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The Department offers the Ph.D. in Russian literature,
Medieval Slavic literature and philology (by special
arrangement), and Polish literature (by special arrangement).
The Department also offers, in conjunction with the
Program in Film Studies, a joint Ph.D. in Slavic Languages
and Literatures and Film Studies. Applicants to the
joint program must indicate on their application that
they are applying both to Film Studies and to Slavic
Languages and Literatures. All documentation within
the application should include this information.
Competence in Russian
All entering students should have a sufficient knowledge
of Russian to permit them to do satisfactory work at
the graduate level, and are required to pass a departmental
proficiency examination in Russian at the beginning
of the first semester of study. Students who do not
have adequate preparation will be required to make up
the deficiency in undergraduate classes.
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Competence in French and German
A reading examination in either French or German administered
and evaluated by the department must be passed by all
graduate students by the beginning of the fifth term
of study. These examinations are given by the Slavic
Department twice each year.
The student's study of French and German should not
be postponed, for books and articles in these languages
are used in many graduate courses and are included in
bibliographies. The French and German Departments offer
special reading courses to assist students in meeting
these requirements. Generally speaking, it is better
to take such courses than to attempt to acquire the
language proficiency on one's own.
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New Ph.D. Requirements
Required
Courses
Starting
with the cohort entering the graduate program in the
fall of 2005, all graduate students will be required
to take RUSS 605: “Topics in Russian Literature and
the Russian Literary Language: From the Origins of East
Slavic Writing to 1750” with Professor Harvey Goldblatt
that surveys the written culture of the Kievan and Muscovite
periods and that also includes the literature of the
first half of the 18th century. Students who are now
in the graduate program but have not begun preparing
for or taking the doctoral exams will have the option
of choosing the new system or staying with the old,
which focuses on “topics.” The readings for RUSS 605
will be coordinated with the department’s new graduate
reading list in Russian literature (which is two-tiered
and consists of works that all students are required
to read and of additional works that are recommended
but not required). All students will have to take an
examination in RUSS 605 that will also double as the
"pre-1750" exam for the doctorate. The other
courses that all graduate students are required to take
are SLAV 754, “Old Church Slavic,” with Professor Goldblatt,
and RUSS 834, “Aspects of Russian Grammar and Teaching
Methodologies,” with Dr. Irina Dolgova, which combines
pedagogy with the structure of Russian. The minimum
number of graduate courses for the Ph. D. is sixteen,
counting the above three courses; of these, two can
be taken in other departments if they are relevant to
a student’s program of study. As part of their program
of study, students will be responsible for developing
a minor field of specialization in one of the following:
(1) a Western or non-Western literature; (2) film studies;
(3) a topic in intellectual history; (4) one of the
other arts; (5) another Slavic literature; (6) Slavic
linguistics; (7) another discipline relevant to their
primary interests in Russian literature. Students who
have done graduate work elsewhere may petition the Slavic
Department for up to five courses credit toward their
degree after one year’s residence at Yale.
A
special curriculum may be arranged for students wishing
to specialize in either medieval Slavic literature and
philology or Polish literature; a minimum of sixteen
term courses will be required for each.
The
Slavic Department also participates in the joint Film
Studies Ph. D. that entails study in both departments.
(see: www.yale.edu/filmstudiesprogram).
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Examinations:
The
Ph. D. Qualifying Examinations comprise six parts. In
addition to the examination in Professor Goldblatt’s
course, all graduate students will take three written
examinations during the 3rd year of study on dates that
the department will specify in September, December and
February. During the 3rd year, all graduate students
will also take a 40-minute oral examination in their
minor field on a date that will be set by the student
and his/her examiners, and a one hour oral exam on a
prospectus topic on a date in April that will be set
by the department.
The
first written examination will last two hours and will
be on the later 18th century and the earlier 19th (up
to and including Karamzin). The second and third examinations
will last four hours each (with an hour's break in between)
and will be on the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively.
Each of these written exams will have two parts, A and
B. Each part will consist of several passages (2-3)
drawn from well-known works of literature that will
be identified. Part A will usually consist of poetry
passages, Part B of prose (or plays). The passages will
be drawn from works of Russian literature that are designated
as required on the departmental list. Each student will
have to choose one passage from A and one from B and
write an essay in which s/he analyzes the text from
as many of the following points of view as possible/relevant:
versification, style, structure, narrative point of
view, themes, genre, period, place in author's oeuvre,
literary history, comparative context, critical reception.
Each of these three exams will thus entail writing two
essays: in the case of the later 18th c. and earlier
19th c. exam, students will write for an hour about
each passage that they choose; in the 19th and 20th
c. exams, they will write for two hours about each passage.
Students will be informed how they performed after each
written and oral exam.
Each
exam will be compiled and graded by two members of the
faculty, whoever is most suitable, given areas of expertise.
After
the final written exam, all students will have a one-hour
oral exam on a date in April specified by the department
that will explore issues pertaining to the student’s
future dissertation prospectus. Normally, preparation
for this exam will entail more focused reading in the
departmental reading list. For example, a student interested
in Pasternak would read not only the required and recommended
works by Pasternak on the reading list, but also the
required and recommended works by other twentieth-century
poets. A student interested in nineteenth-century narrative
would read all the works by nineteenth-century prose
writers on the reading list. The oral exam will entail
a discussion of these readings and of the issues and
problems related to them that interest the student.
