History

In 1919, alongside the original Slavonic Philology Department, ELTE founded a Ruthenian Language and Literature Department, which was dissolved in 1924 due to political changes. The Croatian Language and Literature Department emerged in 1894 on a reciprocal basis and remained in operation until 1938.

After World War II, the mandatory teaching of Russian in schools led to the foundation of the Department of Russian Philology, which existed under that name until 1995. That year it became the Department of Eastern Slavonic and Baltic Philology as Ukrainian, Belarusian, Latvian, and Lithuanian were incorporated into the curriculum. The Department of Ukrainian Studies became independent in 2002, and on a reciprocal basis, the Department of Polish Studies was established in 1978. Finally, in 2007, the Eastern Slavonic and Baltic Department was officially renamed the Department of Russian Language and Literature, since Ukrainian studies had separated and the earlier name no longer fit.

The Department of Slavonic Studies has historically been led by internationally renowned scholars such as Asbóth Oszkár, Melich János, Kniezsa István, and Hadrovics László. Hungarian Slavistics earned prestige not only at home but also in the broader European academic sphere.

Location and staff

The Institute of Slavonic and Baltic Philology is located in Building D of the Museum Boulevard campus, where physicist Loránd Eötvös researched and taught between 1886 and 1919. The furniture of its library and the gallery have been preserved in their original state. A plaque in honour of the university's namesake has also been erected in the building.

Since the university added Slavic Studies to its courses in 1849, numerous renowned professors have lectured and researched here, including Oszkár Asbóth, Emil Baleczky, László Hadrovics, Anna Han, Gyula Király, Péter Király, István Kniezsa, Ede Margalits, János Melich, István Nyomárkay, Béla Tatár and Zsuzsa Zöldhelyi… the list could go on and on. Our students have the opportunity to study under internationally renowned professors and professor emeriti such as Janusz Banczerowski, Péter Pátrovics (Polish course), István Lukács (Croatian course), Róbert Kiss Szemán (Slovak course), Ágnes Dukkon, Zsuzsanna Hetényi, László Jászay, Katalin Kroó (Russian course) and András Zoltán (Ukrainian course). Our institute is a real leader in Hungary in terms of the quality of its teaching staff.

Teaching and Programmes

Currently, 13 Slavic and Baltic languages, culture and literature are taught in the institute's four departments. The Institute’s departments are the Department of Polish Studies, the Department of Russian Language and Literature, the Department of Slavonic Studies and the Department of Ukrainian Studies. The sections of the Department of Slavonic Studies are: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Macedonian. The Department of Russian Language and Literature is responsible for the coordination of the Russian section, the Belarusian Lithuanian and Latvian lectorates, as well as the Hungarian and English semiotics MA.

At present, the Institute offers full degree specializations (majors) in Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian. At the “lectorate” level—usually one‐semester or shorter instruction—it offers Macedonian, Belarusian, Latvian, and Lithuanian.

The institute is remarkably versatile. Studies and research in literary history, literary theory, comparative literature, descriptive linguistics, linguistic history, theoretical linguistics and cultural studies and semiotics are also part of the educational programme.

Students of the institute learn about the language, culture, literature and linguistics of Slavic and Baltic people. University education is provided by 13 native language lectors and an excellent teaching staff. Students can make the most of the opportunities offered by their liberal arts education here. They can personalise their timetables to attend classes that best suit their interests. The institute typically has low student numbers, which provides excellent opportunities for individual development and talent management. We have a higher number of students in the Russian course, but our language teachers take great care to group students according to their level of proficiency. Our institute boasts a rich educational portfolio. Besides its BA and MA programmes, during which students have the opportunity to learn Slavic and Baltic languages, it also has divided and undivided teacher training programmes, BA national minority specialist programmes, Slavonic minor programmes and a Russian specialisation. Furthermore, our institute is endowed with no less than seven national minority courses (Bulgarian, Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian) that are available as BA and teacher training programmes.

The institute is part of ELTE’s Faculty of Humanities and participates in a wide array of international programmes and cooperation networks.

Doctoral Studies 

After the completion of the master’s programme, students may pursue further studies through the Slavic Studies programmes of the Doctoral School of Linguistics and/or the Doctoral School of Literary Studies. The institute supports doctoral studies in Russian and general Slavonic literature and linguistics. Teaching staff include senior researchers qualified as academicians, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) doctors, plus universal possession of PhDs and numerous habilitated scholars

Academic and cultural events 

Beyond its education and research activities, the Institute of Slavonic and Baltic Philology offers a wide range of exciting programmes for its students to broaden their knowledge and improve their university experience.

The Conference for Young Slavists in Budapest has proven very popular. For the last ten years, BA, MA and PhD students from more than 30 countries have participated in the event, to demonstrate their knowledge and present the results of their own academic research.

The institute’s teaching staff have a close working relationship with the Slavonic section of the Students’ Union. This cooperation has resulted in several programmes that have grown into long-standing traditions, such as the Slavic spring and Slav Christmas, during which students and teachers put on short performances about the festive traditions of Slavonic and Baltic cultures. Meanwhile, the Slavic Cup allows students and teachers to show their athletic prowess by playing football. Every year, our institute organises an extensive programme for the Bölcsész Napok (Humanities Days) and other university events.

Our institute regularly arranges short and long study trips for small groups to national and international destinations.

Degree Programmes

• BA in Slavistics (6 semesters), including majors in Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian.
• Minors are available in the same set of Slavic languages.
• Master’s programmes (4 semesters following the BA) include specialized MA degrees in each of the ten focus areas: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian, as well as teacher training tracks (e.g. becoming a Croatian teacher, Polish teacher, Russian teacher, etc.)