Slavic Languages and Literatures
Photo: Veronica Pillar
Students choose the concentration in Slavic for a variety of reasons. Some elect to major in the department because of the general liberal arts training it offers: the rigor of learning a foreign language; the challenge of coming face to face with the big questions of life posed in the masterpieces of Russian literature; the breadth that comes from the study of a foreign culture with very different basic assumptions. Some regard the major as a way to combine their interest in Russian language, literature, and/or linguistics with work in other fields. For many, majoring in Slavic is a way to build an uncommon, intriguing profile for the job market, which sets them apart from other candidates. Slavic department graduates have gone on to business, law, medical, and journalism schools. They have continued studies in fields including literature, linguistics, history, politics, education, sociology; economics, film, environmental studies, and Russian area studies. They have gone on to careers in the creative arts — theater, writing, and other arts-related fields. With the current situation in United States/Russia relations, career opportunities are increasing.
What Students Say
• What is Slavic languages and literature?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a Slavic major?
• What are common misconceptions about Slavic majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have Slavic majors had?
• How will Slavic majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a Slavic major?
What is Slavic languages and literature?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a Slavic major?
• What are common misconceptions about Slavic majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have Slavic majors had?
• How will Slavic majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a Slavic major?
What is Slavic languages and literature?
The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, perhaps not surprisingly, concentrates on the study of Slavic languages and cultures — Russian is the most common, but others include Polish, Czech, and Bosnian. The department therefore pulls from a number of academic disciplines — comparative literature, anthropology, Russian language — to analytically discuss literature and culture.
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What can you learn from it?Basically, you learn about the literature, culture, and history of the region. Indeed, almost all of the courses within the department are about Russia and its neighbors. However, the department is unparalleled precisely because you interact with these objects of study in so many different ways. Because so many disciplines are involved in the study of these cultures and regions, classes may analyze the great classical Russian authors — Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, etc. — for their literary glory, analyze the anthropology and politics of modern Russia, or discuss the literature and culture of the Soviet Union in terms of its social content or its "beauty." While the department concentrates on one area of study, one can learn from a variety of disciplines in the process.
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What is it like being a Slavic major?
Life as a Slavic major is ideal. The SLA faculty bends over backwards to help its majors and attract students of different backgrounds. Even then, every year there are more faculty in the department than majors, a fact which allows one's interaction with the department to be incredibly personal.
Secondly, the course requirements for the major are extremely flexible. Majors can craft their study around Slavic literature, Slavic politics and economics, or Slavic culture, or any mixture of the three.
One requirement for majoring in SLA is the language requirement — you need to have taken the equivalent of three years of Russian language before graduating. While this may seem daunting, anyone who starts Russian as a freshman or sophomore in order to fulfill the language requirement should have no trouble finishing it. The department even accepts students who after four semesters have no Russian; with potential summer study and study abroad, this simply is not as terrible as it may seem. The department organizes one such summer program, Princeton in St. Petersburg, designed for students who have had one year of Russian at Princeton.
Like many other majors, the department requires two JPs. Both are very reasonable, especially given the length of some papers you will no doubt have to write in the two years prior to junior year. However, a Russian JP can be difficult for students with lesser Russian, and the department anticipates such problems. The thesis should be about 80-100 pages, certainly a burden but no different from any other major.
First of all, learning Russian is more doable than some would imagine; learning a new alphabet is difficult, but the language has an inner logic that makes it more predictable than, say, Chinese. Moreover, Slavic majors come from all different backgrounds — there is certainly no pattern, and students in the program also interest themselves in comparative literature, history, politics, economics, and even mathematics.
Internationally, Slavic majors tend to go to Russia and its surrounding areas. However, students participate in a variety of internships and programs there, from financial internships at Alfa Capital, to study in St. Petersburg or Moscow, or work with Russian news agencies or oil companies. The diverse background of the major also prepares students for work in the United States — internships in banking, marketing, teaching, etc., are all attainable within the major.
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Russia will always be a very important place — culturally, politically, and economically; therefore, the world will need people who understand Russia and can apply the lessons they've learned from Russia to the wider world.
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Everyone knows that Russians, and by extension the Slavic department, know how to have a good time.