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The Department of Slavic Languages at Columbia University, among the nation's most historic, focuses on training future scholars to push Slavic studies forward. Its curriculum prioritizes intensive analysis of literary works, cultural discourses, and historical contexts while motivating students to undertake groundbreaking research that expands the discipline's boundaries. The evolving landscape of Slavic studies in recent decades has necessitated forging interdisciplinary connections, prompting the department to advocate for combining literary scholarship with advancements across related fields - including intellectual history, visual and performing arts, music, sociology, anthropology, and religious studies - all of which intersect with literature's core concerns of narrative, form, expression, and meaning. While embracing modern theoretical frameworks, the department equally emphasizes examining these critical approaches within their historical contexts and the cultural artifacts they seek to interpret.
Applicant must have four years of college-level instruction (or the equivalent) in Russian or three years (or the equivalent) in Czech, Polish, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, or Ukrainian. An undergraduate major in the appropriate Slavic language and literature is desirable but not required. The department will also consider applicants with solid backgrounds in other literatures, history, philosophy, religion, or other disciplines in the humanities.
English Language Requirement
Applicant must have TOEFL score of 600 on paper-and-pencil test, 100 on the internet-based test and IELTS score of 7.5