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About the Department

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures provides undergraduates with opportunities to explore the languages, literatures and cultures of Central and Eastern Europe. We offer diverse courses in a variety of Slavic cultures, as well as language instruction in Russian and Polish. Literature, the arts, politics, and history interweave in the complex network of nations that comprise modern Central and Eastern Europe.

The department's courses on classic Russian fiction are legendary. Other courses introduce students to Czech, Polish and Russian cinema; literature and the visual arts in Russia; culture and politics in Prague; Polish history through literature and film; language and politics in Central and Eastern Europe; Russian intellectual history and religious thought; and government policy and the arts in Soviet Russia. Students majoring and minoring in Slavic are encouraged to take courses both within the department and from specialists across campus: in music; political science; art history; Jewish studies; history, or theater.