Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

Duke University Libraries contains one of the oldest and most extensive Slavic collections of all the academic libraries in the Southeastern United States.  The bulk of the collection relates to the former Soviet Union and its successor states in Eurasia and Eastern Europe, that is, to the territories that share either a common Slavic linguistic heritage or a political history with the lands and cultures of Slavic Eurasia.  The main collection in the areas of the humanities and social sciences is housed in the Perkins and Bostock Libraries, which together constitute the main branch.  Manuscripts, rare books, and materials in the areas of fine arts, music, law, business, and medicine are found in other libraries of the Duke University Library system (such as the Lilly Library, the Music Library, and the Rare Book, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library [RBMSCL]); as well as in libraries of the professional schools, such as the Divinity School Library, the Law School Library, the Ford Library of the Fuqua School of Business, and the Medical Center Library.  All collections can be located through Duke University Library’s on-line catalog.

The Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Collection seeks to provide all Duke University faculty, students, and staff with the resources necessary to support teaching and research about this geopolitically-vital and culturally-vibrant region of the world. To carry out this mission, the Librarian for Slavic and East European Studies at Duke University Library identifies, selects, and acquires materials from Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus in both vernacular and West European languages. The disciplines represented in Duke’s Slavic collection include, but are not limited to Slavic Languages and Literatures, History, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Music, Religion, and Art.  In addition to books, serials, and microforms, the collection includes videos, CD-ROMs, posters and ephemera, as well as electronic databases with Slavic content.