The department offers an interdisciplinary M.A. in Russian and Slavic studies, a program that allows students to take Russia-related courses in departments across NYU. In addition to the departmental curriculum’s particular strengths in literature, history, and film, the course of study can encompass a wide variety of specializations, from anthropology and politics to music, linguistics, and performance studies. With its focus on interdisciplinarity and comparative methodologies, the program can serve as excellent preparation for graduate study at the Ph.D. level. It also provides a thorough grounding in the Russia field for terminal M.A. students who choose to pursue a career in this area.
The M.A. degree requires successful completion of eight courses (32 points) including Graduate Proseminar, RUSSN-GA 2121, and Grad Research Seminar and Practicum, RUSSN-GA 2137, and a thesis. Before being granted the M.A., students must attain the level of advanced in all language skills (speaking, oral comprehension, reading, and writing), to be demonstrated by either passing an examination or earning the equivalent of an A grade in auditing the department’s third-year Russian course.
Concentration in International Relations
The Master of Arts in Russian Studies with a Concentration in International Relations is a 34-point program, with 14 points being undertaken in IR coursework. Required courses are Graduate Proseminar, RUSSN-GA 2121, Global and International History, INTRL-GA 1600, International Relations, INTRL-GA 1700, one four credit International Relations elective, and Master’s Thesis Seminar, INTRL-GA 4000. Students in the Concentration in International Relations will fulfill the same requirements with regard to the language requirement as others in the Russian and Slavic Studies MA as stated above.
Students will write a jointly supervised MA thesis (one advisor from International Relations and one affiliated with the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies), an original piece of scholarly work of approximately 40-50 pages.