Slavic Languages and Societies Commons^™

"In 50 Words Or Less": Using Ai To Modulate Target Proficiency Levels In The Russian As A Foreign Language Classroom, Alexander M. Groce

Russian Language Journal

This paper proposes to look at methods for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the upper-level Russian as a foreign language (RFL) classroom in activities where variable search terms are used to modulate target proficiency levels according to the ACTFL scale. Specifically, this paper relies upon a series of classroom-based activities that employed AI technology to parse the short stories of Anton Chekhov. While employing some simple methods governing AI search terms can help to create a usable database of sample texts at varying proficiency levels, problems of machine language inherent to emerging generative AI still need to be addressed and …

Introduction To The First Thematic Issue: Artificial Intelligence (Ai) & Machine Translation In The Teaching Of Slavic Languages And Literatures, Liudmila Klimanova

Russian Language Journal

This editorial introduction frames Russian Language Journal’s first thematic issue on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine translation in the teaching of Russian and other Slavic languages, literatures, and cultures. It argues that the rapid spread of large language models makes AI impossible to treat as an optional add-on, pushing educators to revisit authorship, genre, literacy, and assessment while avoiding both moral panic and “quick-fix” approaches. The article synthesizes contributions that (1) integrate chatbots into genre-based writing and conversational practice while emphasizing critical AI literacy; (2) design context-aware conversational agents for Russian and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, noting pedagogical benefits alongside risks such …

Multi-Dimensional Visualization Strategies Using Web Scraping Tools: A Word Formation Synthesis Case Study For Russian Verbs Of Sound, John Simmons

Graduate Student Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

You Want Me To Do What? But I Can’T Read That... Cataloging Soviet Russia Space Exploration Books, Katherine Loving, Phillip Fitzsimmons, Ekaterina Kitova

Faculty Articles & Research

The Al Harris Library received a donation of the archive of retired astronaut General Thomas P. Stafford. The continually growing collection includes over 200 boxes containing NASA reports, professional and personal pictures, videos, and more. Part of the collection is the approximately 700 books used for research by Stafford and his co-author Michael Cassutt to write the memoir We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race (2002). Half of these books are a collection of Soviet-era Russia (USSR) space program books and periodicals written in Russian. Michael Cassutt has characterized the books as the most comprehensive collection about the …

An Investigation Into The Documental History Of Immigrants From Russia And Latin America In The State Of Nebraska, Elena Thomson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The research questions in this essay ask whether or not the Nebraska State Archives contains literature in the Russian and Spanish languages. These documents, and others written in English on the same topic, are introduced and analyzed throughout the essay, exploring the history of immigrants from Russia and Latin America. As well as history, the documents delve into the current state of these immigrant groups, and how their traditions have changed Nebraska and continue to influence it today. The essay contains two sections: the first about immigrants from Russia, the second about those from Latin America. At the end of …

Fairy Tales In Service Of Political Projects: “Hansel And Gretel” In Changing Political Regimes, Polona Tratnik

Marvels & Tales

The production of fairy tales depends on political interests. The tales’ regimes of production and anticipated reception condition their inscribed ideological inclinations and erasures. I examine how Kinder- und Hausmärchen by the brothers Grimm contributed to nation-building and, focusing on “Hansel and Gretel,” how the changing regimes of production required omissions in the translations of the Grimms’ tales into Slovenian. I argue that the sui generis appropriation of the tale titled “Janko and Metka” by the writer France Bevk helped build a socialist nation. Finally, the article comments on some issues in capitalist regimes of fairy-tale production.

Красная Секта, Slav Gratchev

Books Published by MU Libraries in MDS

Грачев, Слав. Красная секта. Библиотекa университета Маршалла, Хантингтон, 2025.

Этот роман рассказывает о многом: о войне, об огромной любви и верности долгу, о советских шахматистах и, наконец, о судьбе одной маленькой испанской девочки, которая по воле случая оказалась на чужбине и смогла вернуться домой только через пятьдесят дoлгих лет. Этот роман о стране, которой уже нет на картах мира, которая не позволяла своим гражданам жить и думать свободно. То, что она всегда делала с успехом - это отнимала у людей их будущее.

Gratchev, Slav. The Red Cult. Marshall University Libraries, Huntington, 2025.

This novel discusses …

Роль Микро- И Макроструктуры Словаря Терминов В Решении Задач Синтеза Русского Глагола, Irina V. Ivliyeva

Arts, Languages and Philosophy Faculty Research & Creative Works

Russian Abstract:

цель статьи – представить новые подходы к построению терминологического словаря. Рассматривается идея создания наиболее полного справочника по синтезу русского глагола, в структуру которого интегрирована обучающая база. Через микро- и макроструктуру словаря пользователь полу-чает необходимые инструменты для решения актуальных задач синтеза. Раз-работанные алгоритмы представляют собой этапы решения поставленной за-дачи: от микроструктуры словаря к приложениям и блокам глагольных форм в макроструктуре. При этом доказано, что активные обучающие инструменты (формулы синтеза и готовые алгоритмы поиска), встроенные в структуру сло-варя, помогают решать основные задачи словообразовательного синтеза: со-здание нового значения от исходного с помощью заданных параметров; опреде-ление семантического потенциала глаголов; поиск максимально точного …

Inciting Peace From The Inside Out, Stephen G. Adubato, Ebere Bosco Amakwe, Katherine Hinic, Sarita Maldjian, Forrest Pritchett, Jon Radwan, Nicholas Sooy, Chad Thralls

