Deadline for applications: January 1, 2018
The Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures at the University of Kansas invites applications for its MA and PhD Programs.
KU Slavic has a comprehensive full service program in Russian literature, as well as one of the few existing full-service linguistics programs nationally. A Slavic department in a proper sense, our department also offers extensive expertise in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, Polish, Slovene, and Ukrainian.
The uniquely interdisciplinary nature of University of Kansas’s program means that their students engage in the study of literature alongside the study of linguistics, or language pedagogy. The department offers faculty mentorship for students in areas of Slavic literary and cultural studies (including literary styles and genres, questions of empire, colonialism and postcoloniality, gender and sexuality, violence and trauma studies as reflected in literature, film, and folklore) and linguistics (historical phonology, grammatical semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, language contact, and second language pedagogy).
These different aspects of the program give students rigorous professional training and preparation to be Slavists. Students acquire expertise in literature, literary theory, which are grounded in their study of language and linguistics. Quite often, in the course of a semester a student can study Soviet literature, theoretical works on biopolitics, be engaged in Digital Humanities, while acquiring sophisticated knowledge of grammatical categories, or receiving specialized assistance on their Russian phonetics. As a result, students come away as theoretically sophisticated scholars, but also as better language teachers with extensive first hand experience and training. These efforts all take account of the realities of the academic job market. KU takes professionalization and Alt-Ac career advice seriously from the outset.
Incoming graduate students who continue to do a PhD are offered up to five years of support through Graduate Teaching Assistantships (pending satisfactory progress). This particular year, the Slavic department has the unique opportunity to recruit an accomplished graduate student through the Hall Center Doctoral Fellowship. The fellowship provides students with competitive stipendiary support that allows them to devote more time to research. Further, the department offers modest fellowship support for students interested in the study of Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, and Ukrainian (contact the department for more details).
The intellectual community flourishes in the vibrant beatnik town of Lawrence where affordable living is matched by an exceptional library and opportunities for intellectual and cultural exchange in conjunction with the Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CREES). KU encourages interested students to learn more about Graduate Admission and Graduate Academics in the Slavic Languages and Literatures Department at KU through exploring their departmental website, which includes information on funding and study abroad opportunities, as well as the webpage for prospective graduate students at the KU Graduate School website.
To ensure consideration for financial aid, applicants should submit their materials online by 1 January 2018.
For additional information, please contact:
Dr. Ani Kokobobo
Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
(785) 864-2346
akokobobo@ku.edu