About the Program
The Russian and Slavic Program at the Florida State University provides students strong proficiency in Russian, with courses ranging from Elementary to Advanced Russian; and a thorough grounding in Ukrainian, with Elementary and Intermediate Ukrainian courses.
The Program also offers wide-ranging surveys of the cultures, folklores, and literatures of the Slavic world, from Russia and Ukraine to the Balkans. Culture, folklore, and literature courses are taught in English translation as well as in Russian.
The Russian and Slavic program emphasizes professional and academic training. Our former students are employed with the FBI, US Department of Defense, the US Navy and US Air Force. They have been accepted into prestigious PhD programs in Slavic Languages and Literatures and in Linguistics, as well as MA programs in Russian and East European Studies, International Affairs, Linguistics, and Media Studies. They have received internships with the US Department of State and the FBI, scholarships from the US Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Fulbright Awards, Boren Scholarships, Critical Language Scholarships, and Pickering Fellowships. Others are employed in consulting and management positions in the private sector in Europe and the US.
Undergraduate Requirements
The Program offers a 30-credit major in Russian as well as 12-credit minors in Russian and in Ukrainian.
Graduate Requirements
Our MA degree in Slavic includes Russian language and historical linguistics as well as Russian and other Slavic cultures, folklores, and literatures. Students choose from two master’s degree program types: a 30-credit thesis-type and a 32-credit course-type.
Why study Slavic languages?
Around 400 million people speak Slavic languages worldwide, some 260 million of whom speak Russian and 45 million—Ukrainian. US Federal agencies have identified Russian as a priority language of national need. At the same time, Ukraine has applied to join Western structures such as the EU and NATO. Today, the study of Slavic languages and cultures is more important than ever.