Undergraduate
Degrees
Graduate Degrees
Certificate of Foreign Language Teaching
Courses of Instruction
Department Reading Lists
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Undergraduate
Programs
The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers a major in Russian
at the undergraduate level and a minor. The major combines a thorough preparation
in the Russian language with the study of Russian literature, art and culture,
with particular emphasis on developments in contemporary Russia. Students
are required to study four semesters of Russian language as a prerequisite
to the major. The major itself requires an additional three semesters of language
study, three semesters of an advanced seminar on Russian culture (with varying
content), and two elective courses, either in Russian literature and culture
(in translation or Russian, depending on course scheduling) or in Russian
area studies.
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Graduate Programs
The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers, under the jurisdiction
of the Graduate School, the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in
Slavic Languages and Literatures.
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Undergraduate
Degrees
Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Russian
Required courses, Lower division Units
SLL 120 Beginning Russian I 4
SLL 150 Beginning Russian II 4
SLL 220 Intermediate Russian I 4
SLL 250 Intermediate Russian II 4
Required courses, Upper division Units
SLL 320 Advanced Russian I 4
SLL 321 Russian Culture, or
SLL 330 Russian Thought and Civilization 4
SLL 325 Advanced Russian II 4
SLL 465 Seminar in Russian Culture (taken three times, with varying content)
4, max 12
And two elective courses*
*For majors with a concentration in Russian language, literature and culture, these electives will be from Slavic Department courses on Russian literature and culture. For majors with a concentration in Russian studies, one or both electives may be taken, with prior departmental approval, from other related fields.
Minor in Russian
Lower division requirements for the major plus three upper division elective
courses chosen from the following (at least two of the areas must be represented):
Russian language (SLL 320, 325, 420); Russian literature and culture taught
in Russian (SLL 321, 400, 430); Russian literature, art and culture taught
in translation (SLL 330, 344, 345, 348, 378).
Minor in Russian
Area Studies
Lower Division Requirements
Three semesters of Russian language (SLL 120, 150 and 220), or its equivalent.
Upper Division
Requirements
The core course, SLL 330 Russian Thought and Civilization; one course outside
the Slavic department, from among the following: HIST 320, 324, 328, 415,
416, 424; IR 345, 483; POSC 464; SOCI 462; and two electives, to be chosen
from among: any upper division SLL course in Russian literature, art or culture;
HIST 320, 324, 328, 415, 416, 424; IR 345, 483; POSC 464.
Note: the course taken to fulfill the requirement outside the Slavic department cannot also count as an elective.
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Graduate
Degrees
Admission Requirements
An undergraduate major in Slavic languages and literatures or equivalent is
a prerequisite for graduate work. Undergraduate major requirements must include
four language and four literature courses at the upper division level.
The department does not accept applicants for a Master of Arts degree in Slavic languages and literatures. The M.A. degree is intended only as a transitional degree in the process of completing requirements for the Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literatures.
Degree Requirements
These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to
the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School for general
regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted
by the Graduate School.
Transfer credit to be applied toward the master’s degree must have been earned no earlier than 10 years prior to the date of application.
Master of Arts
in Slavic Languages and Literatures
A student must complete 30 units in Russian, three units of which may be taken
in a related department. Students who lack undergraduate preparation in any
given area may be required to take appropriate courses at the 400 level before
enrolling in 500-level courses. Command of spoken and written Russian must
be demonstrated; a proficiency examination must be taken at the beginning
of the first semester of study and again before the completion of the degree
to demonstrate sufficient progress. Written and oral examinations or a thesis
are required on completion of course work. The thesis is an honors option.
The departmental Graduate Committee will consider thesis requests on the basis
of a student’s performance in graduate courses, units completed, and
individual background in Russian literature. The thesis may be taken in lieu
of four units of course work.
Required courses
Units
SLL 500 Topics in Advanced Russian (2 units each semester to total 8 units)
8
SLL 501 Proseminar in Russian Literature 3
SLL 516 Structure of Modern Russian: Morphology 3
SLL 530 Early Russian Literature and Culture (11th-17th Centuries), or
SLL 532 18th Century Russian Literature 3
Two courses in 19th century Russian literature, and two courses in 20th century Russian literature (one course in Russian art or culture may be substituted for one course in either 19th or 20th century literature).
One elective may be selected from relevant courses in any department with approval of the graduate advisor.
Doctor of Philosophy
in Slavic Languages and Literatures
The course of study leading to the Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures
requires 30 units of course work beyond the M.A. Requirements include: demonstrated
proficiency in spoken and written Russian; reading knowledge of French and
German (In exceptional cases a second Slavic language may substitute for either
French or German. Instruction in Slavic languages other than Russian is not
scheduled on a regular basis); comprehensive examinations in primary and secondary
fields of concentration; dissertation. Required courses are: SLL 510 or 512,
548, 584, 585; and two courses selected from SLL 650, 660, and 665.
Doctor of Philosophy
in Linguistics
Specialization in Slavic
See Linguistics.
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Certificate
in Foreign Language Teaching
The Certificate in Foreign Language Teaching provides certification in the
theory and practice of second or foreign language teaching for student language
teachers concurrently enrolled in graduate degree programs in foreign languages
or related graduate programs at USC; for graduates of such programs who are
teaching languages; for external candidates concurrently enrolled in similar
programs at accredited colleges or universities; or for graduates of such
programs who are teaching languages. The certificate is meant to supplement
graduate study in the literature or linguistics of foreign languages. It is
also meant to supplement classroom teaching. Refer to the Department of Spanish
and Portuguese for course work requirements.
