Where are our graduate alumni now?

Michael Corbin

Graduated: 1993, Slavic and East European Area Studies

            Michael has remained an active and crucial member of the Slavic Department’s Alumni Council, and I was able to meet with him in October during his visit to discuss his experience in the field and during his studies. Michael, like most of our alumni, demonstrates how our program enables students to make deep, lasting global impacts in the field. His experience has helped many of our students understand how they are able to combine their many interests, skills, and experiences in their careers. 

1. Where do you work and what is your current position?

I have been an International Trade Specialist for the last twenty-two years in the Office of Finance at the United States Department of Commerce’s International Trade Agency. I worked exclusively on Russian financial services from approximately 1999 until 2013, when the crisis in Ukraine began, and since then I have been the lead for private pensions - helping U.S. companies address market access restrictions around the globe. I have developed programs and cooperated with various Russian government ministries and private sector companies to help develop best practices in insurance and private pensions in Russia.  For example, I worked closely with the Ministry of Economic Development to develop an Insurance Information Center and participated in discussions with them on landmark private pension legislation passed by the Duma in 2002. 

After the passage of the legislation, I worked closely with Vnesheconombank to help bring asset managers to train in the United States.  I also have participated in several OECD conferences in Russia as an expert on the Russian private pension system and was invited to address the All-Russian Insurers’ Union, Russia’s largest insurance association. 

In 2017, I was recommended by the Department of Commerce to receive a fellowship to the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and during my nine months there I studied the breakdown of pension systems in Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland and Romania).  I also had the opportunity to collaborate with the Kennan Institute and wrote a Kennan Cable on Russian trade with Asia and prepared a blog on Russian government efforts to raise the pension age in 2018. I really enjoyed the level of research and writing I was able to do as a Wilson fellow and would welcome the opportunity to engage in similar writing and analysis in the future.

2. How has your MA helped you throughout your post graduate life?

My CSEES MA has been integral to my success throughout my post-graduate life. At CSEES, the MA allowed me to study a wide variety of subjects, from Soviet economics to Sociology in Eastern Europe.  In addition, given my background in economics, I received the opportunity to assist Professor Yuri Medvedkov on an independent research project studying the development of exchanges in the former Soviet Union. The project utilized my total skillset and provided me with the and ability to analyze diverse subject matter, while using the Russian language. The project prepared me for many future research projects and given its economic and financial focus, encouraged me to seek and receive an M.S. in Finance from the University of Baltimore. I most likely would not have my current position without my M.S. in Finance, which perfectly complemented my CSEES MA.  I also would most likely not have received my first job at the World Bank without the commodities knowledge and experience gained from the study project.   

3. What inspires you?

Naturally, as a graduate of CSEES I have long found great inspiration from Russian arts and culture.  From a young age, and as a child who was inspired by “The Miracle on Ice” in 1980, I was amazed by the great Soviet hockey teams, known for their precision and artistry. Moreover, as a young goaltender I was enthralled by the great Vladislav Tretyak for his technical and athletic creativity as well as his distinguished reputation as a gentleman and diplomat off the ice.  As I got older and married a daughter of a symphony musician, the romanticism of the great Russian symphonies and grand Russian opera filled my soul.  Upon reaching middle age I have become more reflective and contemplative and found new meaning in Russian literature. 

As such, for me, Dostoevsky and Bulgakov have no equals in classic Russian literature. Although they lived in completely different eras, they both offer sharp analysis and often timeless criticism of their specific time in Russia or Soviet Russia. I enjoy well-crafted mysteries, in general, and Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov is both a great crime drama and one of the most inciteful examinations of human spirituality ever written. Crime and Punishment and the short story, The Gambler, are also favorites.

Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita provides a razor-sharp critique of Soviet society while at the same time cleverly discussing morality and spirituality through the works of Bezdomny and the Master, who in the novel are writing manuscripts on Christ and Pontius Pilate, respectively.  I have read Master in both English and Russian and never cease to be challenged by Bulgakov’s examination of good and evil and entertained by the cynical comedy provided by Woland (the devil) and his entourage. White Guard (Belaya Gvardiya) provides a timeless examination of the fissures which still exist in Ukrainian society.

