Graduate Courses
Please see our present Graduate-level course offerings, as well as our vast and varied course catalog below! Please note that some courses in our catalog are offered regularly, and others irregularly. Check out our past offerings on our Courses Page, and click on previous semesters to see what was offered (ie. Autumn 2025).
Current Graduate Course Offerings
Content Courses
POLISH 5196: Polish/EU Media
- TR 2:20-3:40 PM
Topics in Polish and European culture. Offers an interdisciplinary view into the political, economic, and cultural contexts of Poland, often in comparison with other EU countries and/or neighboring states. Not open to students with credit for INTSTDS 5196. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 credit hours. Cross-listed in INTSTDS.
RUSSIAN 5250.05: The Russian Writer: Tolstoy
- WF 12:45-2:05 PM, Instructor: Dr. Alisa Ballard Lin
Lev Tolstoy (1828–1910) is a truly magnificent, iconic writer from the Russian nobility whose influence on literature, philosophy, and social-justice movements has been transnational and profound. Many of Tolstoy’s ideas and positions are worthy of a critical eye and engaged debate—which is what we will do in our class.
RUSSIAN 5601: Structure of Russian
- WF 2:20-3:40 PM, Instructor: Dr. Elena Myers
Systematic synchronic description of the structure of Contemporary Standard Russian, focusing on phonetics, phonology, and morphology, and associated theoretical issues. Taught in English. Prerequisite: 3102, or Grad standing in Slavic; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 6601 (640).
RUSSIAN 5630: Russian Translation: Theory, Practice, and the Profession
- M 2:15-5:00 PM, Instructor: Dr. Andrei Cretu
Theory and practice of translating Russian literary, cultural, political, scientific, and business texts into English. Prerequisite: 3102 or 3122. Recommended prerequisite: 2250.
SLAVIC 5030: Mapping Migration, Bordering, and Racial (Im)Mobility in (Eastern) Europe
- WF 2:20-3:40 PM, Instructor: Dr. Diana Sacilowski
This course centers Cultural Studies, History, Legal Studies, Sociology, critical theories of migration, race and racialization to illustrate how perceptions of migrants and prejudice against them affects internal perceptions and hierarchies, transnational interactions, and even precipitates and perpetuates conflict in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe.
SLAVIC 6000: Slavic Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies Professionalization Forum
- Section 0010, Day and Time TBD, Instructor: Dr. Alisa Ballard Lin
Biweekly colloquium for presentations and discussion of research by graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars. Required for M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Slavic Literatures and Cultures. Repeatable to a maximum of 8 credit hours. This course is graded S/U.
Prerequisite: Grad standing.
Language Courses
RUSSIAN 5150: RUSSIAN FOR BUSINESS
- Section 0010, WF, 9:35-10:55AM, Instructor: Helen Myers
This course will provide specific vocabulary and skills to deal with various areas of business and industry in Russia, including oil and natural gas, agriculture, and commerce.
Prereq: 4102, or permission of instructor
This course is replacing Russian 5102 in Sp26. If you took Russian 5101 in Au25, please take this course!
RUSSIAN 5104: Advanced Russian VI
- TR 9:35-10:55 AM, Instructor: Viktoriia Kim
Students will continue to develop comprehensive knowledge of Russian in the following skills: speaking, reading, writing, listening, and grammar. Taught in Russian.
Prerequisite: 5103, or permission of instructor.
RUSSIAN 6171: Basic Reading Russian for Graduate Students
- Instructor: Dr. Andrei Cretu
Russian alphabet, basic vocabulary, and basic elements of grammar for graduate students who need to develop reading skills for professional research. Taught in self-paced format. Continued by Russian 6172. Not open to students with credit for 571.
Prerequisite: Grad standing.
RUSSIAN 6172: Reading Russian for Research
- Instructor: Dr. Andrei Cretu
Continuation of Russian 6171: further development of reading skills, vocabulary, and grammar for graduate students who need to read Russian for professional research. Taught in self-paced format. Not open to students with credit for 572 or 573.
Prerequisite: 6171 (571) and grad standing.
RUSSIAN 7150: Language Maintenance and Professionalization
- T 1:00-1:55 PM, Instructor: Dr. Larysa Stepanova
Opportunity for graduate students to maintain/enhance their Russian language abilities and improve their lesson planning and teaching skills in Russian language classes. Repeatable to a maximum of 16 credit hours or 8 completions. This course is graded S/U.
Prerequisite: Grad standing.
See listed below our many course offerings! Please note that some courses are offered regularly and others irregularly. See our current course offerings on our "Courses" page or in the "Current Graduate Courses" section on this page.
Literature, Culture, and Film Courses - Linguistics Courses - Second Language Acquisition Courses
Literature, Culture, and Film Courses
Russian 5225
Russian Emigre Literature
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Analysis of the three "waves" of Russian emigration -- post-Revolutionary, post-WWII, and the so-called "third wave" in the 1970s and 80s through the poetry, fiction, and memoirs by such writers as: Ivan Bunin, Vladislav Khodasevich, Vladimir Nabokov, Nina Berberova, Sergei Dovlatov, Vasily Aksyonov, and Joseph Brodsky. Prereq: English 1110 or equiv, or any 4000-level Russian literature, culture or linguistics course.
Polish 5230
Polish Literature
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Polish cultural and intellectual history as represented in the major works of Polish literature and in contemporary media. Taught in English. Readings in English, but students of Polish will do portions of the readings in the original. Prereq: 6 credit hours of Literature courses at the 2000 level or above, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 630 and 631.
Russian 5230
Utopia and Dystopia in Russian Literature
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Russian writers of the past two centuries have been fascinated with both the idea of utopia and its reverse image of a dystopian society whose aim of perfection has led to the very opposite. In this course, we will explore realist, modernist, Soviet, and post-Soviet utopian and dystopian novels, stories, plays, and essays.
Prereq: 2250 or another course on Russian literature or culture is recommended for undergraduates.
Russian 5250.01 (.02, .03, ...)
The Russian Writer
Offered: Annually | 3 credit units
Slavic 5450
Global Human Trafficking: Realities and Representations
Offered: Autumn, Spring I 3 credit hours
This course will introduce students to the development of human trafficking as it has been understood and represented by governments, policymakers, the media, and popular culture. The objective of this course is to scrutinize common understandings and representations of trafficking and to consider the advantages and disadvantages of such understandings and representations.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for WGSSt 5450. Cross-listed in WGSSt.
Slavic 5457
Ideology and Viewers: East European Film and Media
Offered: Occasionally I 3 credit hours
This course explores the complex dynamics between ideology, propaganda, and the ways Russian, East European, and U.S. films and media 'tap into the political unconscious' of viewers. With the aid of audience studies and reception theory, the course examines film and media reception and the ideological factors which impact it from the early Soviet and socialist times to the present.
Repeatable to a maximum of 9 credit hours.
Russian 5460
Russian Media
Offered: Occasionally I 3 credit hours
This course will examine Russian media and communication within the context of media analysis and communication studies. The course will briefly review the history of Soviet and post-Soviet media in the late 20th-21st centuries, but will focus primarily on contemporary Russian media. Taught in English with the option of completing extra course work in Russian for an additional credit hour.
Russian 5530
Madness and Power in Russia
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Russian 5630
Russian Translation: Theory, Practice, and the Profession
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Theory and practice of translating Russian literary, cultural, political, scientific, and business texts into English.
Recommended prereq: Russian 2250.
Prereq: Russian 3102 or 3122.
Slavic 6000
Slavic Literature, Film & Cultural Studies Professionalization Forum
Offered: Autumn, Spring | 1 credit unit
Russian 6252
Issues in 19th-Century Russian Literature
Offered: Annually | 3 credit units
Russian 6253
Issues in 20th- and 21st-Century Russian Literature
Offered: Annually | 3 credit units
Russian 6254
Russian Literary Genres
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Slavic 6457
Film Theory, Gender, and National Identity in Slavic Cinema
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Slavic 6500
Proseminar in Slavic and East European Literary and Cultural Studies
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Slavic 6501
Introduction to Slavic and East European Studies
Offered: Annually | 3 credit units
Slavic 7480
Slavic Film Directors
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Slavic and East European film directors as auteurs; key notions of contemporary film theory. Taught in English. Prereq: Graduate standing, or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 credit hours with change of topic.
Russian 8550
Seminar in Russian Literature, Film, or Cultural Studies
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Linguistics Courses
Russian 5601
Structure of Russian I
Offered: Every two years | 3 credit units
Systematic synchronic description of the structure of Contemporary Standard Russian, focusing on phonetics, phonology, and morphology, and associated theoretical issues. Taught in English. Prereq: 3102, or graduate standing in Slavic, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for Russian 640 or Russian 6601.
East European 5627
Reading Course in a Balkan or East European Language
Offered: Every fourth year | 3 credit units
Russian 5701
History of Russian I
Offered: Every two years | 3 credit units
Survey of the most important developments in the Russian writing system, phonology, morphology, and syntax from Old East Slavic to modern times; Russian among the Slavic languages; main methodologies in historical linguistics. Prereq: 3102 or 503, or graduate standing, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for Russian 720 or Russian 6701.
Slavic 6625
Old Church Slavonic
Offered: Every fourth year | 3 credit units
Introduction to the grammar of Old Church Slavonic, with readings in authentic medieval Slavic texts. Taught in English. Prior knowledge of a Slavic language not required. Prereq: Graduate standing or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 810.
East European 7628
Balkan Linguistics
Offered: Every fourth year | 3 credit units
Slavic 8741
Medieval Slavic Workshop
Offered: Every two years | 6 credit units
Biennial intensive Summer or May-term workshop in the methodology of working with medieval Cyrillic manuscripts using manuscripts from the Hilandar Research Library of The Ohio State University. Taught in English. Prereq: 7625 (810), or Russian 6701 (720), or permission of instructor and accepted application to Medieval Slavic Institute through OSU Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies. Not open to students with credit for 812 & 814.
Second Language Acquistion Courses
Slavic 8802
Language and Memory: Psycholinguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Offered: Annually | 3 credit units
Discussion of psycholinguistic works related to memory and its role in language processing, second language learning, and forgetting. Taught in English. Elective for the GIS in Second Language Studies. Prereq: Graduate standing or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 804.
Slavic 8803
Language, Culture, and Cognition
Offered: Occasionally | 3 credit units
Discussion of different methodological & theoretical approaches to the Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf) hypothesis, including data and scholarship from Russian & other Slavic languages. Taught in English. Prereq: Graduate standing, or permission of instructor.