The Slavic Languages and Literatures major is the study of Russian, along with work in another Slavic language, such as Serbo-Croatian, Polish, or Czech. The study of the languages is combined with the study of the literatures. Russian literature is some of the greatest in the world. You’re entering the realm of Pushkin, Mayakovksy, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov and Dostoevsky. These writers have also written some of the longest works ever committed to paper, so you’ll have Great Doorstops after you read these Great Books.

Preparation

If you can take Russian or Polish (or, by some chance, Serbo-Croatian or Czech) at your school—do it. Since these languages are not often offered, you can start getting experience in mastering a foreign language by studying one that your school does. Classes in European history and world literature will be useful. And start digging into those Russian novels.