Ph.D. Requirements
Required Courses
All graduate students are 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, which surveys the written culture of the Kievan and Muscovite periods and also includes the literature of the first half of the 18th century. The readings for RUSS 605 will be coordinated with the department’s 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. Graduate students in their second year may also spend a semester studying at the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow. 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: Film Studies Program).
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). It will consist of three passages drawn from well-known works of literature that will be identified and that are designated as required on the department’s reading list. Students will have to choose one passage and write an essay in which they analyze 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. 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 exams will thus entail writing two essays and students 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.
Please click link below for reading list:
Reading List
High Audit
With the permission of the DGS and the course instructor, a graduate student may request once every term to take one of four graduate courses as a “high audit.” This requires the student to do all the work in the course with the exception of writing a final paper. The Yale Graduate School course grade will be recorded by the Registrar; the Slavic Department Registrar will record both the regular Graduate School grade and the notation “high audit” in the departmental records. No graduate student may take more than one “high audit” with the same instructor.
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.
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.
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 their colleagues’ work.
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.
