Promoting Excellence in the Study of Poland, Russia and Ukraine
The Slavonic Studies Section at the University of Cambridge offers innovative undergraduate and graduate teaching in Polish, Russian and Ukrainian and engages in the advanced study of Poland, Russia and Ukraine, with an emphasis on cultural history from the Middle Ages to the present day.
For centuries, the University of Cambridge has cultivated a deep understanding of the societies of Eastern Europe by way of celebrated scholarship and instruction. In 1900, a grant from what strikes us now as an improbable source -- the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers -- established the first University Lectureship in Russian. Today the Slavonic Studies Section at Cambridge promotes international excellence in teaching and research over a wide array of topics in the study of language, literature, thought, history and culture.
The intellectual vitality of the Slavonic Studies Section is particularly evident in the fields of Pre-Modern East Slavic culture; Polish, Russian and Ukrainian Literatures of the 19th and 20th centuries; Slavonic Linguistics; Nationalism Studies; Film and Visual Culture; and Memory Studies. It is home to a dynamic annual programme of public lectures, research seminars, conferences and exhibitions.
Upon graduation our students join a highly employable community of leaders who forge rewarding careers in such diverse fields as journalism, law, politics, and diplomacy.
As part of their degree, MML students live abroad in their third year to hone language skills and cultural understanding. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Slavonic Studies community at Cambridge moved quickly to arrange year abroad placements in countries where Russian-language students could immerse themselves in the language outside of Russia. We sat down with students from this first cohort to hear about their experiences at approved institutions in Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. For everyone, it was a life-changing opportunity.
