Ph.D. Degree
Admission
Students preparing to enter the doctoral program choose a specialization in either literature or linguistics, with Russian usually as the principal language and literature. By special arrangement doctoral students may specialize in a language or literature other than Russian.
Students are formally admitted to the PhD program after passing all the departments requirements for the MA degree (see above). Students with MA degrees from other institutions must pass the departmental MA comprehensive examination with a high pass and satisfy the departmental MA foreign language requirements for admission to the doctoral program. Students whose degree is in Slavic Languages and Literatures and who are continuing in the same area of specialization (literature or linguistics) should take the MA examination within three quarters after matriculation. Courses should be selected to fill in lacunae as determined by the requirements of the MA programs in either literature or linguistics. Students with MA degrees in disciplines other than that of their planned specialization, or students who do not have an MA but have taken graduate level courses equivalent to those required in our department at UCLA for an MA degree, must complete the required number of course units; course substitutions may be made with the permission of the student’s advisor.
Foreign Language Requirement
Proficiency in both French and German is required for the Ph.D. degree. Proficiency in one of the languages is satisfied by the method of fulfillment selected and approved prior to the award of the M.A. degree. Proficiency in the second language is demonstrated by the inclusion of text in that language on the bibliographies prepared for the Ph.D. examinations. Familiarity with said texts must be attested to by the faculty member designated as chair of the doctoral committee. Proof that the student has satisfied the language requirement must be submitted in the form of a departmental language examination report to the Graduate Division concurrent with the nomination of the doctoral committee.
With departmental consent, students specializing in linguistics may substitute a reading knowledge in another language important to the study of Slavic linguistics (Finnish, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Romanian, or a Turkic language relevant to East or South Slavic historical linguistics). A reading knowledge of two such languages may, by the same procedure, be substituted for the French or (more rarely) German requirement.
Course Requirements
Before the formation of a doctoral committee, students must be officially admitted to the doctoral program and have taken the following required courses:
Students whose specialization is linguistics must take a minimum of 20 units beyond those used to satisfy the MA. They must take one 200-level literature course in the department and four additional 200-level courses as approved by the student's adviser. These four courses may include offerings in other departments and programs, e.g., the Department of Linguistics, the Indo-European Studies Program, or other language departments such as Germanic Languages or Near Eastern Languages and Literatures.
Students whose specialization is literature must take a minimum of 28 units, including two courses from the comparative literature cluster (Slavic 230A, 230B, 230C), Russian 204, Russian 214, and three advanced literature courses or seminars. Students are also advised to acquire a sound general knowledge of modern Western European literature.
Russian 203 is required of all PhD students for two quarters a year.
Major Fields or Subdisciplines
Doctoral students choose a specialization in either literature or linguistics, with Russian usually as the principal language and literature. By special arrangement doctoral students may specialize in a language or literature other than Russian.
Students may create an optional sub-specialty at the Ph.D. level that consists of at least four courses approved by the graduate adviser. The courses come from graduate offerings in one or more departments or programs. These include the following departments or programs: Anthropology; Applied Linguistics; Art History, Classics, Comparative Literature, English, Film, Folklore and Mythology, History, Indo-European Studies, language and literature departments (French, Germanic Languages, etc.), Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Theater, and Women's Studies. The courses also may come from graduate offerings within this department (students in linguistics choose from courses in literature and students in literature choose from courses in linguistics).
Qualifying Examinations
Written Examinations
Students in linguistics take two three-hour written examinations. In the first examination students are examined in the general area of the proposed dissertation research. In the second examination students are examined in comparative Slavic linguistics, the history of Russian, and the history and structure of a second Slavic language.
Students in literature must take a series of seven written examinations: four on Russian literature, one on a Slavic literature other than Russian, one on a school of literary theory, and one on the prospective dissertation topic. Students make up an appropriate reading list for each with members of their doctoral committee. Each of four periods of Russian literature -- early literature, the 18th century, the 19th century, and the 20th century -- must be represented by a field. The examination in a Slavic literature other than Russian tests students' knowledge of the history of the literature and familiarity with representative works. Each examination is one hour in length; the seven examinations are taken over the course of a single week.
Oral Examination
Students who receive a grade of pass on the written examinations are admitted to a two-hour University Oral Qualifying Examination, which is designed to test the fields of major interest and general background, and which typically includes discussion of the dissertation topic.
After considering students' overall performance in both the oral and written examinations, the committee assigns a cumulative grade. A pass grade entitles students to write a dissertation. At the committee's discretion, students may be required to retake any or all portions of the Ph.D. examinations within one calendar year after the first attempt.
Within one quarter after passing the qualifying examinations, students must submit a prospectus and commence writing the dissertation.
Formal Lecture.
Students are required to deliver a formal lecture in the California Slavic Colloquium orvat a major professional convention no later than two calendar years after advancement to candidacy.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations