South Slavonic and Balkan Studies

1) South Slavonic Studies – in line with the focus of mother department (Department of Slavonic Studies) and predominant profile of lecturers, the core of this program lies in South Slavonic languages (Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovenian and Macedonian), as well as literatures, cultures, history and current state of South Slavonic countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria).

2) Balkan Studies – in line with the tradition of Brno’s Balkan studies, the study of South Slavonic area at the crossroads of Balkans, Central Europe and Mediterranean is set to a wider (including non-Slavic) context. It is evident in including many courses about history, present culture and ethnology of South-Eastern Europe as a whole, including areas of today’s Albania, Kosovo, Greece and partially Turkey, Cyprus, Romania and Moldova.

Study of this program is suitable for gifted and curious students that will resolutely start unraveling disparate and history-laden relations between Balkan nations, and at the same time will courageously sink into the mysteries of South Slavonic languages. It is realized in four forms:

1) Major study program with specialization (Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, or Serbian) – multi-disciplinary area study with accent on philological part, suitable for collegians that (apart from the above) want to focus on deeper study of an individual South Slavonic language;

2) Major study program – multi-disciplinary area study with a balanced philological and cultural-historical component, suitable for collegians that want to gain complex education on history and current state, culture and society, literature and languages of the Balkan peninsula;

3) Joint study program / major – multi-disciplinary area study with a balanced philological and cultural-historical component, suitable for collegians that want to gain complex education on history and current state, culture and society, literature and languages of the Balkan peninsula, but to a lesser extent than in Major study program (2);

4) Joint study program / minor – non-philological minor program suitable for students of history, ethnology, political science, journalism, geography and other fields, that would like to upgrade their study with knowledge on Balkans.

Students that will choose Major study program and Joint study program - major form of study will learn one South Slavonic language on level A2-B1 (students can choose from Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovenian, or Serbian), that will – along with the anticipated knowledge of at least one foreign (world) language – significantly help students to find employement in the preferred part of the South Slavonic area. Students choosing Major study program with specialization will gain exceptional knowledge of one of the four offered languages (level B2) and at the same time basic knowledge of a second language (level A1). There is no language training necessitated in the Joint study program - minor form of study.

The program can be followed up with a master's degree program Slavonic Studies with specialization South Slavonic and Balkan Studies.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduate is able to:

• speak and write Croatian at level B2, or another optional South Slavic language (Bulgarian or Slovenian, or Macedonian) at level A1, and thanks to knowledge of Croatian, also understand Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin without any problems;
• speak and write Slovenian at level B2, or another optional South Slavic language (Bulgarian, Serbian or Croatian, or Macedonian) at level A1;
• speak and write Bulgarian at level B2, or another optional South Slavic language (Slovenian, Serbian or Croatian, or Macedonian) at level A1;
• speak and write Serbian at level B2, or another optional South Slavic language (Bulgarian or Slovenian, or Macedonian) at level A1, and thanks to knowledge of Serbian, also understand Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin without any problems;
• speak and write Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian or Bulgarian (the choice of language is entirely up to the student) at level A2;
• orientate himself in phonetics, phonology, grammar and vocabulary of the studied South Slavic languages, understand complicated processed allied with the development of current South Slavic languages and their standardization;
• expertly and detachedly analyze literary texts and characterize milestones of development and keywords of South Slavonic literatures in comparative perspective;
• characterize key features of historical development of Balkan peninsula and its current situation, use basic heuristic methods and state important cultural and ethnographic specifics of Balkan;
• orientate himself in professional literature in linguistics, literary studies, history, or other fields;
• apply gained knowledge and skills in a field of future employement (translation and interpretation, bilateral relations in the state and local administration and commerce sphere, journalism).

Bachelor’s degree program South Slavonic and Balkan Studies offers complex philological and historic-regional education suitable for creative work in cultural institutions, journalism, specialized work in editor’s offices, at a level of lower or middle-level company management, in translation of specialized and artistic texts, in interpretation and expert fields. Another possibility of employment is in commercial and economic sphere including tourist industry (Czech companies and travel agencies that focus on individual South Slavonic countries, Balkan or parts of it, and Czech offices of international companies focused on South-Eastern Europe). Graduates will be able to use their language competence for common or specialized, oral or written communication with individual South Slavonic nations (Slovenes, Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Bulgarians).

Optional practical training is included in curriculum.

Instructions for state final exams and graduate thesis follow Dean’s directive no. 6/2007 About State Final Exams at Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University.

Graduate from bachelor's degree program South Slavonic and Balkan Studies can (after completing conditions of acceptance) continue in the study of follow-up master's program Slavonic Studies with specialization South Slavonic and Balkan Studies.