Our PhD graduate program is designed to train future scholars and teachers of Slavic languages and literatures. Students specialize either in literature or linguistics, combining a core curriculum with independent research early in their graduate career.
Students begin with courses leading to a comprehensive Master’s examination, then progress to articulating an individuated program which leads to a research paper, the individually-designed Ph.D. examinations and a dissertation.
Berkeley welcomes students with interdisciplinary interests. Slavic students may pursue official Designated Emphases in Film, Folklore, Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, Critical Theory, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, etc., as well as individually designed areas of specialization. The Slavic Department works in collaboration with the departments of Comparative Literature, Linguistics, Anthropology, History, Theater, Music, Art History, and with the Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, which houses the Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, and The Caucasus and Central Asia Program.