Faculty in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures specialize in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian cultural and literary studies, while also engaging with the non-Slavic cultures of the broader region. The department emphasizes rigorous interdisciplinary research that aligns well with the goal of many MAPH students. While students can take all of their courses through the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, they may also find relevant coursework in Cinema and Media Studies, Comparative Literature, English Language and Literature, Language Study, and Theater and Performance Studies.
Selected Faculty
Sample Courses
A complete listing of offerings is available at the Department’s course page.
Russian and East European Studies (REES) Specialization
The Russian and East European Studies (REES) Specialization allows MAPH students to focus on the culture and politics of Central and Eastern Europe, Russian and Eurasian in depth and breadth. The student choosing this specialization may take courses entirely in REES, but may also choose to support their REES component with courses in areas like Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Comparative Literature, Theatre and Performance Studies, or courses from departments in the Social Sciences, such as History, Anthropology, Political Science, or International Relations.
For students entering MAPH with background of study or heritage mastery of a REES language (Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, etc.) or REES affiliated language (Yiddish, Hebrew, Kazakh, etc.), the REES specialization may be completed in the MAPH one year course of study. For the two-year degree, REES directed study offers courses in languages of the region, including languages offered outside the Slavic Department, such as Yiddish, Kazakh, Armenian, etc.) For either the one- or the two-year MAPH program, language courses at or beyond the 200-level may be considered as fulfilling requirements for the REES MA specialization. For the two-year option, it is also possible to count one year of beginning level study of a second language of the region.
Students who complete the following requirements will receive a notation on their MAPH transcript of record of their concentration in Russian and East European Studies:
- The MAPH Core Course (Foundations of Interpretive Theory)
- A designated MA REES concentration winter quarter course
- Three additional REES courses or approved elective courses
- Proficiency in a language of the region as determined by short interview or placement examination
- An MA thesis or project in Russian and European Studies under the supervision of a REES-affiliated faculty member, with approval from the Director of Graduate Studies in REES
The REES Specialization can work well with the Two-Year Language Option.
Recent Slavic Thesis Projects
"Rooted Incarnations: A Translation of Bakhtin’s Early Lectures on Dostoevsky"
Micah Kienzle, MAPH '26
Advisor: William Nickell
“From Grand Narrative to Personal Narrative: Literacy Rearticulations of post-Yugoslav Belonging”
Elly Haljiti, MAPH ‘25
Advisor: Ania Aizman
"Keats' sonic and literary influence on Nabokov's Lolita"
Trevor Wells, MAPH '25
Advisor: Malynne Sternstein
“Prigov as Handler of Relics, as Dissident, as Dante”
Isak Saaf, MAPH TLO ‘24
Advisor: Haun Saussy
“Stalinist Answers to the National Question: A Case Study of How Dagestani Nationality Was Defined Through Poetry, 1934-1935”
Roxanne Fisher, MAPH TLO ‘23
Advisor: William Nickell
"Waiting for a Miracle, Becoming a Revolution: A Postsecular Reading of Tadeusz Konwicki’s The Polish Complex"
Marta Lasota, MAPH TLO '22
Advisor: Bozena Shallcross