My approach to teaching is defined by my interdisciplinary background as a scholar-artist. In the classroom, I seek to synthesize my commitment to academic curiosity and rigor, my passion for embodied creativity and engagement, and my deep investment in a safe and inclusive learning environment for all my students.

 

Whether I am teaching Russian language, Soviet history, or theater and drama, I always employ my interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence and commitment to authentic human connection in order to understand the needs, challenges and goals of each of my students. I believe that the best way to motivate students is to identify and encourage their personal investment in the subject and autonomy over their own learning experience—my students know that the more they put in, the more they’ll get out. I ask all my students to look beyond exams, grades, and status, to eschew rote memorization. I help them to cultivate a dynamic curiosity toward class material, instilling in them the idea that there is something to interest them in anything we work on. I offer them a clear understanding not only of what kind of information they should expect to learn, but what ways they can aspire to grow and develop if they commit to getting the most out of our time together in the classroom.

 

My teaching is always a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary, multi-media experience that incorporates PowerPoints, music, videos, group readings and discussions, presentations and even performances. As a performer myself, I love holding students’ attention with an engrossing lecture, but I especially enjoy facilitating discussions among the students themselves, asking probing questions and helping them to formulate their own ideas and arguments. Especially for longer seminars, I try to make the learning process as dynamic and engaging as possible, while building in time for resting and resetting, whether via musical interludes, dancing or group meditations/body scans. I am truly invested in helping students to find their own passion for the material and that commitment means I am never complacent, always dreaming up new unconventional ways to make the classroom experience for my students exciting and multi-faceted. Sometimes it requires a great deal of effort to transform a room full of groggy, overworked, distracted young people into a connected community of learners eager to discuss and discover, but I remain committed to making it happen whenever I can.