Since 2020, there have been various calls to action in the instruction of East European and Eurasian Languages to address the predominantly white demographics in the fields of Slavic and Eurasian studies and long-standing disparities in access and opportunities for students of the global majority. Despite these acknowledgements and drive to change the nature of the field, there persists a great deal of investigation and interrogation needed to realize the potential benefits of the inclusive East European and Eurasian language classroom. Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages offers new pathways for affirming and representing diversity, both in the regions of inquiry and in classrooms.
Arvustused
Expansive in scope and meticulously researched, Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages tackles the most pressing issues facing todays world language programs. From modernizing the Russian language and culture curricula to equity-minded inclusive pedagogy in East European and Eurasian Studies, this volume describes some of the historical prejudices in our field and boldly outlines the ways to address them through justice-oriented teaching that acknowledges, appreciates, and centers the diverse, multilayered identities of our students. With a rich and varied selection of chapters, this volume makes a lasting contribution to the field.
Dr. Colleen Lucey, Associate Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, University of Arizona
We stand on the precipiceat a moment when teaching faculty in Russian and Eurasian studies feel the ground shifting beneath our feet, and when the tried-and-true paths within our profession are contracting and crumbling. This is also the moment when Rucker-Chang and Stauffer bring us a set of practices that illuminate new pathways of greater potential. I read inclusive and critical in this volumes title as synonymous with expansive and explosive. This volume of essays contains within its pages a set of ideas to explode the narrow frameworks that have been our past and to expand our vision of what is possible in the uncertain times ahead. These chapters guide us in imagining a new future of our field, a wider vision of who we are and what we study, and an expansion of our classroom practices that just might be the thing that saves us.
Dr. Molly T. Blasing, Associate Professor of Russian Studies, University of Kentucky
Foreword
Thomas Jesús Garza
Critical Introduction
Sunnie Rucker-Chang, Ohio State University and Rachel Stauffer
Chapter 1
Decentralizing and Modernizing the Russian Language and Culture Curricula
Elena Chernysh, American University
Maria Bourlatskaya, University of Pennsylvania
Chapter 2
Textbook Examples of Color-Evasiveness in Teaching Russian: Moving the
Profession toward Race-Consciousness
Rachel Stauffer
Jambul Akkaziev, University of Missouri
Chapter 3
Promoting Psychological Safety and Practicing Leadership Inclusivity in the
SEEES Classroom
Kelly Knickmeier-Cummings, Howard University
Chapter 4
Equity-Minded and Inclusive Pedagogy: Modeling Social Action through the
Genre of Grant Writing
Kelly Knickmeier-Cummings, Howard University
Chapter 5
Bridging Gaps in Multicultural Education to Grow the Field of Russian:
Outcomes and Recommendations for a Certificate in Diverse and Inclusive
Pedagogies
Rachel Stauffer
Jillian Costello, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East
European Languages
Chapter 6
The Goals and Challenges of Decolonizing Russian-Language Study Abroad: A
Case Study from West Point
Carlotta Chenoweth, United States Military Academy West Point
Alexander Groce, United States Military Academy West Point
John Pendergast, United States Military Academy West Point
Chapter 7
Centering University Russian Heritage Learners as Multilinguals and
Multiculturals through Translanguaging: An Inclusive and Culturally
Sustaining Approach to Promote Heritage Learner Hybrid Identities
Natasha Dame, University of Southern California
Matthew Dame, University of Southern California
Chapter 8
Who Are(nt) Our Students? The Gender and Ethnoracial Distribution of US
Bachelors Degrees in Russian and Literature over Twenty Years, from
19992000 to 20182019 [ Reprint]
Dianna Murphy, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Hadis Ghaedi, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Index
Sunnie Rucker-Chang is the Kenneth E Naylor Professor of South Slavic Culture and Associate Professor in Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures and African and African American Studies at the Ohio State University. She works on the social construction of race and culture as it relates to privileged and marginalized communities in Europe. In her research, Rucker-Chang focuses on how literature and film contribute to culture and nationalist identities, especially in the creation and maintenance of racialized communities in Southeast Europe and how the demographics of a field shape pedagogy and community participation.
Rachel Stauffer is an educational researcher who examines practices and histories of education about the Russian-speaking world in the United States. She has an MA and PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures (University of Virginia) and a Masters of Education with emphasis in Diversity and Equity (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign).
