The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures offers graduate students the opportunity to study in depth the literatures, cultures, and languages of Bosnia / Croatia / Serbia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The Department offers interdisciplinary and comparative work across the cultures of the Slavic world.
Students work closely with faculty in their major fields to create a program oriented around particular interests; course work is possible in allied fields as well.
Graduates of the program have gone on to secure faculty positions at prestigious institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University, Indiana University, and Yale University. Others have gone into careers at organizations such as Harvard University Press and positions in libraries, museums, translation, and film direction.
The Department does not admit candidates for a terminal A.M. degree. Ph.D. candidates may, however, apply for a master’s degree after having completed, with satisfactory grades, eight half-courses that satisfy Department requirements.
Until the time a prospectus is approved, the Director of Graduate Studies advises all graduate students. When a student submits their prospectus to the department, however, they also name an advisor to direct the dissertation as first reader, and recommend the second and third readers as well. Once the department approves the prospectus and the proposed dissertation committee, the student will work with these three faculty members as needed throughout the dissertation process. The DGS will still provide oversight.
Department faculty and graduate students gather monthly at Literary Colloquia to hear and discuss a full-length paper (45 minutes) by a current graduate student.
The Department also runs a bi-weekly GSAS workshop, Current Research in Russian and East European Literature and Culture, which provides a forum for graduate students to discuss their research and professional preparations.
The Davis Center Literature and Culture Seminar, run by Slavic Department faculty together with graduate students, hosts guest speakers from outside institutions several times each semester.
The Davis Center also sponsors special seminars in conjunction with the Fellows Seminar, the theme of which changes each year.
All Department members are welcome to attend the colloquia and sponsored guest lectures.
The department maintains close working ties with other departments and groups studying the Slavic world at Harvard:
The collections of the Slavic Division at Widener Library offer resources for the study and research of Slavic culture without parallel at any American university.
The Harvard Film Archive houses an extensive and unique collection devoted to Russian and Ukrainian cinema, which includes 35- and 16-millimeter films.
Harvard University does not discriminate against applicants or students on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry or any other protected classification.
Please navigate to the document link below to learn more about the variety of resources available to Harvard Griffin GSAS students for fostering an environment of inclusion, belonging, and wellness, where every student can thrive and do their best work.