core Courses for 2008-09—

HISTORY 221B. The Woman Question in Modern Russia

HISTORY 323. Art and Ideas in Imperial Russia

HISTORY 321C. Historiography of the Soviet Union

HISTORY 322. Topics in Early Modern Russian History

INTNLREL 166. Russian and Islam

POLISCI 140C. The Comparative Political Economy of Post-Communist Transitions

POLISCI 314D. Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (Same as IPS 230.)

REES 205. Central and East European Politics

REES 320. State and Nation Building in Central Asia

SLAVGEN 255. Anton Chekhov and the Turn of the Century

SLAVGEN 290.Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in Dialogue with Contemporary Philosophical, Social, and Ethical Thought

Additional 2008-09 courses which may be counted for the M.A. degree—

ANTHRO 147A. Folklore, Mythology, and Islam in Central Asia

ANTHRO 248A. Nomads of Eurasia: Culture in Transition

ARTHIST 245. Photographic Utopia Under Stalin

FILMSTUD 334A. Poetic Cinema: The Soviet School

HISTORY 337. The Holocaust

HISTORY 324B. Modern Afghanistan

HISTORY 329. Poles and Jews

HISTORY 399A. Design and Methodology for International Field Research

HISTORY 323B. Research Methodologies in Early Modern Russian History

HISTORY 324F. The Caucasus and the Muslim World

HISTORY 421A. Early Modern Russia

HISTORY 424C. The End of Communism in Europe

IPS 241. International Security in a Changing World (Same as POLISCI 114S.)

IPS 243. The History, Science, Technology, and Politics of Missile Defense

MS&E 293. Technology and National Security

POLISCI 240T. American Efforts at Promoting Democracy Abroad: Theory and Reality

REES 320. State and Nation Building in Central Asia

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

SLAVGEN 245. Age of Experiment: From Pushkin to Gogol

SLAVGEN 246. History and Other Theories of Time and Action in the Great Russian Novel

SLAVGEN 247. The Age of War and Evolution: A Survey of Russian Literature and Culture, 1900-1950s

SLAVGEN 251. Dostoevsky and His Times (Same as COMPLIT 219.)

SLAVGEN 253. Russian Jewish Literature

SLAVGEN 256. Nabokov in the Transnational Context (Same as COMPLIT 215.)

SLAVGEN 295. Russian Theater

SLAVLIT 287. Russian Poetry of the 18th and 19th Centuries

SLAVLIT 200A. Introduction to Russian Literary Scholarship

SLAVLIT 211. Introduction to Old Church Slavic

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

Other courses may be counted towards the M.A. by special arrangement with the instructor and the CREEES academic coordinator.

A description of the M.A. program is also available on the web at http://CREEES.stanford.edu/academic/graduate-masters.html and by request from the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

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