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The State of Slavic Studies in America*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Waclaw Lednicki*
Affiliation:
Department of Slavic Languages, University of California

Extract

“Our hero's origin was humble and obscure.” The study of Slavic languages began in America in 1885 when Oberlin College started offering courses in Czech to prepare ministers for clerical activities in Czechoslovakia. However, the first attempt at a comprehensive program of Slavic studies was made at Harvard University in 1896, when, through the efforts of Professor A. Coolidge, Leo Wiener was engaged to present courses in Russian, Polish, and Church Slavic. Professor Coolidge previously had presented courses in Slavic history. In 1899 courses in Slavic literature were added to Harvard's schedule. The next step was made at the University of California in 1901, where George R. Noyes, a student of Professor Wiener, instituted the study of Russian and Polish. Of course, the role of Father R. H. Lord at Harvard and of R. T. Kerner at California should not be forgotten.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 1954

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Footnotes

*

Address delivered at the Slavic Conference of American, European, and Canadian Scholars at Ann Arbor on June 27–29, 1953.

References

1 Area and Language Courses,” by Coleman, Arthur P. in The American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. IV, Nos. 8–9, 1945 Google Scholar.

2 Slavic Languages at the University of California,” by Noyes, G. R. in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. XXII, No. 60, 1944 Google Scholar.

3 An Outline of Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, revised by Rickard, J. A. and Hyma, Albert (New York, Barnes & Noble, 1942).Google Scholar

4 Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by Strakhovsky, L. I. (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1949).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 “Geschichte der slavischen Literaturen” by Aleksander Brückner in Slavische Rundschau, Yearbook IV, 1932, Nr. 1.