Boston College

Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures
            Кафедра славяноведения и востоковедения


Welcome to the Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages & Literatures!
 
Founded in 1969, one of the oldest in New England, our department offers a number of undergraduate majors and minors and many diverse courses on East Asian, Semitic and Slavic languages, literatures and cultures, and in the field of linguistics, as well as MA degrees in Russian and Slavic studies and in Linguistics. We offer specialized courses on such rarely taught languages as Classical Armenian, Old Irish, and Sanskrit.
 
Our graduates have pursued successful careers in foreign service, international business and law, research and scholarship, and many other exciting venues.
 
Our faculty work and publish in a number of areas and subjects, including, but not limited to: women in the former Yugoslavia and in Leningrad under siege; Jewish-Russian literature and culture; Classical Armenian; liturgical language; second-language acquisition; the history of Linguistics; pan-Arabism and nationalism in the Near East; early Chinese literature; Russian Romanticism; contemporary and émigré Russian literature.
 
The Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages & Literatures is a unique department both at Boston College and in the larger academic community. We represent languages and cultures from many parts of the world.
 

 
SELL lectures and events for 2010–2011
09 May 2011 (Mon)
Lawrence G Jones Memorial lecture in Linguistics and Poetics
 
Roger Finch (Surugadai University, ret)
Japanese phonology and the Altaic languages

 
16.00h (4.00 pm), Lyons Hall 208
Admission free and open to the public.
  
for details 617/552.3912 or cnnmj@bc.edu
  Flyer
 
  
07 May 2011 (Sat)
 
Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (Byzantine rite)
for the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. 
 
10.00h, St William’s Chapel (9 Lake St, School of Theology and Ministry)

Admission free and open to the public
for details 617/552.3912 or cnnmj@bc.edu
  Flyer
  
30 April 2011 (Sat)
Russian Forum:
Michael B Kreps Memorial reading in Russian émigré literature
Gennady Katsov
Leon Kogan
Leopold Epstein
 
19.00h (7,00 pm), Devlin Hall 101
Admission free and open to the public.
  
Three contemporary Russian-American authors, Gennady Katsov, Leon Kogan, and Leopold Epstein, read from and discuss their works.
Conducted in conjunction with the 2011 Boston College Arts Festival, the event is in Russian and is free and open to the public.
Inaugurated in 1997, the Michael B. Kreps Memorial Readings feature Russian émigré authors from around the world. The series is moderated by Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer.
  
for details 617/552.3910 or shrayerm@bc.edu
  Flyer
 
  
27 April 2011 (Wed)
Heinz Bluhm Memorial Lecture Series in European Literature
Kanan Makiya (Brandeis University)
Totalitarian art: What it is, by comparison with Islamic art. .
 
16.30h (04.30pm), Devlin 008
Admission free and open to the public.
  
Kanan Makiya, a former Iraqi dissident and currently the Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University, also founded the Iraq Memory Foundation in Baghdad in 2003.
He has authored many books, including (under a pseudonym) Republic of fear and cruelty and silence: War, tyranny, uprising and the Arab world.
 
For details eMail to kevin.newmark@bc.edu
  
26 April 2011 (Tue)
Lecture and concert

Quando il Fiume Giallo si acchiararà (Frammenti ricciani) (2011)
When the Yellow River runs clear, Ricci Fragments.
 
17.30h (05.30pm), St Mary’s Chapel
Admission free and open to the public.
  
Lecture and Concert: Daniela Tosic, alto; Gabriela Diaz, violin; and Rafael Popper-Keizer, violoncello.
 
For details eMail to ralf.gawlick@bc.edu
  
14 April 2011 (Thu)
Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop. The art of making pysanky.
Sponsored by the Boston College Ukrainian Society
17.30–20.30h (05.30–8.30pm), Devlin 425

Admission free and open to the public; supplies and pizza provided.
for details mail to dzwinyk@bc.edu
  Flyer
  
Some recent previous lectures and events:
08 December 2010 (Sat)
Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (Byzantine rite)
for the feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary from Joachim and Anna. 
19.30h (07.30pm), St William’s Chapel (9 Lake St, School of Theology and Ministry)

Admission free and open to the public
for details 617/552.3912 or cnnmj@bc.edu
  Flyer
  
05 December 2010 (Sun)
Victor Malarek
For sale: Inside the global sex trade.
 
15.30h (3.30pm), Fulton 511
Admission free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Ukrainian Society of Boston College.
  
