Olga Livshin
718 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
olivshin@bu.edu • (617)353-6253
United States citizen
Education
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Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (2010).
Dissertation title: “Alternative Masculinities in Late Soviet Nonconformist Literature,
1958-1991”
M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (2003).
Thesis title: “The Book as an Art Object in Russian Modernism and Postmodernism”
B.A. in French, B.A. in Communication Studies, minor in English, summa cum laude with
distinction, Boston University, Boston, MA (2001). Senior thesis title: “Jules Laforgue and
the First Translation of Leaves of Grass into French”
Professional Experience
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Lecturer, Head of the Russian Language Program, Boston University
o Courses taught: First-year Russian I, Second-year Russian I, Third-year Russian II
o Administrative activities: placement exams, working with part-time faculty on
curriculum coordination, collaboration with the Convener of the Russian
Program on curricular changes
Term Assistant Professor of Russian, Department of Languages, University of Alaska
Anchorage, 2008-2012 (promoted from Term Instructor in August 2011)
o Courses taught: Elementary Russian I and II, Intermediate Russian I and II
(curriculum revised with a new textbook and full set of materials); Survey of
Contemporary Russian Literature (designed the course); Survey of Russian
Literature (designed the course); prepare advanced Russian students for
National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest, prepare students for conference
participation in literature, etc.
o Student success:
 Paper presentation at the Midwest Slavic Conference, a professional
event attended by over 200 participants (William Giedosh, 2011)
 UAA Student Showcase (Connor Wall, 2012 – one of four winners across
the university; William Giedosh, 2011)
 Critical Languages Scholarship (Amber Vanderpool, 2011; William
Giedosh, 2012)
 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Honorable Mentions
(Jessica Lauser: 2012; Amber Vanderpool: 2009, Carolyn Rios: 2010)
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures,
Northwestern University, 2002-2006.
o Courses taught or assisted with: Introduction to Russian Literature I, II, and III;
The Soviet Union and Successor States; Elementary Russian I and II.
o Pedagogy and professional development training:
 Teaching Assistant Fellow, Northwestern’s Searle Center for Teaching
Excellence. Developed materials on foreign language acquisition and
writing in the humanities. Led workshops for graduate student
instructors. Materials were selected as exemplary for next year’s
Teaching Assistant Fellow program.
 Russian Language Pedagogy seminar. Went on to give a presentation on
using multimedia technology in the Russian-language classroom for the
university’s council of language instructors.
o Student success: National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Honorable
Mention (Carol Brown: 2004)
Selected Recent Publications
Foreign Language Acquisition
Created and published a model unit in on content-based language instruction for
University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
website, “Gender by Advice: Normative Behaviors for Men and Women in Russian
Advice Literature.” Materials on Content-Based Language Teaching with Technology,
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. URL:
http://nflrc.msu.edu/login/scripts/material.php?id=405
Literary Scholarship
1. “Grotesque Sexuality in Yuz Aleshkovsky’s Prose.” Chapter in Beyond Stagnation: Late
Socialist State and Society in Eastern Europe and the USSR, edited by Neringa Klumbyte
and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, forthcoming from Lexington Books in spring 2012.
2. Review of Helena Goscilo and Andrea Lanoux, Gender and National Identity in
Twentieth-Century Russian Culture, Canadian-American Slavic Studies, 3(2010): 354-55.
3. “Нина Искренко: гендер как перформанс [Nina Iskrenko: Gender as Performance],”
Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie 97(2009): 133-57.
 Publication was on the “Журнал журналов [Journal of Journals]” list compiled
by Novyi mir, a major Russian journal
4. “Nina Iskrenko (1951-1995): Lyricism at the End of an Era.” Jacket Magazine 36(2008),
online at http://jacketmagazine.com/36/rus-iskrenko-by-livshin.shtml
Poetry
1. “Rocking Chair” and “Shelled,” Literary Mama 7(2013), online at
http://www.literarymama.com/contributor/olga-livshin
2. “Thursday Market.” Anthology of Chicago 1(2013), online at
http://anthologyofchicago.com/works/thursday-market/.
3. “Baby’s Heartbeat” and “During Baby After.” Cirque 2(2012): 47-48.
4. "Dressing a Memory" and "Russian 101," in Persian, translated by Mohsen Emadi.