I also find inspiration from two contemporary authors. Earlier, I mentioned my interest in crime dramas and my favorite in post-Soviet Russia is Boris Akunin’s Fandorin series.  I have read most of this series in Russian and watched a few movies based on the books. Each book in the series provides an excellent escape back into Russian history during the final grand decades of the Romanov dynasty at the end of the 19^th century as Erast Fandorin (a sort of Russian Sherlock Holmes) battles political terrorists, corrupt bureaucrats and not-so 19^th century Russian serial killers. At times I even feel that in my mind I am transformed into a minister-counsellor in Russia’s Golden Age.

A second contemporary author who I find quite insightful is Eugene Vodolazkin.  His novels Laurus, Solovyov and Larionov and The Aviator all present a contemporary view of classic Russian moral and spiritual, even Orthodox Christian, themes even though these novels introduce us to characters who are for the most part searching the Russian and Soviet past for answers to problems in the present. I find this fitting for a country that derives so much pride and rich culture from a difficult past while not so confident of its present and even less certain of its future.

Nina Haviernikova

Graduated: 2006 M.A., 2017 Ph.D in Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Nina obtained her Ph.D. in Slavic Linguistics from the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at the Ohio State University. She has extensive experience in second language teaching and learning and program management. Prior to coming to the Ohio State, she served as the Slovak Studies program coordinator at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea, and as a language instructor at the Comenius University in Slovakia. I am very grateful to work with Nina on occasion as she brings her expertise to make big differences here in Arts & Humanities!

1. What kind of work do you do? 

I am an administrative/professional staff at Ohio State. I work for the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures. I frequently collaborate with world language faculty, technology staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Several times a year, I attend external events such as conferences or recruitment workshops. My current work is directly related to world languages and cultures.

2. What are your responsibilities and current projects?

I work in three main areas:

• I coordinate world language placement testing, language validation and evaluation of Seal of Biliteracy. In this capacity I communicate with students, their advisors, and the language departments.
• I work with less commonly taught languages (LCTL) faculty at Ohio State. I provide support they need, including networking and community building, keeping them updated on important developments in LCTL nationally, course material development, and outreach and student retention and recruiting.
• I organize an annual workshop: Language Instruction Training for new graduate teaching associates and lecturers. I recruit faculty for the workshop, prepare the budget, develop the syllabus and the CarmenCanvas shell for the course. During the workshop, I lead discussions, present a demo lesson, and serve as one of the faculty providing feedback to participants. After the event, I gather feedback and create a report on basis of which we improve the workshop every year.

3. What do you like about this work? 

I like that I work in education, but my favorite part is working with people from different backgrounds and using skills that I acquired during my college and graduate studies, such as research, world language pedagogy, and intercultural competence.

4. How did you get into this line of work? 

I am a world language instructor by training, and I have a PhD in Slavic linguistics. I have worked in world language instruction and higher education my entire professional life. After completing my degree, I was eager to support world languages in higher education and the Center where I work provides an opportunity  for me to do this is innovative ways.          

5. What did you do in your graduate studies? 

I have a master’s degree in Slovak philology and a PhD in Slavic linguistics. For my Master’s degree, I concentrated on Slovak as a second language and for my PhD, I focused on sociolinguistics, specifically dialect contact between the Standard Slovak language and one of the dialects of western Slovakia, for which I conducted filed research in the country.

6. What are the transferable skills that you learned in your graduate program (or during your time at Ohio State) that you are using in your current career? 

There are so many, I cannot list them all here, but the most important is being broad-minded and adaptable. For example, broad-minded to me means that one is open to unusual ideas which sometimes, surprisingly, work better than we expected at first. Other skills include time management, interpersonal skills, public speaking, cultural sensitivity, and problem solving.

7. What challenges, if any, did you face in translating your graduate education into practical skills in your job?

Personally, I did not encounter any significant challenges in this respect, because I still work in higher education and I still work with world language faculty and students.

8. How did your graduate education prepare you to handle shifts in your field or career?

I think by making you more adaptable and broad-minded. 

9. Have there been times when you’ve had to "unlearn" things from your graduate education in order to adapt to real-world professional scenarios?

No, I don’t think so! I think my graduate studies prepared me well for the work I do now.