Victor Malarek, Canadian investigative reporter for CTV, recipient of four Michener awards and the 1997 Gemini award as Canada’s top broadcast journalist, and author of the internationally published books The Natashas: Inside the new global sex trade and The Johns: Sex for sale and the men who buy it chronicles the underworld of human trafficking and the global sex trade.
  
for details dzwinyk@bc.edu
  
28 November 2010 (Sun)
Matthew Shifrin and Rebecca Salganik, accompanied by WIlliam Merrill
Песни юности — Songs of youth
 
15.00h (3.00pm), St William’s Chapel (9 Lake St, School of Theology and Ministry)
Admission free and open to the public.
  
A Thanksgiving concert of classical arias and duets and Russian romances by two young and enthusiastic pupils 
of Normma Giustiani and William Merrill.

for details 617/552.3912 or cnnmj@bc.edu
  Flyer
  
21 October 2010 (Thu)
Samy Gemayel, Lebanese Parliamentarian
Lebanon: Culture of violence vs culture of peace.
 
18.30h (6.30pm), O’Connell House (Grand Hall)
Admission free and open to the public.
  
At the age of 30, MP Samy Gemayel is one of the youngest members of the Lebanese Parliament. He exudes the youthful enthusiasm, reformist spirit, and hopes for freedom and sovereignty that so many young Lebanese have yearned for, and that have eluded Lebanon for a good part of its modern existence. Mr. Gemayel holds a law degree (2003) and a masters in International Public Law (2005) from Lebanon’s Jesuit Université Saint-Joseph. Prior to his 2009 election to the Lebanese National Assembly, Mr. Gemayel was an active member of the (Phalangist) Lebanese Kataëb Party and a coordinator of a number of students groups and youth organizations that played a major role in Lebanon’s 2005 Cedar Revolution, forcing Syria to withdraw its armies after a 30 year occupation of Lebanon.
  
for details 617/552.3915 or salameh@bc.edu
  
01 May 2010 (Sat)
Pontifical Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (Byzantine-Ukrainian rite)
 
11.00 am, Chapel of the Holy Spirit (129 Lake St, Peterson Hall)
with Most Rev Paul Patrick Chomnycky (Eparchy of Stamford), the Seminary choir of St Basil’s College Seminary, Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble, and the Boston College Madrigal Group.
 
Admission free
for details 617/552.3912 or cnnmj@bc.edu
  
26 April 2010 (Monday)
Oleg Dorman (Moscow)
«Подстрочник» (Translation). Documentary film as a history of culture.
 
7.30 pm, Fulton Hall 511
Free and open to the public
  
The presentation will include fragments of Mr. Dorman’s award-winning documentary and will be moderated by Professors John Michalczyk and Maxim D. Shrayer.
  
Lilianna Lounginá (1920-1998), the subject of this documentary, was a distinguished translator of French, German and Scandinavian literature into Russian. She made available, in Russian, works by Hoffmann, Strindberg, Ibsen, Frisch, Colette, Vian, Ende, Astrid Lindgren. Lilianna’s ancestors came from the Pale of Settlement; her happy childhood was spent in Palestine and Germany, her adolescence in France. A Jewish-Russian girl who was European by culture, she returned to the USSR in the 1930s and spent the rest of her life there. Lounginá’s 77-year-long career expressed, with remarkable depth and clarity, the essence of the 20th century. In her exciting oral narrative, which forms the kernel of PODSTROCHNIK, public chronicles of a dramatic epoch are interlaced with a profound personal story. This film took 11 years to make and was finally shown in July 2009 on Russian TV, creating a sensation.   
  
