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Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures+44 (0) 191 33 43460

Biography

Born in the Far East of the Soviet Union, I graduated from Kaliningrad State University (which is in the far west of Russia) having received a degree with distinction in philology and qualifications of a teacher of English.

Having moved to Kostroma (one of the cities of the “Golden Ring” of Russia), I worked in the Historical and Architectural museum-reserve as a senior researcher and later as head of the department of museum pedagogy. I also taught English at the Kostroma State Pedagogical Institute, worked as an interpreter with delegations from Durham (UK) and Durham (North Carolina, USA) and accompanied delegations of the Kostroma City Council and Kostroma diocese on their visits to England.

After moving to Durham I worked as a freelance interpreter/translator and also taught Russian at St. John’s College (“Training for success”- Russian for beginners), at South Tyneside College (DPSI course) and at Durham Johnston school (GCSE and A-level).

Since 2010 I have been teaching Russian at all undergraduate levels in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

 

Academic and administrative roles

Teaching and module convening

  • RUSS1042 - Russian language 1B Designing and teaching the oral and text classes
  • RUSS1151 - Introduction to Russian History and Culture I deliver two lectures on this module: "The Image of the Russian Church" and "The World of the Russian Village"
  • RUSS1161 - Russian language 1A Designing and teaching the oral component
  • RUSS2012 - Russian language 2B Designing and teaching the oral component, audio-visual classes and translation (E-R)
  • RUSS2191 - Russian language 2A Module convenor; designing and teaching the oral component 
  • RUSS3031 - Russian language year 4 Designing and teaching translation (R-E)
  • RUSS3381 - Russian for Professional Communication (year 4) Module convenor; designing and teaching both interpreting and translation on this module

Other academic and administrative roles

  • TLRP (Target Language Research Project) supervisor for Year Abroad students
  • Staff mentor
  • Student mentor
  • Coorditator incoming Erasmus students and colleagues from other institutions
Conference Papers
  • Durham University Learning and Teaching Conference (2024) "Exploring the Impact of Generative AI on Modern Language Learning (MFL) in Higher education". (group presentation)https://durham.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=8303460c-8c12-4627-8027-b1cc00a616c6
  • Durham University Learning and Teaching Conference (2024) "Extracurricular Activities in Language Teaching and their Role in Learning and In-class Performance".https://durham.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=952d2175-9011-4eb0-a8a9-b1cc00a64f03
  • International Conference XXVI Olomouc Days of Russian Studies (Olomouc, Czech Republic, September 2023). "Extracurricular Activities in Higher Education. My Experience and Findings".
  • 2nd Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication Forum (Prince Sultan University, 18 March 2023). "Success Story. Learning through Performing".
  • Interaction of Languages and Cultures, 9th International conference (Cherepovets State University, October 2022). "Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language through Acting and Performing"
  • LSPHE 2022 (York) "Learning through Performing"
  • UK Lingua 2022 (Durham) "Learning Russian through Performing"
  • Durham University Festival of Teaching and Learning (2021)"Learning Russian through Performing. How students of the Russian Department created an online concert in 2021 and what they gained"
  • 10th International conference Russian Heritage in the UK (04.07.2021) I presented the paper "Bringing History Home. How students of the Russian department of Durham University created and performed literary and musical evening to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory Day (1945-2020)".
  • UK Lingua 2021 (Durham) I was leading round-table discussion "Learning through Performing".
  • Kostroma International Student Conference (2020). My student Alex Haigh presented the paper on the history of dachas in Russia, which I supervised. Here is the link to Alex’s presentation:https://youtu.be/-bc8rVa8mk8
  • UK Lingua 2019 (Durham) "Reaching across borders" (how I created and supervised the programme for our first-year students to go to Kostroma to teach English in summer schools and to improve their knowledge of the Russian language and culture)
  • Durham University Fourth Learning and Teaching Conference, 2019 "Reaching across borders"
  • UK Lingua 2018 (Durham) “Engaging Students through Songs and Fairy-tales”
  • Durham University Third Learning and Teaching Conference, 2018 “Engaging Students through Songs and Performance in and out of Classroom”
  • Conference organized by N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow) and Kostroma Architectural – Ethnographic and Landscape museum, Kostroma, 2018. I presented the paper “Peasant women in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century”. My student Victoria Pedley took part in this conference with the paper “The life and writings of Marfa Kryukova”, which I supervised.
  • Durham University Second Learning and Teaching Conference, 2017 “Songs in Language Teaching”
  • Conferences in the Kostroma State Archive in 2012, 2014 and 2017 - papers on Kostroma peasants in the first half of the 20th century and on the history of Durham - Kostroma twinning link.
Performances and Events
  • How to become a successful interpreter and translator. Yelena McCafferty, award-winning Russian interpreter and translator, director of TalkRussian translation company, spoke to the students studying Russian for Professional Communication. She shared her professional secrets and answered many questions (October 2021). 
  • International student conference "From Knowing to Understanding" between students of Russian at Durham and students from the schools and technical colleges in Kostroma and the Kostroma region in Russia (16.04 2021), organized in collaboration with Kostroma Regional Institute of Education Development.
  • Online concert of the students of the Russian department (2021), can be found here: youtu.be/lSjW5lyrNHc 
  • Evening dedicated to the great Soviet writer Chingiz Aitmatov with Dr Rahima Abduvalieva, Aitmatov’s interpreter and translator, as a guest speaker (March 2021).
  • Celebrating 160th anniversary of Anton Chekhov with Dmitry Turchaninov, director of the first professional Russian-speaking theatre in London “Xameleon” as a guest speaker (November 2020)
  • MLAC concert “Music Unites Us All”, which I organized with all the departments of the School (2020) can be found here:  https://youtu.be/d3Bwr5D_JdE 
  • "Literary and musical evening to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory Day", (11.02.2020) can be found here: https://youtu.be/y5BtThEg1R0 
  • Performance of Chekhov’s short stories, which I organized  with our second-year ab initio students (2019) can be found here: https://youtu.be/TOVCJKGMCNM 
Publications
  • Articles on the history of the Ipatyev monastery in Kostroma, on relationships between the city of Kostroma and the Romanov dynasty published in research magazines and newspapers.
  • Articles about County Durham, its people, its heritage and traditions published in the Kostroma regional newspapers.
  • “Kostroma from A to Z” by O. Zabotkina, N. Pashkevich and I. Sidorova. Textbook in English for pupils of secondary schools. Kostroma, 2006.
  • “Kostroma from A to Z” by O. Zabotkina and N. Pashkevich. Workbook in English for pupils of secondary schools. Kostroma, 2012.
  • «Кострома-Дарэм. Английские заметки» Кострома, 2010 (“Kostroma-Durham. Notes from England” Kostroma, 2010)
Scholarship Interests
  • Enhancing student engagement
  • Songs in language teaching
  • Teaching translation and interpreting
  • Enhancing student experience
  • Using performance in and out of classroom
Awards
  • Aitmatov Academy Award (2022)
  • Global Student Experience Award (2023) - nominated
  • Innovation in Teaching and Learning (2024) - shortlisted
  • Unsung Hero of Teaching and Learning (2024) - winner

Research interests

  • History of Russia (end of the 19th – beginning of 20th cent.) and of the Romanov dynasty
  • Russian folklore and fairy-tales
  • Russian wooden architecture and peasant household