Kenneth Hensley

Graduated: 2012, Linguistics and Russian

While Ken received his M.B.A. in Russia, he has remained actively involved in alumni activities at our department. I was able to interview Ken when he and other alumni visited our department in October, where he met with GTAs at the Slavic Department and Slavic Center. Ken’s experience as an undergrad here, as well as his continued connection with our students, demonstrates how our students can find multiple paths into the fields in which our graduate students seek to work. Ken’s teaching, translation, and analysis work has given our graduates great insight into the field, and he even teaches a Cyber Security course every other year at the SEELC.
 

1. What first drove you to pursue a degree involving Slavic and Russian studies?

 I’ve always loved languages and linguistics, so it was never a question that this is what I’d study in college. I was first drawn to Russian in particular when I got a “teach yourself” CD from the library in middle school. I was immediately hooked and have stuck with it ever since.

2. What did you intend to do when you graduated?

            I was initially planning to go into government work after graduating, mostly because of my internship experience in DC. But as graduation was approaching, it became clear to me that I wasn’t quite “finished” with Russia despite having spent several summers there, so I instead decided to move to Russia to perfect my language skills.

3. What job did you get when you graduated? Tell us a little about the job, what it entailed, how you applied and got the job etc.

 Immediately after graduating from OSU in 2012, I did Middlebury’s graduate-level summer Russian program. It was truly a remarkable experience, and I definitely plan to do it again if I ever have a free summer. I then went on to teach English in Vladimir, Russia, at a great little English school called the American Home. Though Vladimir is a beautiful city, I was ready for a little more hustle and bustle – as well as for a job that allowed me to utilize my Russian skills more – which is why I decided to move to Moscow to see what it had to offer. In Moscow, I really was in the right place at the right time and was hired as a Russian translator for the business and finance wing of Russia’s top independent news agency, Interfax, where I worked for two years.  It was definitely the single most demanding position I’ve ever had, but I can honestly say that, aside from my incredible experience as a Russian major at OSU, my time at Interfax was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Not only did it take my Russian – and English – skills to a completely new level, but it gave me a deeper understanding of Russian business, politics, and culture that I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else. It also taught me enough about finance to get hired at my current position, which I’ll mention later.

4. What kind of work do you do now?

I’m a Senior Analyst at a major cybersecurity firm, where I lead the Europe mission within the intelligence analysis cell. My work focuses on assessing cyber threats and geopolitical developments across Europe and Russia, producing tactical and strategic reports that help organizations understand emerging risks and adversary behavior.

5. What are your responsibilities and current projects?

My current responsibilities and projects center on applying novel research methods and authoring short- and long-form analysis on cyber threats and geopolitical issues related to Europe and Russia. 

6. What do you like about this work?

I love the depth and variety of research involved. The work allows me to apply rigorous structured analytic techniques to uncover insights about complex geopolitical and security dynamics. The intellectual challenge and the opportunity to write with impact are deeply rewarding.

7. How did you get into this line of work?

I transitioned into cyber threat intelligence gradually, beginning with my background in language analysis. My early work as a translator and analyst focused on geopolitical and economic issues, which evolved into open-source intelligence and later into cybersecurity. The common thread throughout my career has been leveraging regional and linguistic expertise to understand and counter emerging threats.

7.  What did you do in your graduate studies?

I completed dual bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Russian at The Ohio State University. Later, while living and working in Russia, I earned an MBA part-time.

7.  What are the transferable skills that you learned in your graduate program (or during your time at Ohio State) that you are using in your current career?

My time at Ohio State developed key skills such as advanced research and writing, cultural and linguistic fluency in Russian and Eastern Europe, and analytical frameworks for understanding complex systems. These, combined with interpersonal and leadership skills honed through academic and professional collaboration at OSU, directly support my current work.

Alumni Spotlight

Anastasia Gordienko, Ph.D. 

I completed the Ph.D. program in Slavic Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies at OSU’s Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures in 2018. Since graduating, I have served as an Assistant Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at the University of Arizona, where I have taught a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses encompassing literature, culture, politics, and language.