Admission free
for details 617/552.4295 (Fine Arts) or michalcj@bc.edu
   Poster
 
16 April 2010 (Friday)
Geoffrey K. Pullum (Edinburgh)
The land of the free and The Elements of Style
 
3.30 pm, Lyons Hall 202
Free and open to the public
  
   On Language Log (http://www.languagelog.org), Geoff Pullum once wrote that the authors of The Elements of Style were “a shameless, pontificating, ignorant, hypocritical, incompetent, authoritarian pair of old weasels.”
He insists he was in a fairly good mood on that occasion.
But since then his views have hardened, as he has discovered even more gross mistakes and untruths in that famous text on how to write.
In this highly entertaining and accessible lecture he reviews some of the gravest errors in the remarkable array of bad advice about grammar and usage that the book supplies.
He also briefly discusses the issue of why linguists and writing instructors alike should take seriously the notion that bossy and incoherent advice about grammar does actual harm both by wasting resources and by encouraging educated Americans in false beliefs about having an inadequate command of their native language.

  
For further information contact cnnmj@bc.edu or 617/552.3912
  Flyer
 
 

Department contacts

Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures
Boston College
Lyons Hall 210
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467-3804 (USA)
tel +1-617/552.3910 fax +1-617/552.3913
web: http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL/SL.html (this page)

Department Chairman
Prof M.J. Connolly
tel +1-617/552.3912
eMail cnnmj@bc.edu

Graduate Program Director; Faculty Tech Contact (FTC)
Prof M. J. Connolly
tel +1-617/552.3912
eMail cnnmj@bc.edu

Undergraduate Program Director
Prof Cynthia Simmons
tel +1-617/552.3914
eMail simmonsc@bc.edu

Administrative Secretary
Ms Demetra Parasirakis
tel +1-617/552.3910
eMail parasira@bc.edu

 

Departmental overview

The Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures provides graduate- and undergraduate-level courses of study through its four overlapping component programs:

The Program in Linguistics
The Program in Russian and Slavic Studies
The Program in East Asian Studies
The Program in Near Eastern Studies
The Department offers
degrees at the AB and MA levels in Linguistics, in Russian, and in Slavic Studies,
a dual five-year AB-MA program for Boston College undergraduates,
departmental undergraduate minors in Linguistics in Russian, in Arabic, and in Chinese.
 
SELL also coordinates the interdepartmental undergraduate minor in East European Studies and co-coordinates the undergraduate interdisciplinary minors in Asian Studies and in Jewish Studies.
The Department offers a program at St. Petersburg, administered through the Dostoevsky Museum.
Details are available at http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL/KP-Pbg.html -->

Graduate joint programs with Law or Management are also possible.

The Department co-administers the undergraduate interdisciplinary minors in Asian Studies and Jewish Studies.

For information concerning the interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Asian Studies, contact Prof Rebecca Nedostup (Department of History), Director, Asian Studies minor, nedostup@bc.edu

For information concerning the interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in East European Studies, contact Prof Cynthia Simmons (Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures), Director, East European Studies minor, simmonsc@bc.edu

For information concerning the interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Jewish Studies, contact Prof Dwayne Carpenter (Department of Romance Languages & Literatures), Co-Director, Jewish Studies minor, carpendw@bc.edu

 

Faculty

Full-time faculty

 
  Sing-Chen Lydia Chiang, Associate Professor (East Asian Studies)
Coordinator, East Asian Studies
BA, National Taiwan University
MA, University of Washington
PhD, Stanford University
tel +1-617/552.0128
chiangs@bc.edu
 
 
  M. J. Connolly, Associate Professor (Linguistics, Slavic)
Department Chairman
Graduate Program Director; Faculty Tech Contact (FTC)
Moderator, Faculty Micro Resource Center (FMRC)
AB, Boston College
PhD, Harvard University
tel +1-617/552.3912
cnnmj@bc.edu
 