Persian Anthology of World Poetry. Online at www.poets.ir
5. “Mom Is Scared.” The Mad Hatters’ Review 12(2011). Online at
http://www.madhattersreview.com/issue12/feature_ussr_livshin.shtml
6. “Russian 101,” “Dressing a Memory.” Jacket Magazine 36(2008). Online at
http://jacketmagazine.com/36/rus-livshin.shtml
Literary Translation
1. Vladimir Kozlov and Sheila Fitzpatrick, eds., Sedition and Popular Discontent Under
Khrushchev and Brezhnev, 1953-1986. Yale University Press, 2010.
2. J. Kates and Evgeny Bunimovich, eds., Contemporary Russian Poetry: A Bilingual
Anthology (Normal, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 2008). Translations of Dmitry Polishchuk,
Mark Shatunovsky, and Sandzhar Yanyshev, in collaboration with Andrew Janco.
3. Selections from Nina Iskrenko and Vladimir Gandelsman, The Mad Hatters’ Review
12(2011), online at
http://www.madhattersreview.com/issue12/feature_ussr_livshin.shtml and
http://www.madhattersreview.com/issue12/feature_ussr_gandelsman.shtml.
Upcoming and Recent Presentations
1. Roundtable, “Rafael Levchin, In Memoriam,” AATSEEL (American Association of
Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages), Chicago, January 4, 2014
2. “Russian Voices” Symposium, Boston University, November 20, 2013. Commenting on
Anna Glazova’s poetry in the forthcoming book in English translation titled Relocations.
3. “Masculinity and Non-monogamy in Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s Work,” roundtable
presentation, ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies),
November 14, 2012.
4. “Anna Akhmatova: Image and Presence,” invited lecture, UAA Low-Residency Creative
Writing program, July 10, 2012.
5. “Masculinities in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia,” roundtable presentation, AATSEEL
Annual Conference, Seattle, January 7, 2012. Co-organized the roundtable, which
includes six presenters from several related disciplines.
6. “The Adventures of the Man-Machine in Late Soviet Poetry: Male Desire, Technology
and Power,” ASEEES Annual Convention, Los Angeles, November 18, 2010.
7. “Vagaries of Masculinity in Venedikt Erofeev’s Moscow to the End of the Line,” AATSEEL,
Philadelphia, December 28, 2009.
Teaching and Research Interests
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Second-language acquisition
Russian modernism and postmodernism
Contemporary Russian poetry
Gender in Russian contemporary literature and popular culture
Theory and practice of literary translation
Intersections between literature and the visual arts
Administration and Service
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Currently re-envisioning the Boston University Russian program curriculum in
collaboration with Dr. Yuri Corrigan, Convener of the Russian program.
Organized, expanded and promoted a series of contemporary Russian poetry readings
and discussions by key scholars in the field, AATSEEL (American Association of Teachers
of Slavic and East European Languages) 2009 and 2011 conferences, Philadelphia,
December 2009, and Pasadena, CA, January 2011. Brought together authors from the
Russian Federation and the United States. Served as a discussant, chair and presenter in
various events. 2009-2011
Implemented a new service learning program in which UAA students work with Russian
program students at Turnagain Elementary School to help college and elementary
school students develop their presentational ability in Russian, 2008-12
Served as an advisor to “Khleb da sol’,” UAA’s Russian club, 2008-12
Served as the coordinator for the UAA Russian tutors, 2008-2012
Served on the selection committee for the Kibrik-Bergelson Study in Russia Scholarship,
2010-2012
Organized a variety of cultural events for the UAA community, including artist-inresidence stays by contemporary poets Vladimir Gandelsman and Vera Pavlova, the
Russian-language version of Dawn of the Space Age to the UAA Planetarium, and a
cooking show in Russian, 2008-2012.
Selected Grants, Awards and Fellowships
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Helped secure a national grant from the U.S. Department of Education, involving the
Anchorage School District and UAA and aimed to develop the learning of Russian across
the K-16 curriculum (2009). Artists-in-residence that I identified for the grant travel to
Anchorage and worked with students to develop their ability to express themselves
creatively in Russian. They included the internationally- acclaimed authors Vera Pavlova
and Vladimir Gandelsman.
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant for Dissertation Research, 2007
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Northwestern Graduate Research Grant, 2007
Graduate Research Fellowship, Northwestern University, 2005-2006