The aim of the exam is for the student to take an intermediate
step toward developing a dissertation prospectus and
of getting feedback from the faculty about this future
project. This oral exam will be administered by at least
2 members of the faculty, whoever is most suitable,
given areas of expertise. Back to top
Article in Lieu of Exam:
As a possible alternative to one of the six
written exams on the 18th, 19th, or 20th centuries (counting
parts A and B) students may choose to write a "publishable"
article in consultation with a faculty advisor. This
article will be due on the date that the exam on the
given century is normally scheduled.Back to top
Prospectus Defense:
A completed dissertation prospectus is due on September
15 of the student’s 7th term of study. After the prospectus
has been approved by the student’s advisor(s), the department
will schedule a one hour defense and discussion of the
prospectus with the entire ladder faculty. The aim of
this defense is to provide the student with additional
feedback about his/her dissertation project.Back to top
Dissertation Colloquium:
During the 8th or 9th term of study, all graduate
students will participate in a departmental colloquium
in which they present a chapter or other sizable section
of their dissertations to the department’s faculty and
other graduate students. Normally, this will entail
distributing the student’s chapter or other dissertation
section to all members of the department a month before
the colloquium and then engaging in a discussion and
analysis of the work. The aim of this colloquium would
be to provide the graduate student with feedback regarding
the progress of the dissertation that supplements what
the advisor and reader(s) provide. The other aim is
to keep all members of the department informed about
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Graduate
Student Evaluations:
All faculty will send written evaluations of graduate
students’ performances in their courses to the graduate
students, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the
departmental registrar (Ms. Cheryl Morrison) as soon
as all work in a given semester has been evaluated.
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Familiarity with Western Literatures
Every student is encouraged to take one or two formal
courses in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
or comparative literature. Needless to say, any student
of Slavic literature should be familiar with the outstanding
works of world literature.
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Knowledge of Russian History
Students are expected to have a basic knowledge of Russian
history. Those who have had no formal course in this
subject are urged to include it in their graduate program.
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The Dissertation Prospectus
The prospectus must be submitted to the department no
later than September 15 of the seventh term of study.
The department will inform the Graduate School by September
30 that the prospectus has been accepted. Under these
circumstances, students planning to submit a prospectus
at the beginning of the seventh term will be allowed
to register during the normal registration period without
any hindrance. In other words, fourth-year students
may register with the understanding that registration
in good standing is conditional upon completion of the
prospectus and notification of departmental approval
to the Graduate School by the end of September.
After passing the qualifying examination, the student
will choose one faculty member as a dissertation director,
and another as the secondary advisor. After consultation
with both, the student will submit a ten to fifteen
page long dissertation prospectus to the Director of
Graduate Studies who will circulate it to the other
faculty and schedule the defense. The faculty decision
about whether or not the prospectus is acceptable as
prepared will be communicated to the student in writing.
Upon completion of all pre-dissertation requirements,
including the prospectus, students are admitted to candidacy
for the Ph.D. Work on the dissertation will be carried
out in consultation with both the director of graduate
studies and the advisor.
Students should note that the Graduate School has set
a six-year goal for completion of the Ph.D. and that
only those who have been making normal progress on their
dissertations will be eligible for the "Dissertation
Year Fellowship" in their fifth or sixth year.
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The Combined Ph.D. Program in Film Studies and Slavic Languages and Literatures To be accepted into the joint degree program, students must be accepted by both departments. Each student’s program of study will be planned in consultation with the DGS in each area. Students divide their coursework between Film Studies and the Slavic Department and take a total of 16 courses. They are normally expected to take at least 6 courses from each department. The courses in the Slavic Department should normally cover nineteenth and twentieth century literature, in most cases Russian. The language requirements for admission to candidacy are the same as for Slavic graduate students. In order to advance to candidacy, students must take three comprehensive exams in the Slavic Department during their third year of study as well as an oral exam at the end of the same year on the topic of their dissertation prospectus. These exams comprise two written exams, one on nineteenth century literature and one on twentieth century literature, and one oral exam on Russian film. For the literature topics, students may choose either the poetry or the prose components of the Slavic department comprehensive exams. The texts and films for these exams are listed on the department website (http://www.yale.edu/slavic/FilmList.html and http://www.yale.edu/slavic/readinglist.doc). For details of the Film Studies comprehensive exams, please see the Film Studies website: http://www.yale.edu/filmstudiesprogram/gradprogram.html Students also have an open oral prospectus defense in September of their fourth year. Students normally serve as teaching assistants in both the Film Studies and Slavic programs.
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Current Graduate Students
About the Graduate Students
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Graduate
Commencement, May 2005
Graduate Placement
In recent years, Ph.D.s and ABDs from the Slavic Department
have gotten tenure track or other teaching positions
at the following institutions:
Bard
College
Bard Early College
Boston College
Brooklyn College
Clemson University
Colgate University
Connecticut College
Dickenson College
Grinnell College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow)
SUNY, Stony Brook
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Vassar College
Washington and Lee University
Yale University
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Prospective Applicants
The Slavic Department welcomes and encourages visits
from prospective applicants to its Graduate Program
in advance of formal application. For details and to
arrange visits, please contact the Acting Departmental Chair,
Professor Harvey Goldblatt (harvey.goldblatt@yale.edu),
or the Departmental Registrar, Ms. Cheryl Morrison (cheryl.morrison@yale.edu)
in the Departmental Office.
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Undergraduate Program
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