All students undertaking PhD course work must first pass the Department’s PhD Qualifying Examination. Students who complete the MA at the University of Kansas will take the PhD Qualifying Examination at the end of their MA studies.
Students who enter the PhD program with a similarly titled MA degree from another institution must take and pass the Department's PhD Qualifying Examination as soon as they feel ready, but no later than the second semester of their enrollment.
The two concentrations for the PhD degree in Slavic Languages & Literatures are:
1. Russian Literature Concentration
Students in this concentration must demonstrate the following:
- a detailed knowledge of the history and development of Russian literature, its periodization, and its principal genres;
- oral and written competence in Russian;
- reading competence in a second Slavic language and general knowledge of its history and culture;
- knowledge of a minor subject;
- reading knowledge of a Western European language appropriate to research (e.g., German, French).
Students whose research interests lie in literary studies, Russian intellectual history, Russian culture, or Slavic folklore will enroll in the Russian literature concentration.
2. Slavic Linguistics Concentration
Students in this concentration must demonstrate the following;
- detailed knowledge of the structure and history of two Slavic languages, one of which is considered the student's primary Slavic language;
- reading competence in a third Slavic language (to cover all three language families, East, West, and South Slavic);
- oral and written competence in the student's primary Slavic language;
- knowledge of a minor subject, taken from inside or outside the Department;
- basic knowledge of general linguistics and comparative Slavic linguistics;
- reading knowledge of a Western European language appropriate to research (e.g., German, French).
Students whose research interests lie in Slavic linguistics or Slavic language pedagogy will enroll in the Slavic linguistics concentration.
Download a detailed outline of the PhD curriculum here.
PhD Comprehensive Examinations and Dissertation: Students in both the Russian Literature and the Slavic Linguistics concentrations must undertake comprehensive written and oral examinations at the end of their PhD course work. There is no predetermined number of credits that must be completed as part of PhD course work, but most students devote three to four semesters to advanced study. During this time they pursue course work in their areas of interest and specialization, pick up survey courses they may have missed, prepare for the comprehensive examinations, and develop their dissertation topics. After completion of the comprehensive exams, students propose, write, and defend an acceptable dissertation.
Department faculty expect a dissertation of approximately 150-200 pages and encourage students to conclude their dissertation work within two or (if a year abroad is necessary for completion of their research) three years.
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