Yale’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures is a hub for innovative research and teaching about the languages, cultures, and societies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. As a community of scholars and students, we share a commitment to interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives on the region’s literary, visual, performance, and material cultures, which we study in their global contexts. We highlight the diversity and dynamism of the region’s cultures and engage them in conversation with the wider humanistic, theoretical, and political concerns of times past and present.
Undergraduate
We offer 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). Many of our students double-major in History, Political Science, Global Studies, Comparative Literature, and Film and Media Studies.
Graduate
We also offer a PhD degree in Slavic and Eurasian Literatures and Cultures [with an excellent record of job placement]. Language is at the heart of what we do, and all our students work toward mastery in one or more regional languages. We offer in-person instruction in Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian, and hybrid (combination of online and in person) instruction in other languages.
Languages
For advanced language learners, our department offers courses taught entirely in Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian. We also offer both intimate seminars and popular lecture courses taught entirely in English. While these courses fulfill distributional requirements for departmental majors, they also welcome non-majors and any interested students. Our courses are widely cross-listed with History, Film and Media Studies, History of Art, and Comparative Literature.
Department Community
Our department is a hub of activity at Yale. We sponsor an annual Colloquium, bringing together faculty, staff, and students around lectures at the cutting edge of our fields of research. Every year, our faculty and graduate students organize myriad conferences, talks, exhibits, and cultural events, collaborating with programs across the University. Our department is known as a supportive community for all its members, and we often gather to celebrate our achievements, introduce new members, and build relationships. Our faculty and students also benefit from collaboration with the Macmillan Center’s Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Program and its Central Asia Initiative, among many other resources at Yale.