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Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale

A cutting-edge program with world-class faculty

The department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale is committed to innovative teaching and scholarship on the languages, cultures, and societies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. 

Our faculty are recognized leaders in their fields both nationally and internationally, and have established themselves as popular and influential teachers on campus. 

We highlight the diversity and dynamism of the regions’ cultures and engage in conversation with the wider humanistic, theoretical, and political concerns of times past and present.

The extensive Slavic holdings in the Yale University Library system is one of the greatest research collections in the world.

The department’s statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read our statement.

Undergraduate Studies

We offer undergraduate degrees with major options in Russian (with a focus on Russian literature and culture) and in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (an area studies major with two concentrations, in Russian and in East European/ Eurasian Studies).

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Graduate Program

Our graduate program in Slavic and Eurasian Literatures and Cultures emphasizes interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives on Russian, East European, and Eurasian literatures and cultures. While maintaining a foundation in the study and teaching of language and literature, the Department sees both as embedded in a global context and a broad network of cultural production.

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Languages we teach

We teach Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian on campus and offer Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, Finnish, and Hungarian through the credit-granting Shared Course Initiative.

Students walking in Georgia
Russian mountains and village

Summer abroad in Georgia

Students travel to Batumi, Georgia to learn Russian.

Learn more about the summer program

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