1. Minor or Related Fields: during the course of study, students must develop substantial expertise in a field contiguous to the area of specialization. A candidate may elect to present a full minor or, in consultation with the graduate adviser, develop a special program in a related field.

a) Related Field: a student is required to complete a sequence of basic courses (12 units) in a chosen discipline outside the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

b) Minor: if the student elects a minor he or she should take six graduate courses in that department with a minimum of 20 units at the graduate level. Students considering minors should consult with the adviser, the chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and the chair of the minor department. Students who wish to enroll in the Graduate Program in the Humanities should apply there.

2. Admission to Candidacy: candidates should read carefully the general regulations governing the degree, as described in the "Graduate Degrees" section of The Stanford Bulletin. For specific department requirements and recommendations, the student should consult with the department graduate adviser. No student is accepted as a candidate until the equivalent of the M.A. degree requirements, including the thesis, are completed. Admission to candidacy is determined in the sixth quarter of graduate studies. The candidate by that time must have demonstrated commitment to graduate studies by completion of a minimum of 60 quarter units of credit with a letter grade indicator (LGI) of `B+' or better. Failure to do so results in termination of enrollment for the Ph.D. The terminated student may, at the discretion of the faculty, be given the opportunity to take the M.A. written examinations. If successful, the student is then awarded the M.A. degree.

3. Proficiency Test: administered for all entering graduate students, this test determines whether the student's knowledge of Russian language and literature falls below the department's standard. Students who fail to meet the standard are asked to complete appropriate courses in the first year of graduate study.

4. Course Requirements: before qualifying for the department oral and written examinations, a Ph.D. candidate is expected to accumulate at least 72 quarter units of credit for courses taken while in graduate school. No less than half of this course work (36 units) must be done in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, including at least 12 units of credit for seminar-level courses. (All entering graduate students are expected to enroll in Slavic 200.)

5. Foreign Languages: a candidate must demonstrate reading knowledge of French or German, plus another language useful for the student's research, by passing written examinations or getting an A- or above in course work.

6. Examinations: a candidate must pass departmental general qualifying examinations. The written part covers the history of Russian literature from the medieval period through the twentieth century.

The oral portion - the Department Oral Exam - follows shortly after the successful completion of the comprehensive exams. The student makes a 20-minute presentation of a scholarly paper, possibly the master's thesis. Each examiner is then given the chance to question the student on the presentation and related topics.

Following the department examinations, a candidate must pass a University Oral Examination, which is a defense of a dissertation proposal covering content relevant to the area of study, rationale for the proposed investigation, and strategy to be employed in the research.

Continuation in the Ph.D. program is contingent on: for first-year students, a high quality of performance on course work (decided by department evaluation); for second-year students, an M.A. thesis, which should be completed no later than the end of the second quarter of the second year.

Click here to see the department's Graduate programs in the Stanford Bulletin