 
  † Lawrence G. Jones, Professor emeritus (Linguistics, Slavic Studies)
Deceased 2008-11-24.
Memorial service held 2009-03-28
AB, Lafayette College
MA, Columbia University
PhD, Harvard University
tel +1-617/876.6325
joneslg@bc.edu
 
 
  Franck Salameh, Assistant Professor (Arabic)
Coordinator, Arabic & Hebrew
BA, University of Central Florida
MA, Boston University
PhD, Brandeis University
tel +1-617/552.3915
salameh@bc.edu
 
 
  Maxim D. Shrayer
Professor (Russian, English, Jewish Studies)
BA, Brown University
MA, Rutgers University
MA, MPhil, PhD, Yale University
tel +1-617/552.3910
shrayerm@bc.edu
 
 
  Cynthia Simmons, Professor (Slavic Studies)
Undergraduate Program Director
Director, East European Studies minor
AB, Indiana University
AM, PhD, Brown University
tel +1-617/552.3914
simmonsc@bc.edu
 
 
  Margaret Thomas, Professor (Linguistics)
Undergraduate Fulbright Program Advisor
BA, Yale University
MEd, Boston University
AM, PhD, Harvard University
tel +1-617/552.3697
thomasm@bc.edu
 
 

Some recent full-time faculty research & publications

For detailed information visit the webpages of the individual faculty member
Sing-chen Lydia Chiang
 
“Visions of Happiness: Daoist Utopias and Grotto Paradises in Early and Medieval Chinese Tales,” Utopian Studies (2009) 20.1.
“Poetry and Fictionality in Tang Records of Anomalies,” T’ang Studies 23/24 [backdated 2005–2006]: 91–117.
“Daoist Transcendence and Literati Identity in Records of Mysterious Anomalies by Niu Sengru (780–848),” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews 29 (2007): 1–21.

 
[review of] Judith Zeitlin, The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventeenth-century Chinese Literature,
Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 30 (2008): 187–192.
[review of] Martin W. Huang. Negotiating Masculinities in Late Imperial China,
Ming Studies 56 (2007): 94–101
[review of] Wilt L. Idema, Wait-yee Li, and Ellen Widmer, editors, Trauma and Transcendence in Early Qing Literature,
Journal of Chinese Studies 46 (2006): 438–443.

 
M. J. Connolly
 
Kidnapping the Gospel.
in: Netzer, Nancy: Sacred | secular. 11th-16th century. Works from the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
(McMullen Museum of Art/ Boston College) Chestnut Hill MA, 2006. pp.92-97, obj 77a-80
 
Structural expression in the Armenian anaphora.
in Connolly, M.J. [ed]: Armenian spirituality: A contextual study for our time.
Papers from an international conference at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Geneva (Switzerland).
(Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia) Antelia (Lebanon), in preparation.
 
Language at prayer: Studies in the language of liturgy.
in preparation, edc 2008
 
A grammar for Classical Armenian.
an updating of Antoine Meillet’s Altarmenisches Elementarbuch, in test use
 
earlier work has included: text editions for the Carmina Burana (Boston Camerata) and the Latin motets of Joannes Ciconia (Editions de l’Oiseau-Lyre); Latin legal pronunciations and foreign entries for Black’s law dictionary 5th and 6th editions.

 
Franck Salameh
 
Vous êtes Arabe, puisque je vous le dis! [“You’re an Arab if I say so!”]
Middle Eastern Review of International Affairs I.1 (Spring 2006).52-57.
 
Middlebury’s Arabic Morass
Middle East Quarterly XIII.3 (Summer 2006).39-46.
 
Kahlil Gibran and the birth of the Lebanese national idea in late 19th-century Boston.
Rocznik orientalistyczny 59.4 (Winter 2006), in press.
 
Arab nationalism, its rivals and the new Middle East
(under submission)
 
An anthology of modern Levantine literature: In search of identity.
(est 2008)

 
Maxim D. Shrayer
 
An anthology of Jewish-Russian literature: Two centuries of dual identity in prose and poetry. 1801-2001. 2 vols.
Edited, selected, cotranslated, and with introductory essays by Maxim D. Shrayer.
(M.E. Sharpe) Armonk, NY, 2007.
 
