The M.A. in Russian Literature

Coursework: 30 points at the graduate level (4000 and higher), including:

• four courses in Russian literature;
• the Proseminar in Literary Studies (SLLT G8001);
• Master’s Research Instruction (SLLT G9000);
• a Directed Research course for the completion of the Master’s essay; and
• two graduate-level Russian language or linguistics courses; Russian for Russian Instructors(RUSS W4436) and one of the following courses: Reading Practicum (RUSS W4431), Practical Stylistics (RUSS W4434), Introduction to Old Church Slavonic SLLN G4005),History of the Russian Literary Language(RUSS G6225), Structure of Modern Standard Russian (RUSS G06021), Chteniia po russkoi kul'ture (RUSS W4435),or Chtennia po russkoi Kul'ture(RUSS W4438);
• one additional elective course. Students in the Ph.D. program who plan to pursue the concentration in Comparative Literature and Society should fulfill this requirement in the first year with CPLS G4900.

All courses required for the M.A. are to be selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Two of the literature courses may be taken for R (registration) credit, in addition to Master's Research Instruction, which all students take for R credit; all other courses should be taken for a letter grade.  Students who are exempt from Russian for Russian Instructors (RUSS W4436) should take the Practicum in Foreign Language Pedagogy (PEDG G4000) instead, ideally during their first semester of teaching.  

Languages: Additional Russian language study at Columbia, or in summer programs elsewhere, if the Department's annual placement and progress examinations indicate such a need.  A second Slavic language is encouraged but not required.   

M.A. Essay: A minimum of 50 pages.  Students in the Ph.D. program and full-time students in the free-standing M.A. program begin the M.A. essay during the second semester in the context of Master's Research Instruction(SLLT G9000) and submit it in final form no later than the end of the third semester of study.  For further information, see M.A. essay guidelines.

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The M.Phil. in Russian Literature

• seven courses in Russian literature;
• Practical Stylistics (RUSS W4434) and Introduction to Old Church Slavonic (SLLN G4005), if not taken at the M.A. level;
• either the History of the Russian Literary Language (RUSS G6225) or the Structure of Modern Standard Russian (RUSS G6021), if neither was taken at the M.A. level. 

Courses should be chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.  Three of the literature courses may be taken for R credit; all other courses should be taken for a letter grade.

The Minor or concentration: No fewer than 12 points for graded credit.  All students must complete one of the following department minor programs or the concentration in Comparative Literature and Society: 

1) A second Slavic literature (Czech, Polish, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, or Ukrainian): four or more courses, selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies; two of which may be in language above the elementary level; the candidate is responsible for a general knowledge of the history of the chosen literature and a firm grasp of one selected period, genre, or theme;

2) A non-Slavic literature: four or more courses in another literature, selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies; the candidate is responsible for a general knowledge of the history of the chosen literature and a firm grasp of one selected period, genre, or theme that links that literature to Russian literature;

3) Russian history and culture: four or more courses, selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, in Russian history, art history, music, philosophy, religion, or another relevant field; the candidate is responsible for a general knowledge of Russian intellectual history and a firm grasp of one period or aspect of Russian culture apart from literature;

4) Slavic linguistics: four or more courses, including CLSV G6100 (Comparative Grammar of Slavic Languages); other courses, selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, may include courses in Slavic linguistics and Slavic medieval studies offered in the department as well as courses in general linguistics offered outside the department; one of those courses may be an advanced course in a Slavic (non-Russian) language;

or 5) In consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, and with the approval of the department, students may develop their own minors.

Concentration in Comparative Literature and Society: Students interested in comparative study may elect to complete a concentration in Comparative Literature and Society instead of a minor in a single field. For this concentration, the student develops two fields of study in addition to his or her primary field of Russian literature. For a full description of the concentration and the expectations in regard to the minor fields, please see the web pages of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. Students completing the concentration should work closely with the Director of Graduate Studies of both Slavic and Comparative Literature and Society while choosing courses and developing their fields of study within the concentration.

The requirements for the concentration are as follows: Introduction to Comparative Literature and Society (CPLS G4900),* two doctoral seminars in comparative Literature topics (which may overlap with required courses in Russian literature), and one seminar in each of two minor fields (one of which must be in literature ans literary theory).  Additional courses in the minor fields may be in literature and literary theory).  Additional courses in the minor fields may be needed in preparation for the required graduate seminars.  With the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies of the Slavic Department, students may substitute courses in their minor fields for up to three of the courses required for the M.Phil. in Russian Literature. 

*Please Note: Concentrators are encourage to take CPLS G4900 in their first year of graduate study.

Languages: A reading knowledge of (1) French and German; or (2) either French or German and one other language of demonstrable importance to the students research. Proficiency is established by the departmental examination.  Both research languages should be chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional activities of the department for three years.  As a rule, in the second, third, and fourth years of study, students gain exposure to teaching through participation in the Department's language and literature programs. 

M.Phil. examination: Students are expected to take the comprehensive examination for the M.Phil. degree during their fourth year of graduate study, preferably at the beginning of the seventh semester.  Students are examined in five areas.  Old Russian Literature; Literature of the Russian Baroque and Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature; Twentieth-Century Russian Literature; and Criticism, Genre, and Literary Institutions.  Students take the exam on two consecutive days, writing for three hours on each day.  Approximately one week after the written examination, the student meets with a three-member faculty committee for an oral exam, which lasts up to two hours.  It uses the written portion of the examination as the point of departure for a discussion that ranges over the whole field. 

Students who do the concentration in Comparative Literature and Society take modified written and oral portions of the exam, in which they answer questions about Russian literature and each of their minor fields. 

Minor or Concentration Colloquium: This is the student's opportunity to exhibit the work completed in the minor field(s) (the "portfolio") and to reflect on its relationship to the major field and its role in the student's intellectual development.  Three faculty members take part in the discussion with the student.  (For a full description, please see the Guide to the Minor Colloquium on the Slavic Department website.) Students should schedule the colloquium before the end of their eight semester of graduate study.

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The Ph.D. in Russian Literature

Prerequisite: the M.Phil. degree in Russian Literature and formal approval by the Department.

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