 In 2023, I published my first book, Outlaw Music in Russia: The Rise of an Unlikely Genre (UW Press). My time with the OSU Slavic department became formative in many aspects: this rigorous program not only thoroughly prepared me for a successful academic career by providing comprehensive academic training, excellent resources, unparalleled advising, and intellectually stimulating courses, but also allowed me to compile an impressive teaching portfolio. It also stimulated my growth as a scholar and nurtured my professionalism and academic curiosity, thereby paving the way for my professorship. Equally importantly, during my time at OSU, I forged invaluable academic connections and lasting friendships that continue to enrich both my career and personal life.

David McVey, Ph.D. 

Ph.D. Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; M.A., Russian Area Studies; M.A., Geography 

My time in the Slavic Department taught me to be open to people and experiences. I learned how to be attentive to detail. And I can truly understand texts and communicate with clarity.

I am now applying these skills to the position of Research Administrator for Midwestern University at their Glendale, Arizona campus. I help medical researchers from all over the world coordinate ethical, professional research proposals.

CAPT James G. Connell, Jr., USN (ret.), Ph.D.

What is your current position?

I presently work as Senior Cold War Analyst and Executive Secretary Emeritus of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs (USRJC) in the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Arlington, VA 22204

What degree in Russian/Slavic studies did you receive?

The Ohio State University: M.A. '69; Ph.D. '73 (both in Slavic Languages and Literatures).      Also, B.S., U.S. Naval Academy '61; M.A. (Comparative Literature), University of Georgia '67

How did your Slavic studies impact your career?

Slavic studies provided the foundation for two very fulfilling careers: active-duty Navy: Russian language-related duty in Rome, Munich, Washington, USSR (Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty); and thirty years with the USRJC, nine years in Russia with the remainder in Washington with TDYs to Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltics. 

What advice would you give to students studying Russian?

Your most interesting and rewarding career will most likely be in government, particularly in the Foreign Service and intelligence-related agencies.

2023

Natalia Sletova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: L2 writing as a scaffold for L2 speaking grammatical accuracy in a text reconstruction task

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current Position: Lecturer of the Russian Language and Culture, University of Florida

Ekaterina Tikhonyuk, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The Intricacies of Russian Media Landscape During the Putin Era

Dissertation advisor: Yana Hashamova

2020

Anna Zaitseva, M.A.

Advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current Position: Graduate Teaching Associate, Education and Human Ecology, Ohio State University

2019

Jacob Beard, M.A.

Advisor: Angela Brintlinger

Current Position: Program Associate, Global Ties Kansas City

Yuliya Buquoi, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Influences of Intergenerational Transmission of Autobiographical Memories on Identity Formation in First-Generation Immigrant Children

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Russian, U.S. Air Force Academy

Seogyoung Gu, M.A.

Advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current Position: Free-lance interpreter/translator

Hope Wilson, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Teaching language and culture through online ethnographic exploration

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Learning Scientist, Duolingo

Izolda Wolski-Moskoff, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Case in Heritage Polish: A Cross-Generational Approach

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Associate Instructional Professor, University of Illinois-Chicago

2018

Ray Alston, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Singing the Myths of the Nation: Historical Themes in Russian Nineteenth-Century Opera

Dissertation advisor: Alexander Burry

Anastasiia Gordiienko, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Russian Shanson as Tamed Rebel: From the Slums to the Kremlin

Dissertation advisor: Helena Goscilo

Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Arizona

Ekaterina Kolbasova, M.A.

Advisor: Andrea Sims

Current position: Wrike

Michael O'Brien, M.A.

Advisor: Helena Goscilo

2017

Nina Haviernikova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Dialect Contact in Slovakia

Dissertation advisor: Brian Joseph, Daniel Collins (co-advisor)

Current Position: Program Coordinator, Foreign Languages Individualized Instruction Learning Center, Ohio State University

Katie Lane, M.A.

Advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current position: Graduate Student in Library and Information Science, Rutgers University

Greg Ormiston, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The Prison Worlds of Dostoevskii, Tolstoi, and Chekhov

Dissertation advisor: Alexander Burry

Current Position: Systems Administrator, Weifield Group Contracting

2016

Mike Furman, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Playing with the punks: St. Petersburg and the DIY ethos

Dissertation advisor: Jennifer Suchland

Current position: Consortia Account Manager, Oxford University Press

Jeff Parker, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Inflectional complexity and cognitive processing: An experimental and corpus-based investigation of Russian nouns

Dissertation advisor: Andrea Sims

Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Brigham Young University

Chen Zhang, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Russian Writers Confront the Myth: The Absence of the People’s Brotherhood in Realist Literature

Dissertation advisor: Alexander Burry

2015

Helen Myers, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: A semiotic revaluation of Russian prose fiction in modern Russian film adaptations

Dissertation advisors: Alexander Burry and Brian Joseph

Current position: Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University

Ryan Perkins, M.A.