Waiting for America: A Story of Emigration.
(Syracuse UP) Syracuse NY, 2006.
 
‘Out of the Maelstrom: A Deferred History of Jewish-Russian Literature’
(review article: In a Maelstrom: The History of Russian-Jewish Prose (1860-1940), by Zsuzsa Hetényi).
East European Jewish Affairs, 38.3 (December 2008).
 
‘In Search of Jewish-Russian Literature: A Historical Overview.’
Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 61 (2008).
 
‘Aizman, David Iakovlevich’;
‘Bagritskii, Eduard Georgievich’;
‘Chernyi, Sasha’;
‘Iushkevich, Semen Solomonovich’;
‘Nadson, Semen Iakovlevich’;
‘Sapgir, Genrikh Veniaminovich’;
‘Selvisnkii, Ilia Lvovich’,
all in The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Ed. Gershon David Hundert.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
 
‘Sarda Resarta.’
AGNI Online (October 2007).
 
‘Napoleon in San Marino.’
Southwest Review 92.2 (Spring 2007).
 
‘The Gift to Stalin.’
In: The 20th Boston Jewish Film Festival, 5-6 November 2008. Program Book.
Ed. Karen Propp. Boston, 2008.
 

 
Cynthia Simmons
 
Cynthia Simmons / Nina Perlina: Writing the Siege of Leningrad: Women's diaries, memoirs, and documentary prose.
(University of Pittsburgh Pr) Pitssburgh PA, 2002
 
Andrei Bitov.
Dictionary of literary biography: Russian prose writers after WWII
(Bruccoli Clark Layman) Washington DC, 2004). pp.52-63
 
Women’s work and the growth of civil society in post-war Bosnia.
Nationalities papers 2007 forthcoming
 
Andrei Bitov on ‘Russian Wealth’.
International fiction review 2007 forthcoming.
 
The culture of the Siege of Leningrad.
in Stephen Norris / Helena Goscilo [edd]: St. Petersburg in Russian national consciousness.
(Indiana UP) Bloomington IN, 2008 forthcoming
 

 
Margaret Thomas
 
Universal grammar in second language acquisition: A history.
(Routledge Pr) London, 2004
 
Theories of second language acquisition: Three sides, three angles, three points
Second language research 21 (2005).393–414
 
Universal grammar in Roger Bacon and Martin Joos: Generative linguistics’ reading of the past.
Historiographia linguistica 29 (2002).341–380

 

Lecturers

Gil Chalamish, Lecturer (Hebrew)
BEd, Beit Berl College. (Israel)
Certificate, NETA Hebrew Teaching Program
MA, Boston College
tel +1-617/552.3164
chalamig@bc.edu
 
Xu Guo Chan, Lecturer (Chinese)
BA, Hebei Normal University. (China)
MA, EdD, Boston University
tel +1-617/552.3916 [vmb 1]
chanx@bc.edu
 
Mariela Dakova, Lecturer (Bulgarian, Slavic Studies)
Kand. na fil., Kliment Ohridski Univ. (Sofija, Bulgaria)
PhD, University of Alberta
tel +1-617/552.8660 [vmb 3]
dakova@bc.edu
 
Atef Ghobrial, Lecturer (Arabic)
BA, Cairo University (Egypt)
MA, EdD Boston University
tel +1-617/552.8910 [vmb 1]
ghobrial@bc.edu
 
Elena Lapitsky, Lecturer (Russian)
BA equiv, Orsk Pedagogical Institute (Russia)
MA, Boston College
tel +1-617/552.8529
lapitsky@bc.edu
 
Fang Lu, Lecturer (Chinese)
BA, MA, Beijing Normal University (China)
PhD, Simon Fraser University
tel +1-617/552.3916
luf@bc.edu
 
Kazuko Oliver, Lecturer (Japanese)
BA, MA, Keio University (Tokyo, Japan)
MA, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
tel +1-617/552.2755 [vmb 1]
oliverka@bc.edu
 
