About Us

Founded in 1948, the Department of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures is one of the oldest and most prominent programs in its field in the United States. The program provides students with a comprehensive education in the languages, literatures, cultures, and history of Russia, Eastern and Central Europe and Eurasia. Students are encouraged to pursue their intellectual curiosity and develop analytical skills that will make them competitive in today’s job market. In a society that becomes progressively more diverse, the department encourages its students to become global citizens by giving them the opportunity to gain insight on one of the largest and most powerful regions in the world.

Belonging to one of the most prestigious research universities in the country, the department is at the forefront of new scholarship and is home to world-renowned faculty members whose diverse specialties include language acquisition, linguistics, literature, music/media and culture. The department also houses a research library that contains an extensive collection of books including the Markov Archive of Modern Russian Poetry and the James Ferrell Slavic Linguistics Collection. Both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, the department strives to provide students with the tools to develop their own research projects and the forum to discuss these projects with their peers and experts in the field.

The department prides itself on being able to foster a sense of community among its students and faculty. Students gravitate toward the department because they are able to work closely with faculty members and cohorts who share their passion for the field, which helps propel their intellectual pursuits forward. The department’s commitment to engaging students and developing new scholarship are among the reasons why it strives to evolve and create innovative new ways to approach teaching and research.