General Examinations

 

Three Fields and a Faculty Committee

  • Students will work on creating and developing three fields for their general exams during their G-3 year, culminating in a 2-hour oral exam in May. 
  • This process is overseen by a three-person “general exam committee,” with one faculty member overseeing each field. The DGS will also provide oversight throughout the process.
  • The composition of the general exam committee is subject to departmental approval.
  • If appropriate, a non-departmental regional specialist at Harvard may serve as faculty adviser for one of the three fields. Otherwise, Harvard faculty outside the Slavic department may not serve on general exam committees.
  • Note that the general exam committee is not a dissertation committee, although there may well be overlap.

Field Specifics

  • One of the three fields is a proto-prospectus topic. This focus of this field does not commit the student to a dissertation topic but should entail substantive exploration of a potential dissertation topic, or an aspect of such a topic.
  • There are a range of possibilities for the other two fields, which may focus on a period, genre, theme, or theory. Fields may also be cross-disciplinary. A field may be based on a past seminar paper.
  • Fields may draw from a single Slavic tradition or potentially cross traditions. If a student has done substantive work in a second Slavic tradition, they are strongly encouraged to make this one of their fields.
  • If a student is specializing in a defined period and/or genre – such as nineteenth-century lyric poetry or late Soviet underground – they are strongly encouraged to make this topic one of their fields.
  • Each field will continue evolving over the course of the G-3 year.

Preparation of Fields

  • For each field, students will develop a bibliography of primary and secondary works, perhaps 30-40 items per field, which the student would be expected to know well. The balance of primary vs. secondary works would depend on the field topic. Primary works should be studied in the original language.
  • For secondary works, students should include sources in the language of their major literature and should also demonstrate competency in their second “research language.”

Timeline

  • Students will begin designing their general exam fields over the G-2 summer, initiating conversations with department faculty about potential topics, and working towards forming a general exam committee by the early fall.
  • All fields should be fully developed by the end of September and will then be reviewed and approved by department faculty.
  • Students will work on developing and mastering their three fields across the G-3 year.
  • By the end of April, students will submit a 5-page document for each field that provides an overview, poses questions, draws conclusions, points forward, etc.
  • Students will take their oral exam in May of their G-3 year.
  • The oral exam will last for 2 hours, with 30 minutes allotted for each of three fields, and extra time allowed to discuss developing the prospectus topic during the G-3 summer.