Wallada Sarraf, Lecturer (Arabic)
MA equiv, Baghdad University
Diploma, Beirut College for Women
tel +1-617/552.3164
rasoul@bc.edu
 
Mari Takahashi Shiveley, Lecturer (Japanese)
BA, Shawnee State University
MA, Ohio University
tel +1-617/552.2755 [vmb 2]
shiveley@bc.edu
 
Ying Wang, Lecturer (Chinese)
BA equiv, Beijing University
MA cand, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
tel +1-617/552.3916
wangbu@bc.edu
 
Hyang-sook Yoon, Lecturer (Korean)
BA, MA, Seoul National University (Korea)
MLS, University of Texas at Austin
tel +1-617/552.8963
yoonh@bc.edu
 

Visting faculty for 2009/2010

Claire A. Foley (Linguistics)
BS. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MA, PhD Cornell University
tel +1-617/552.8568
foleycw@bc.edu
 
Anna M. Summers (Russian)
BA equiv, Moscow State University
PhD Harvard University
tel +1-617/552.3916
gessen@bc.edu
 
 

Administrative Secretary

Demetra Parasirakis parasira@bc.edu
 

Graduate Assistants 2009/2010

Margaret (Meg) Godwin-Jones, Russian godwinjo@bc.edu
Leon Kogan, Russian koganle@bc.edu
Theodore Jenkins, Linguistics jenkinth@bc.edu
Ekaterina Kudryavtseva, Linguistics kudryavt@bc.edu
Andrea Sherbakov, Russian sherbako@bc.edu
Tammi Stout, Linguistics stoutt@bc.edu
Michelle Volz, Linguistics volzmi@bc.edu

 

Affiliated Boston College faculty

Dwayne Carpenter
Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Co-director, Jewish Studies Program
carpendw@bc.edu
 
Thomas Epstein
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Honors Program, College of Arts & Sciences
epsteith@bc.edu

Boston College faculty teaching in related fields

Kathleen Bailey, Adjunct Associate Professor (Political Science)

 
Ali Banuazizi, Professor (Political Science)

 
Paul Christensen, Adjunct Associate Professor (Political Science)

 
Gerald M. Easter, Associate Professor (Political Science)

 
Jeffrey Geoghegan, Associate Professor (Theology)

 
Kenji Hayao, Associate Professor (Political Science)

 
Christina Klein, Assistant Professor (English)

 
Roberta T. Manning, Professor (History)

 
Rebecca Nedostup, Associate Professor (History)
   China Gateway

 
Prasannan Parthasarathi, Associate Professor (History)

 
Dia M.L. Philippides, Professor (Classical Studies)

 
Michael Resler, Professor (German Studies)

 
Robert S. Ross, Professor (Political Science)

 
Dana Sajdi, Assistant Professor (History)

 
Franziska Seraphim, Associate Professor (History)

 
Laurie Shepard, Associate Professor (Romance Languages & Literatures)

 
Min Hyoung Song, Associate Professor (English)

 
Francis Y.K. Soo, Professor (Philosophy)

 
Balázs Szelényi, Visiting Faculty (History)

 
 

Graduate Program (MA) Descriptions

The Department administers three Master-of-Arts degree programs:
Linguistics
Russian
Slavic Studies
Additionally the Department participates in a program for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with the Lynch School of Education (LSOE) and entertains applications for dual MBA/MA and JD/MA degrees.
A BA-MA option is available for Boston College undergraduates.

Graduate Admission

For admission to MA candidacy in Russian or Slavic Studies, students must be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the Russian language equivalent at the very least to the proficiency expected at the end of three years (advanced level) of college study. They must also be acquainted with the major facts of Russian literature and history.

Students applying in Linguistics, a program which stresses the interdisciplinary nature of Linguistics (i.e., not restricted to Slavic topics), should have a good preparation in languages and some undergraduate-level work in Linguistics.

