Each November NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Science hosts a Master's Open House evening where faculty representatives from the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies are available to answer questions about our MA program. For information on the next Open House please see http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/Admissions/OpenHouses.html.

New York University offers an interdisciplinary masters degree in Russian and Slavic Cultural Studies, the only program of its kind in the U.S. Since degree candidates have the opportunity to take courses with leading specialists in departments across NYU, the curriculum encompasses a wide variety of specializations, from literature and film to anthropology, history, politics, music, linguistics, and performance studies. With its focus on interdisciplinarity and comparative methodologies, the program encourages the kind of academic boundary-crossing that has distinguished much of the most innovative recent work in Russian literary and cultural studies. We also have limited course offerings in other Slavic cultures, primarily Czech.

All entering students must hold a B.A. and have a thorough working knowledge of the Russian language. Usually students have an undergraduate degree in Russian, but majors in other subjects may be accepted, provided the applicant's knowledge of Russian is sufficient for graduate study. The M.A. degree requires successful completion of eight courses (32 points) and a thesis. Four of these 32 points may be obtained either through an independent course of thesis-related research or through an Independent Study graduate seminar. With the approval of the Director of Graduate Study, students may earn up to 8 of their 32 credits in courses that are not taught in or cross-listed by the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies (students may also petition for permission to earn more than 8 credits outside of departmental offerings and cross-listings). Students enrolled full-time can expect to complete the degree requirements in three semesters; part-time students may take two years.

Students will write a Masters thesis -- an original work of scholarship approximately 35-50 pages in length -- under the direction of a departmental faculty member. Students are advised to begin the process of choosing a thesis adviser by the end of their second semester of study. As noted above, it is possible to earn four of the 32 points required for the M.A. degree through an independent course of thesis-related research.

Upon beginning the MA program, all degree candidates who are not native speakers of Russian will take an examination administered within the department in order to assess their Russian language skills. Based on the results of the test, students will be advised of their proficiency level and their needs. Those who do not achieve the level of Advanced (equivalent to three years of college Russian instruction) will be required to take the appropriate undergraduate language courses, which carry no graduate credit. Students must plan to begin taking these courses during their first semester in the program so that they will be able to meet the following goals: At the end of their first year students will take another examination, at which time they should demonstrate language proficiency equal to at least four semesters of college Russian. Then, before being granted the MA, students must attain to the level of Advanced in all skills (speaking, oral comprehension, reading and writing). Advanced language skills may be demonstrated either by passing a second examination or by earning the equivalent of an A grade in auditing our department's third-year Russian course.

We also draw your attention to Journalism's Global and Joint Program Studies. For further information on combining the study of Russian and journalism at NYU, please contact global.journalism@nyu.edu.

In order to remain in good standing, graduate students must maintain a Grade Point Average of 3.3 (B+) or above.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for funding through NYU as well as outside funding agencies. Applicants should consider four tracks in particular:

1. Grants administered by NYU. There are some opportunities open to the most outstanding and suitable applicants. Applicants should consider carefully whether a given fellowship is related to their interests in the broad sense. As an example, please see eligibility requirements of the Reynolds Graduate Fellowship at www.nyu.edu/reynolds.
2. Grants administered by organizations other than NYU. Again, applicants should consider the ways in which their interests coincide with the stated purpose of a given grant. As an example, please see the National Security Education Program at www.iie.org/programs/nsep/graduate.
3. Recipients of grants from outside NYU may be eligible for substantial additional funds from GSAS through the GSAS Tuition Incentive Program (TIP). Please see http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.financialaid.gradfellowships.html.
4. Loans administered through a variety of agencies, including NYU.

In all of these cases, applicants should consult http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.financialaid.html and feel free to contact NYU's Office of Financial Aid.

Applications may be downloaded from the website of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/Admissions/ Please note that in addition to the requirements outlined in the GSAS form, applicants to the graduate program in Russian and Slavic Studies should submit a sample of scholarly writing (usually an undergraduate paper). For more information on the MA program, please contact Associate Prof. Anne Lounsbery, Director of Graduate Studies, at anne.lounsbery@nyu.edu.