The department supports coordinated study of Russian language, literature, literary and cultural history, theory, and criticism. The department’s programs may also be combined with the programs in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, Jewish Studies, Film Studies, Drama, International Relations, Stanford’s Overseas Studies, the Special Languages Program, and other programs. The department is a part of the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages.

A complete undergraduate program provides a choice of several tracks leading to a BA (with a major or a minor) or a BA with Honors. The department offers a full graduate program leading to an MA in Russian and a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures. Stanford undergraduates can apply to the department for a coterminal BA/MA degree. Students in the department’s PhD program are required to choose among minor programs in other national literatures, linguistics, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Jewish Studies, art and music history, theater, or film studies; or they may design their own minor or choose the related field option.

Improving cultural understanding is a critical part of the department’s mission, and the department offers a full range of courses at all levels devoted to Russian literature, music, and visual arts that do not require specialized knowledge, as well as advanced research seminars for graduate students. The undergraduate program has attracted students seeking careers in journalism, business, international relations, law, medicine, human rights, and academia. Russian is still the lingua franca over the vast territory of the former Soviet Union, and a good command of this language offers a gateway to Eurasia’s diverse cultures, ethnicities, economies, and religions.

Stanford Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies students benefit from unmatched faculty resources. Green Library and the Hoover Institution libraries and archives hold world-renowned Russian and East European collections, which undergraduates and graduate students use in their research. Department students master a complicated language and rich and challenging literature. They are rewarded by gaining entry into a unique, powerful, and diverse civilization that defined major trends in the past century and plays an increasingly significant role in the world today.