Slavic Studies and Linguistics programs involve a significant proportion of work in other departments of the university, and candidates in these areas are be expected to meet all prerequisites for such courses and seminars.

Students must also be prepared, in the course of studies, to deal with materials in various languages as required.

Students with an undergraduate degree who require preparation for admission to the MA may apply as special students. This mode of application is suited to those who are looking for post-undergraduate courses without enrolling in a formal degree program and for guests from other universities who are enrolling in the BC St Petersburg program.

Graduate degree requirements

All MA programs require:
  • a minimum of ten one-semester courses (thirty credits) in prescribed graduate-level course work
  • qualifying and special-field examinations
  • a supervised research paper of publishable quality on an approved topic.

    • The grades for the qualifying examinations, special-field examinations, and the research paper are reported to the Office of Student Services as a single comprehensive-examination grade. Comprehensive examination sectors are in written or oral format, depending on the nature of the subject matter.

    The Department has exemption procedures to allow limited substitution of requirements. A student may apply up to two courses (6 credits) of advanced work from other universities or research institutes toward program require ments, provided this work has not been previously applied to an awarded degree.

    Further graduate-student links:

      The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

      Graduate applications and financial-aid forms

      Murray Graduate Center

       

    Undergraduate Program (AB) Descriptions

    Major in Linguistics (10 one-semester courses, 30 credits)

    The focus of the linguistics program does not lie alone in the acquisition of language skills, but rather in learning to analyze linguistic phenomena with a view toward making significant generalizations about the nature of language.
    Students majoring in Linguistics build their programs around a specific area of emphasis. A program of study tailored to the individual student's interests and goals is designed in consultation with the faculty.
    Typical areas of emphasis include philology (the historical and comparative study of ancient languages), psycholinguistics, and language acquisition.
    A major in Linguistics prepares students for a wide array of careers including education, law, publishing, speech pathology, government service, and computer science.

  • SL 311 General Linguistics (3 credits)
  • SL 344 Syntax and Semantics (3 credits)
  • SL 367 Language and Language Types (3 credits)
  • two (2) courses of a philological nature (6 credits) on the detailed structure of a language (see listing of such courses at http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL/KP-LGUG.pdf).
  • Five (5) additional courses (15 credits) drawn from departmental offerings, supplemented by approved language-related courses in other departments
    • Linguistics majors should have proficiency in one foreign language and competence in at least one other language at a level appropriate to their career plans. Some exposure to a non-Indo-European language is desirable (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic--all of which are taught within the Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures).
    Students who wish to pursue departmental honors must register in their final semester for SL 401 AB Comprehensive: Lingustics.  

    Major in Russian

    Track 1: Russian Language and Literature (ten (10) one-semester courses, 30 credits)
  • three (3) courses (9 credits) in Russian grammar, composition and stylistics beyond the intermediate level
  • three (3) courses (9 credits) in Russian literature, including two survey courses for classical and modern Russian literature (usually SL222 and SL223)
  • one (1) course (3 credts) in Russian linguistics (The Structure of Russian, Early Slavic Linguistics and Texts, Old Church Slavonic, or Old Russian)
  • three (3) electives (9 credits) in Russian literature or advanced Russian linguistics (list of approved courses available)
     
    • Track 2: Russian Culture and Civilization (ten (10) one-semester courses, 30 credits)
  • one (1) course (3 credits) in Russian Civilization (usually SL 285 Russian Civilization and Culture)
  • two (2) courses (6 credits) in Russian language beyond the intermediate level
  • two survey courses (6 credits) for classical and modern Russian literature (normally SL 222 and SL 223)
  • five (5) electives (15 credits) from Russian and Slavic offerings, of which at least 3 must be in Russian literature or culture
    •  

    Major in Slavic Studies (ten courses, 30 credits)

