Faculty of Philology
«Philology» literally means «love for the word». It is the love for the word that unites teachers and researchers of languages and literatures (both in their contemporary state and in historical development) with translators, interpreters, diplomats, mass media specialists, publishers, writers and poets.
Today the Faculty of Philology of MSU plays a leading role in the Russian system of university philological training. Within the frames of the Council for Research and Methodology in Philology, the faculty connects over 60 faculties from all over Russia that are concerned with philological instruction. The latest university programs in all philological courses are being developed at the Faculty; textbooks and manuals that are used both in this country and abroad are being composed here.
Organisation
At present the Faculty comprises 20 departments, 6 laboratories and research centres. The teaching staff consists of more than 350 lecturers and instructors, including a number of full members and corresponding members of the Russian and foreign Academies of Science, over 100 doctors and approximately 240 candidates.
Courses
The faculty offers courses in a wide range of subject areas, training highly qualified linguists, translators, and literary critics who learn a number of modern world languages, Russian literature, world literatures, Russian and European cultures, classic and ancient languages (Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Slavonic, Gothic, Sanskrit), advanced computer technologies and programs.
Job opportunities for graduates
Our graduates are employed with research and educational institutions (research institutes and centres, universities and institutes, colleges, schools), in mass media (newspapers and magazines, publishing houses, radio and television), government bodies and public service organisations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, archives, libraries, museums), tourist agencies, various business companies and firms, both Russian and foreign.
Fundamental education in the field of philology and humanities enables our graduates to continue their studies in order to obtain the degrees of candidate and doctor of philology, as well as to acquire additional related qualifications.
International cooperation
The Faculty cooperates with more than 50 largest and most prominent universities and philological centres worldwide, including the University of Athens, Seoul National University, Rome Institute of Russian Language and Literature, University of Padua, Dujchev Centre at Sofia University. Our most active partners are German universities (Tubingen, Marburg, Rostock, Bochum, Humboldt University of Berlin), Italian universities (University of Florence), USA (International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature, New-York and Yale universities), Portugal (University of Lisbon), Spain (universities of Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, and Valencia), France (The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV), and Switzerland (University of Geneva).
The Faculty of Philology is an active participant of TEMPUS — Trans-European Mobility Scheme for University Studies.
Each of the 25 modern world language taught at the faculty is, as a rule, represented by a native speaking instructor or lecturer. Every year more than 200 students, postgraduate students and staff members go on educational trips abroad. The students have an opportunity to undergo a course of studies at foreign universities in accordance with students’ exchange programs.
Facilities
The facilities include libraries, three computer laboratories with access to the Internet, language laboratories equipped with audio and video sets.
Publications
The results of the researches conducted by the staff, students, and postgraduate students are published in the MSU Bulletin. Philology magazine and the Reports of the Faculty of Philology periodical.
Curriculum
All the students of the Faculty study literature, the Russian language, a chosen modern world language, as well as a number of general philological subjects: introduction to philology, general linguistics, theory of literature. They get to know various trends, theories, and scholastic schools in Russian and world philology. The curriculum of the Faculty of Philology incorporates general humanities, i.e. philosophy, history, psychology, pedagogy, general courses in mathematics and IT, as well as optional courses in science and humanities.
Extra qualifications
Each student may complete an additional course of studies to obtain an extra qualification. These include teaching Russian as a foreign language, translation, teaching a foreign language at school or at an institution of higher education, comparative historical Indo-European linguistic studies, comparative literary studies, computer processing of linguistic data, philological support of mass media and public relations, and others. The number of the additional courses is growing constantly. The students also have an opportunity to study world languages that are not included in the department curriculum, for a small fee.