Advisor: Andrea Sims

Lauren Ressue, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Reciprocity in Russian: An investigation of the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic interfaces

Dissertation advisors: Andrea Sims and Judith Tonhauser

Current position: Public Health Analyst, Vermont Department of Health

Kate White, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Second language vocabulary acquisition in context

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Assistant Director for Language Learning Services in the Student Success Center, Temple University, Philadelphia

Justin (Dusty) Wilmes, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Projecting Social Concerns: Ethical Visions in Russian Independent Cinema

Dissertation advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current position: Assistant Professor of Russian Studies, Eastern Carolina University

2014

Ellen Bunker, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: A Cross-Cultural Study of Politeness and Facework among Russian, American, and Russian-American Cultural Groups

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Sara Ceilidh Orr, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The Scrivener De-Scribed: Logos and Originals in Nineteenth-Century Copyist Fiction

Dissertation advisor: Alexander Burry

Current position: Game Designer for Moonstream

Katerina Rouzina, M.A.

Advisor: Brian Joseph

Current position: Linguistic Project Manager at Google via Artech

Yuliya Walsh, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Forms of Address in Contemporary Ukrainian Newspapers: Morphology, Gender and Pragmatics

Dissertation advisors: Daniel Collins and Charles Gribble

Current position: Adjunct faculty, Wright State University

2013

Andrew Kier, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The semantics of Russian 'about' prepositions: A corpus-based study

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Metadata specialist and cataloguer, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)

Anastasia Kostetskaya, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The water of life and the life of water: The metaphor of world liquescence in the poetry, painting and film of the Russian Silver Age

Dissertation advisors: Irene Delic and Helena Goscilo

Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Hawai'i Manoa

David McVey, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Man Enough: Multiple Masculinities in the Films of Pavel Lungin?

Dissertation advisor: Helena Goscilo

Current position: Research Administrator, Midwestern University

Robert Mulcahy, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: A hero of two times: Erast Fandorin and the refurbishment of genre

Dissertation advisor: Helena Goscilo

Current position: Visiting Assistant Professor, College of William & Mary

Olha Rudich, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Freed by ideology, imprisoned by reality: The representation of women in the cinemas of the thaw and perestroika

Dissertation advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current position: Russian language instructor, NASA

Taylor White, M.A.

Advisor: Angela Brintlinger

Current position: Graduate Program Coordinator, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University 

2012

Ljiljana Đurašković, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The Expression of Possession in Medieval Russian Legal Language: Contextual Factors in the Selection of Alternatives

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Monica Vickers, M.A.

Advisor: Daniel Collins

2011

Maria Alley, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Investigating processing in processing instruction

Dissertation advisors: Daniel Collins and Wynne Wong (French & Italian)

Current position: Senior Lecturer and Foreign Language Coordinator, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pennsylvania

Živojin Jakovljević, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Editing in a sixteenth-century Serbian manuscript (HM.SMS.280): A lexical analysis with comparison to the Russian original

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Priest, Serbian Orthodox Church / Lecturer for Serbian Language and Literature, Cleveland State University

Jasmine Lin, M.A.

Advisor: Helena Goscilo

Current position: Center Administrator, Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, University of California Los Angeles

Kathleen Manukyan, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The Russian word in song: Cultural and linguistic issues of classical singing in the Russian language

Dissertation advisor: Irene Delic

Current position: Instructor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Galina Naumenko, Ph.D.

Dissertation title:

Dissertation advisor: Irene Delic

Current position: Freelance translator

Marina Pashkova, M.A.

Advisor: Andrea Sims

James Joshua Pennington, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The synchrony and diachrony of Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian adjectival long-form allomorphy (ALFA)

Dissertation advisor: Brian Joseph

Current Position: Visiting Professor of Linguistics, Linguistics Program of the Department of English at Miami University

Allison Potvin, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The body in transition: Physical transformation in postmodern Russian literary and visual culture

Dissertation advisor: Angela Brintlinger

Current position: Associate Engineer, Roto

Robert Reynolds, M.A.