    The interdisciplinary major in Slavic Studies provides broadly based training in scholarship about Russia and the nations of Eastern Europe.
    The normal program for this major requires a miniumum of ten (10) one-semester courses (30 credits):
  • two (2) courses (6 credits) in a Slavic language at or above the intermediate level
  • one (1) course (3 credits) in Slavic civilizations (usually SL 231 Slavic Civilizations)
  • two (2) courses (6 credits) in a Slavic literature
  • two (2) courses (6 credits) on Slavic history or social sciences
  • three (3) electives (9 credits) in general Slavic studies (list of approved courses available).
    •

     

    Minor in East European Studies (interdisciplinary)

    The East European Studies interdisciplinary minor requires a minimum of six (6) approved one-semester courses (18 credits), distributed as follows:
  • one introductory course (3 credits) (usually SL 285 Russian Civilization & Culture, or SL 284 Russian Civilization, or SL 231 Slavic Civilizations, or SL 149/HS 149 Balkan Civilizations)
  • one additional course (3 credits) in Russian or East European history or politics
  • two courses (6 credits) in Russian or another East European language at the intermediate or upper-division level
  • two approved elective courses (6 credits) from related areas such as: Philosophy, Theology, Economics, Literature or language, Political Science, History, Education, Art History or Film Studies.
    •  One of the Russian & East European electives may be a directed senior research paper on an approved topic.
    For further details consult http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/ees/home.html  

    Minor in Linguistics (departmental)

    This departmental minor requires a minimum of six (6) approved one-semester courses (18 credits):
  • 1 course (3 credits) SL311/EN527 General Linguistics
  • 1 course (3 credits) SL344/EN392 Syntax & Semantics
  • 2 courses (6 credits) on philological topics
  • 2 courses (6 credits) on general linguistic topics
    •  

    Minor in Russian (departmental)

    This departmental minor requires a minimum of six (6) approved one-semester courses (18 credits):
  • 2 courses (6 credits) in Russian at or above the intermediate level
  • 2 courses (6 credits)in Russian literature: one pre-20th century and one post-19th century
  • 2 courses (6 credits) in Russian literature or linguistics
    •  

    Minor in Arabic (departmental) (six courses, 18 credits)

    The departmental minor in Arabic Studies covers areas of Modern Standard Arabic and Modern Hebrew, Modern Middle Eastern literature and cultural history, and Near Eastern Civilizations. It requires a minimum of six (6) approved one-semester courses:
  • 2 courses (6 credits) in Modern Standard Arabic above the Intermediate level
  • 4 courses (12 credits) in Middle Eastern languages, cultures, literatures and civilizations, which may include a language course in Modern (Israeli) Hebrew, courses taught in translation, and Near Eastern Civilizations.
    •  

    Minor in Chinese (departmental) (six courses, 18 credits)

    The departmental minor in Chinese focuses on acquiring modern language proficiency and knowledge of aspects of Chinese culture, literature and civilization. It requires a minimum of six (6) approved one-semester courses::
  • 2 courses (6 credits) in modern Mandarin Chinese above the intermediate level
  • Four courses (12 credits) in Chinese culture and literature, which may include courses taught in translation, language courses in Classical Chinese, and Far Eastern Civilizations
    •   

    Study-abroad programs

    Veliko Turnovo (Bulgaria)

    Boston College students participate in the International Summer Seminar for Bulgarian Studies in Veliko Turnovo (Велико Търново) where they study Bulgarian language and culture to supplement our own courses.

    Center for International Partnerships and Programs (CIPP)

    Students taking classes in the Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages & Literatures participate in Boston College's programs and international partnerships in Bulgaria, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, and Russia.
    For complete information on any of these programs and also on 'unofficial' study abroad, contact the Center for International Partnerships and Programs.

     

    Placement and proficiency examinations

    Chinese, Japanese and Korean placement exams for entering students will take place at 4.30pm on Tuesday 06 September. Report to Lyons 210.
      For more details and updates on all East Asian language exams, read http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL/KP-AsianProf.pdf.

    English for Foreign Students

    The Department offers a number of linguistics courses for training teachers of English to foreign students.

    The Department of English offers elective and core-level courses of English language and literature for foreign students enrolled at Boston College (EN 117-120).

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