The Department

The University of Kansas is the only university in the Great Plains to offer the doctoral degree, as well as bachelor's and master's degrees, in Slavic Languages and Literatures. The department has a full array of language, literature, and linguistics courses for students interested in the study of Russian, Czech, Polish, and Croatian/Serbian, and occasionally offers courses and independent study in Slovene, Ukrainian, and other Slavic languages and literatures. In addition, the Department offers Turkish language instruction. While working in a department that offers an uncommonly supportive and congenial atmosphere, students are given considerable latitude to plan programs of study that fit their individual needs.

Special Strengths

Both in terms of breadth and quality of the areas it covers, the KU Slavic Department is among the finest in the United States. The Department focuses mainly on Russian literature, Russian culture and intellectual history, language pedagogy (Comer), and Slavic linguistics. Within the Russian literature and intellectual history areas, faculty specializations include Tolstoy and Nineteenth-century Realism (Kokobobo), Slavic folklore and the Silver Age (Carlson), and philosophy and Russian literature (Clowes). Literature and film offerings also extend to Central European traditions (Polish and Czech – Vassileva-Karagyozova; South Slavic – Dickey and Kokobobo). Within the Slavic linguistics area there is a unique concentration of expertise on Western South Slavic languages (i.e., Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and Slovene – Dickey and Greenberg), as well as cognitive linguistics and Slavic verbal aspect (Dickey), morphosyntax and pragmatics (Perelmutter), and Slavic historical linguistics (Greenberg). Language courses are taught by faculty, instructors with decades of experience (Pirnat-Greenberg - BCS,Slovene, Six - Russian, Tsiovkh – Ukrainian, Karakaya– Turkish), and graduate teaching assistants.

The department by itself and in conjunction with the Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CREES) offers an array of Slavic-related events throughout the year, including visiting distinguished lecturers, exhibits, and musical and theatrical performances. The area studies program, one of only 12 such federally funded national resource centers, provides a wide range of Slavic courses offered by more than 50 faculty members in 16 departments.