Advisor: Andrea Sims

Current position: Assistant Research Professor of Digital Humanities, Brigham Young University

Susan Vdovichenko, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: The beholder's eye: How self-identification and linguistic ideology affect shifting language attitudes and language maintenance in Ukraine

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Associate Professor of Russian, Washington & Jefferson College

2010

Elizabeth Angerman, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: "The idea of eternal return": Palimpsests and national narratives in Czechoslovak New Wave literary adaptations
Dissertation advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current position: Program Manager for International Partnership, Ohio State University

Daniel Davidson, M.A.

Advisors: Daniel Collins and Andrea Sims

Current position: Analyst (Russian language specialist), Department of Defense

Magdalena Gruszczynska-Harrison, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Language transfer and beyond: Pro-drop, code switching, and acquisition milestones in bilingual Polish-English children

Dissertation advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Assistant Superintendent for the Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Fort Worth

Marcela Michalkova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Gender asymmetries in Slovak personal nouns

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Assistant Professor of American Studies, Institute of British and American Studies, Prešov University (Slovakia)

Zoran Panjak, M.A.

Advisor: Irene Delic

Current position: Media Manager, St. Peterburg's International Economic Forum

Shelley Price Cade, M.A.

Advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Eurasian Projects Coordinator; Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, George Mason University

Sunnie Rucker-Chang, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Cultural formation in post-Yugoslav Serbia: Divides, debates, and dialogues

Dissertation advisor: Yana Hashamova

Current position: Associate Professor, Ohio State University

Larysa Stepanova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Representation of national identity on Ukrainian business websites

Dissertation advisors: Daniel Collins and Charles Gribble

Current position: Language Program Coordinator, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University

2009

Xinran Dong, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Requests in academic settings in American English, Russian and Chinese

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins and Marjorie Chan

Current position: Chinese Lecturer, Fordham University

Kirk Jorgensen, M.A.

Advisor: Ludmila Isurin

Current position: Sycamore Street Press

Miriam Whiting, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Globalism vs. nationalism: The pragmatics of business naming in Tomsk, Russia

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

2008

Jason Algood, M.A.

Advisor: Charles Gribble

Andrei Cretu, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Modelling the text: Lurii Lotman's information-theoretic approach revisited

Dissertation advisor: Irene Delic

Current position: Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University

S. Spencer Robinson, M.A.

Advisor: Charles Gribble

Current position: Analyst (Russian language specialist), Department of Defense

Yevgeniya Tyurikova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Expression of politeness/impoliteness via the aspectual forms in the imperative in Russian

Dissertation advisors: Daniel Collins and Charles Gribble

2007

Teresa Kuruc, M.A.

Advisor: Alexander Burry

Current position: Russian Instructor, Foreign Language Department, Grossmont College (El Cajon, CA)

Mark Nuckols, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Case variation in Czech and Russian: Implications for the transitivity hypothesis

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Translator, Watching America

2006

Thaddeus Fortney, M.A.

Advisor: Angela Brintlinger

Current position: Instructor, Department of Focused Inquiry, VCU

Oxana Skorniakova, M.A.

Advisor: Brian Joseph

Current position: Russian Lecturer, Pace University

2005

Bojan Belić, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Complement verb variation in present-day Serbian

Dissertation advisor: Brian Joseph

Current position: Senior Lecturer and Languages Coordinator, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Washington

Tania Ivanova-Sullivan, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Lexical variation in the Slavonic Thekara texts: Semantic and pragmatic factors in medieval translation praxis

Dissertation advisor: Daniel Collins

Current position: Associate Professor of Russian, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of New Mexico

Julia Mikhailova, Ph.D.

Dissertation title: Comparison of interpersonal and presentational description in Russian oral proficiency testing

Dissertation advisor: Brian Joseph

Current position: Senior Lecturer in Russian and Russian Language Program Coordinator, University of Toronto

Anastasia Smirnova, M.A.

Advisor: Brian Joseph

Current position: Assistant Professor of Linguistics, San Francisco State University