Slavic studies (North America), Slavonic studies (Britain and Ireland) or Slavistics (borrowed from Russian славистика) is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist (from Russian славист) or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist researching Slavistics, a Slavic (AmE) or Slavonic (BrE) scholar.