Education

  • Ph.D. Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures – University of California, Los Angeles (2019)
  • M.A. Slavic Languages and Literatures – University of California, Los Angeles (2013)
  • B.A. Russian Studies – New College of Florida (2010)

Research

  • Soviet and Post-Soviet Literature, Film, and Culture
  • Twenty-First Century Russian Cinema
  • Film Adaptation, Gender Theory, and Genre Theory
  • Postmodernism, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
  • National Identity in Eastern Europe
  • Language Pedagogy and Proficiency Assessment

Dissertations

“Searching for Identity: The Russian Idea in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Fantastika Film Adaptation”

In my dissertation, “Searching for Identity: The Russian Idea in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Fantastika Film Adaptation,” I approach the topic of Russian identity from a comparative sociohistorical perspective. Through a juxtaposition of fourteen science fiction film adaptations and their corresponding literary sources, I illustrate characteristic features of the Russian worldview as it evolved over the course of a century: namely, from 1917 to 2017. I ground my arguments in narratives of national identity developed by Russian philosophers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (notably Petr Chaadaev, Sergei Uvarov, and Nikolai Berdiaev), and my work is heavily indebted to theories introduced by contemporary Western academics (including Eliot Borenstein, Birgit Beumers, and Stephen Norris). Employing an interdisciplinary approach and an expansive view of Soviet and Russian cinema, literature, and identity in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, my research is a novel contribution to the study of modern Russian culture.

Courses

As a Lecturer at UCLA:

  • Russian Science Fiction (Russian 128)

As a Lecturer at California State University Long Beach:

  • Intermediate Russian (RUSS 200)
  • Russian Cinema (RUSS 428)
  • European Cinemas of Fascism, Communism & Resistance (RGR 346)
  • Crime and Punishment (RGR 400)
  • Fundamentals of Russian (RUSS 100)
  • Reading the World (CWL 161)

As a Teaching Assistant at UCLA:

    • Russian Civilization in the 20th Century (Russian 90BW)
    • Christianities East and West (Slavic M40)
    • The Great Russian Novel (Russian 25W)
    • Elementary Russian (Russian 1-3)
    • Intensive Elementary Russian (Russian 10)
    • Introduction to Russian Civilization (Russian 90A)

Conferences

• “Science Fiction in the Stalin Era: Mystery of the Two Oceans as Novel, Screenplay, and Film Adaptation,” presented at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Convention, San Francisco, CA, November 23-26, 2019.
• “The Brothers Strugatskii in the Post-Soviet Context,” presented at the Western Social Science Association (WSSA) Conference, San Diego, CA, April 24-27, 2019, and at the California Slavic Colloquium, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, April 9, 2019.
• “Russian Blockbuster Cinema: The Post-Soviet Worldview in Russian Film,” presented at the International Association for Humanities (MAG) Convention, Ukrainian Catholic University, L’viv, Ukraine, June 27-29, 2018.
• “Stagnant Stereotypes: Roadside Picnic and the Dissident Intelligentsia,” presented at the Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies Northwest (REECAS NW) Conference, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, April 28, 2018, and at the California Slavic Colloquium, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, April 14, 2018.
• “Searching for Identity: The Russian Idea in Post-Soviet Science-Fiction Film Adaptations,” presented at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Convention, Chicago, IL, November 9-12, 2017, and at the California Slavic Colloquium, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, April 8, 2017.

Fellowships & Awards

• Spring 2019: ASEEES Convention Travel Grant (UCLA)
• Summer 2018: International Institute Fieldwork Fellowship (UCLA)
• Spring 2018: CERS Dissertation Research Fellowship (UCLA)
• Winter 2016: Mellon Foundation Pre-Dissertation Fellowship (UCLA)
• Summer 2013: Title VIII Graduate Fellowship (Arizona State University)
• Summer 2012: Foreign Language and Areas Studies Summer Grant (UCLA)
• Summer 2012: Kathryn Davis Fellows for Peace Fellowship (Middlebury College)
• 2011–2012: Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship (UCLA)
• Fall 2010: UCLA Foundation Doctoral Scholar Fellowship (UCLA)
• Spring 2008: New College Research and Travel Grant (New College of Florida)
• 2005–2009: New College Academic Scholarship (New College of Florida)
• 2005–2009: Florida Bright Futures Scholarship (New College of Florida)