Master of Arts in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

CREEES offers a one-year 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 Russian Federation, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. 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:

Those who intend to pursue careers and/or advanced degrees in such fields as business, education, government, journalism, medicine, or law, and who wish to establish competence in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies.
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.
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 associate director 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 apply electronically; see http://gradadmissions.stanford.edu for a link to the electronic application and general information regarding graduate admission. In addition, prospective applicants may consult with the CREEES associate director regarding the application process.

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

Applicants must have earned a B.A. or B.S. degree, or the equivalent.
At least three years of college-level language study in Russian, a East European or Central Asian language, is preferred. Candidates with fewer years of area language study will be considered.
Applicants whose native language is not English and do not possess a U.S. bachelor's degree are 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.
All applicants must take the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and have the results sent to Graduate Admissions, Office of the University Registrar.
Applicants must submit a writing sample of 20 pages or less in English on a topic in Russian, East European, or Eurasian studies.

The deadline for submission of applications for admission and for financial aid is January 11, 2011. 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 analytical writing skills, high GRE scores (particularly verbal and analytical writing), study or work experience in the region, strong letters of recommendation from faculty members in the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies field (one letter may be from a language instructor), and a persuasive statement of purpose explaining how the program would advance 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 associate director, 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.

Core courses: students must complete three core courses, including REES 301 Gateway Course in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (autumn), REES 340 The Comparative Political Economy of Post-Communist Transitions (autumn), and REES 320 State and Nation-Building in Central Asia (winter).
Core seminar: REES 200, Current Issues in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, is required of all students in the M.A. program in the winter and spring 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.
Interdisciplinary course work: all courses (other than language courses) must be taken on the graduate level (200-level or higher). 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.
Language study: students in the program are encouraged to study Russian or a language of Eastern Europe, Central Asia or the Caucasus. Credit towards the 48-unit minimum (maximum 3 units per quarter, 9 units total) is allowed for advanced language work.
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'.)
All courses counting towards the 48-unit minimum must be approved by the CREEES associate director, who ensures that planned course work satisfies requirements towards the degree. The CREEES director and steering committee determine the requirements. Consult the CREEES website or the associate director for the complete and updated list of courses which may be taken toward the degree.

Required Core Courses for 2011-12—

REES 301. Gateway Course in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

REES 320. State and Nation Building in Central Asia

REES 340. Comparative Political Economy of Post-CommunistTransitions

Pre-approved courses—

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

ANTHRO 148A/248A. Nomads of Eurasia: Culture in Transition

ARTHIST 106. Byzantine Art and Architecture, 300-1453 C.E.

ARTHIST 208. Hagia Sophia

COMPLIT 219. Dostoevsky and His Time

HISTORY 125. 20th-Century Eastern Europe

HISTORY 137/337. The Holocaust

HISTORY 138A. Germany and the World Wars

HISTORY 185B. Jews in the Modern World

HISTORY 224A/424A. Soviet Civilization

HISTORY 224B/324B. Modern Afghanistan

HISTORY 227/327. East European Women and War in the 20th Century

HISTORY 236A/336A. Nations and Nationalism in East-Central Europe

HISTORY 236D/336D. Cold War Europe

HISTORY 238K/328K. Resistance and Collaboration in Hitler's Europe During World War II

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

POLISCI 241L. Democracy and the Market in Eastern Europe

RELIGST 125. Authority of the Past in Islamic Thought

SLAVGEN 145/245. Age of Experiment: From Pushkin to Gogol

SLAVGEN 146/246. The Age of the Great Russian Novel: History and Other Theories of Time

SLAVGEN 147/247. The Age of War and Revolution: A Survey of Russian Literature and Culture, 1900-1950s

SLAVGEN 148/248. Dissent and Disenchantment: A Survey of Literature and Culture, 1953 to Present

SLAVGEN 169/269. Slavic Folklore and Folklore Theory

SLAVLIT 179/279. Literature from Old Rus' and Medieval Russian

SLAVLIT 188/288. Russian Poetry

SLAVLIT 203. Academic Russian

SLAVLIT 211. Introduction to Old Church Slavic

SLAVLIT 224. The Russian Postmodern Novel

SLAVLIT 232. Formalism/Semiotics/Bakhtin: Key Texts

SLAVLIT 272. Osip Mandelstam and the Modernist Paradigm

Additional courses which may be counted for the M.A. degree (with approval) —

ANTRHO 338A. Biohumanities: Continental Philosophy and the Human and Social Sciences

ARTHIST 411. Animacy, Performance, Presence in Medieval Art

COMPLIT 122. Literature as Performance

DRAMA 167/267. Avant Garde Theater

DRAMA 300A. Critical Styles I

FILMSTUD 102. Theories of the Moving Image

FILMSTUD 116/316. International Documentary

FILMSTUD 137/337. European New Wave Cinemas

HISTORY 284/384. The Ottoman Turks in Comparative Perspective: The Inner Life of a Eurasian Empire

HISTORY 299X. Design and Methodology for International Field Research

INTNLREL 122A. The Political Economy of the European Union

IPS 211. The Transition from War to Peace: Peacebuilding Strategies

IPS 219. Intelligence and National Security

IPS 221 International Organizations and Institutions

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

IPS 280. Transitional Justice, International Criminal Tribunals, and the International Criminal Court

LINGUIST 167. Languages of the World

MS&E 193/293. Technology and National Security

POLISCI 141. The Global Politics of Human Rights

POLISCI 210R. International Conflict: Management and Resolution (Same as IPS 250)

POLISCI 214R/314R. Challenges and Dilemmas in American Foreign Policy

POLISCI 242P. The Comparative Politics of Corruption

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

POLISCI 314S. Decision Making in U.S. Foreign Policy (Same as IPS 314S)

POLISCI 337S. Seminar on Liberation Technologies

RELIGST 222B. Sufism Seminar

RELIGST 224B/324B. Unveiling the Sacred: Explorations in Islamic Religious Imagination

RELIGST 236/336. European Reformations

SOC 109/209. The Sociology of Terrorism

SOC 341W. Workshop: Inequality

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

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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