The proseminar in Slavic studies is aimed at the professional orientation and development of students at the doctoral level. The course introduces graduate students to the history of their academic discipline in Europe and North America, and surveys the discipline’s thematic and methodological breadth. It also imparts a sense of the larger scholarly community to which students belong as researchers and teachers in Slavic studies, fosters the development of research skills central to our academic field, and helps students cultivate good professional habits. The course is taught by a team of instructors from the Slavic Department and cognate academic programs. The proseminar is offered every other year and, while it carries no course-credit value, it is required of all doctoral students who must take it prior to their qualifying exams. MA students are encouraged but not required to take the course (MA students who enrol in the department's doctoral program must take the proseminar whether or not they have audited it before). Although a semester-long (H) course, the proseminar is taught on a bi-weekly basis throughout the academic year.