Graduate Program

Ph.D. Program

Admission to the Program

The decision on admission to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in Slavic Languages is made by the departmental Graduate Studies Committee (GSC). Students with an M.A. degree in Slavic Languages (or its equivalent) from a U.S. university other than UT Austin apply to the Ph.D. program following usual admissions procedures.

Since students with an M.A. degree from UT Austin will be well-known to several members of the GSC, they may follow a streamlined application process:

  1. Submit a letter to the Graduate Adviser requesting admission to the program and a Curriculum Vitae (CV).

    1. The letter should explicitly request admission and include a paragraph or two describing your educational and career goals. A long personal statement is not recommended; instead, concisely describe what you plan to concentrate on in your doctoral studies, what you are likely to write a dissertation about, and what you hope to do with the degree. It is understood that these plans are preliminary and subject to change.
    2. The CV should describe your educational and relevant employment background to date. The CV is requested primarily to give you an opportunity to think about your professional profile and how to present it in summary form.

  2. If you plan to have your M.A. degree in hand and begin study in the doctoral program in the Fall semester, submit your letter and CV by the preceding 1 April. If you plan to begin study in the doctoral program in the Spring semester, submit your letter and CV by the preceding 1 November.

The successful candidate for admission will have a strong background in the area in which he or she expects to major (see below).

Degree Requirements

A. Fields of concentration

The following three major fields of concentration are available: Applied linguistics/pedagogy, Literature and culture, and Slavic linguistics.A minor field of concentration, different from the major field, is selected as follows.

If the major is Applied linguistics/pedagogy, then the minor is typically one of the following fields:

If the major is Literature and culture, the minor is typically one of the following fields:

If the major is Slavic linguistics, then the minor is typically one of the following fields:

A primary Slavic language must be designated. As detailed below, one course and two exams must be taken in this primary Slavic language. This language may be the native language of the student, in which case these requirements will be waived, as appropriate.

B. Course requirements

  1. 33 credit hours of course work are required. These courses are to be organized as follows:

    1. 15 semester credit hours (five courses) in the major field of concentration:

      1. For the program in Literature and culture, two of the five courses in the major must be specialized survey courses (i.e., survey courses in topics other than the prose and/or poetry of the nineteenth and/or twentieth centuries). Examples of such courses are Old Russian Literature, Eighteenth Century Russian Literature, Russian Critical and Literary Theory, and Russian Drama.
      2. For the program in Applied Linguistics/Pedagogy, courses are divided into three categories: two must be from the field of linguistics (one of which must be in the Slavic department), two from foreign language education, and one in research methods. A list of eligible courses is available from the Graduate Adviser.
      3. For the program in Slavic linguistics, there must be at a minimum coverage of the following areas of Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, and Historical/Comparative Slavic linguistics, whether in organized or independent study courses:

    2. 9 semester credit hours (three courses) in the minor field of concentration

    3. Three hours of credit in a graduate level course in advanced stylistics and conversation skills in the designated primary Slavic language. For Russian, the typical primary language, the department regularly offers the course Russian 380D (Advanced Russian Composition and Conversation II). If another language is to be the primary Slavic language, special arrangements must be made with the appropriate faculty member to do analogous work as an independent study course.

    4. 6 semester credit hours of work on the dissertation in the major field of concentration

C. Language proficiency

Primary Slavic language.
The student must pass advanced language examinations testing written composition (WSE) and oral communication skills (OCSE) in the primary Slavic language. A doctoral student must pass both of the following examinations after being admitted to the doctoral program (with an M.A.) and before the semester in which the doctoral comprehensive examinations are to be taken. The student may request at any time during this period that the exam be administered. The two examinations are taken in sequence: only on passing the WSE does the student take the OCSE. A maximum of three attempts at each exam will be permitted; neither exam may be taken more than once in a single semester (although taking both exams in a single semester is perfectly acceptable). A student who fails to pass both exams within three tries each will not be permitted to continue in the program.

Research language.
A reading knowledge of a non-Slavic research language must be demonstrated. The traditional choices are French or German, but any language other than English may be substituted if the student can justify the value of this language for his or her program of study. This requirement may be met by course work or examination. In the latter case, it is the student's responsibility after the exam to submit to the Graduate Adviser a brief note signed by the supervising faculty member that the exam has been passed.

Additional Slavic language (Slavic linguistics majors only).
The student must demonstrate a working knowledge of a contemporary Slavic language beyond the primary one and any used to satisfy the M.A. requirement for a second Slavic language. This requirement may be satisfied by course work or examination. In the latter case, it is the student's responsibility after the exam to submit to the Graduate Adviser a brief note signed by the supervising faculty member that the exam has been passed.