Conferences

Violence and war can be incited, and so can peace. This volume shares select addresses and responses from Seton Hall University’s 2/7/23 conference “Inciting Peace From The Inside Out.” A multi-disciplinary range of scholars each addresses how reconciliation processes grow from spiritual dynamics. Multiple religious traditions teach contemplative praxes that prioritize and nurture personal reflection oriented toward peace. Social conflicts divide, so engaging them with a partisan orientation only serves to escalate harmful rifts. In contrast, bringing personal awareness and sensitivity, spiritual balance, and holistic integral perspective to conflict can transcend divisions and work toward unity. This volume is supported …

Displaced Ukrainian Writers After 2014, A Postcolonial Perspective, Sophie Ivanka Shields

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

This paper analyzes post-2014 Ukrainian displacement literature from a postcolonial perspective. I argue that Ukrainian writers, displaced with the 2014 invasion of Eastern Ukraine and/or 2022 full-scale invasion by Russia, transform literature into a tool of cultural resistance against Russia, forging a postcolonial Ukrainian identity in their works that unites those displaced since 2014. I particularly focus on two long-form works by displaced writers: the novel Mondegreen: Songs about Death and Love (2019) by Volodymyr Rafeyenko, who was displaced in 2014 from Donetsk to Kyiv and again in 2022 to Pittsburgh, USA on the City of Asylum Exiled Writer and …

Samovars In The Snow: The Rise Of A Distinctively Russian Tea Culture, Abigail Coker

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

In the 18th Century, tea culture emerged in the Russia of Catherine the Great. Following the lead of the westernizing empress, Russians of the aristocracy adopted the refinement, which the spread across the empire. By the mid-19th Century, Russians from all social classes enjoyed tea not just as a drink but as a means of socializing and extending hospitality. Tea culture also manifested itself in new types of foods as well as cups and plates, as well other elements of broader Russian culture.

Drowned Maidens And Mother Earth: The Roots Of Sexism In Russian Folklore Studies, Juniper Guthrie

The Corinthian

During the mid-nineteenth century, the Russian intelligentsia began to lean towards Slavophilic studies in their pursuit of Russian nationalism. The driving thesis of the Slavophilic movement sought to embrace Slavic (and for Russian nationalists, specifically Russian) culture and roots, pushing back against the Petrine and Catherine movements towards Westernization. A crucial element of this mythic Slavic culture that often went unquestioned was the strict code of its gender norms. Significant folklore collectors brought their class and gender biases along with them. They held very specific beliefs regarding “real” folklore and “proper” performances of tales, imposing their intellectual structure onto a …

The Mercy Of Saint Seraphim By Ivan Shmelyov: An Original English Translation, Nina Tarpley

2024 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The Russian writer Ivan Shmelyov (1872-1950) is acclaimed not only in Russia, but also widely throughout Europe for his novels, short stories, and fairytales written with a marked depth of meaning, beauty, and expression. He wrote and published throughout his entire life ~ from the pre-revolutionary years in Russia, into the years of the Revolution, and eventually as an émigré in Europe. Although Shmelyov is celebrated throughout Russia and Europe both in academic and public circles, he is little known to the American people, and English-speaking peoples. In academic circles, scholarship on Shmelyov in the English language is extremely limited. …

Sun, Thunder, Daugava: Accessible Choral Music From The Latvian Choral Tradition, Paul M. Von Kampen

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

I have been fortunate enough to visit Latvia twice, once in 2009 and again in 2023. With connections made through the global outreach arm of the Lutheran Church Missouri–Synod, I was able to incorporate myself into Latvian culture in ways that may not have been possible had I been a standard tourist. I am grateful to have been invited into the homes of Latvian friends, to have studied in the Jāzeps Vītols Music Academy Library, and to have celebrated both the Jāņi midsummer festival in the Latvian countryside and my twenty-second birthday on the shores of the mighty Daugava River. …

Making Czech Art Song Accessible For Novice Singers, Rachel Jane Sweeney Green

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Czech art song is often overlooked by vocal instructors while assigning music for the novice singer. The repertoire of Czech art song is vast, yet seldom used in vocal studios in America. Though some consider the language difficult, when approached in the correct manner it is easy for a novice to sing in Czech. This document advocates for Czech art song to be assigned and selected for the novice singer. Each chapter serves as a tool to understand and navigate Czech repertoire. The last chapter provides five examples of Czech art song selected because they align with the guidelines of …

Russian Verbs Of Sound’S Web-Scraping Results From The A.A. Zalizniak Grammatical Dictionary And The Russian National Corpus. Multi-Dimensional Scaling Techniques And Visualization Strategies, John Simmons, Irina V. Ivliyeva

Graduate Student Research & Creative Works

This project aims to enhance web extraction techniques pertaining to a specific lexical-semantic group of Russian verbs of sounds, which undergo semantic modifications at the word-formation level (affixation). Additionally, it seeks to organize search results in a manner conducive to linguistic research using Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) techniques and novel visualization strategies.

The primary objective in this phase of the research was to gather, consolidate, analyze, and present a comprehensive index of all forms of verbs of sound sourced from the A.A. Zalizniak Grammatical Dictionary of the Russian language, hyperlink each verbal form in this index with the Russian National Corpus …

Transcultural Perspectives In English Language Education: Teaching English In The Czech Republic From An American Lens, Bailey Price

Honors Projects

This project aims to provide a thorough examination of the English language education landscape in the Czech Republic, shedding light on key aspects such as the age of initiation, fluency attainment expectations, and the influence of various educational tracks. It delves into the sociocultural factors shaping English language acquisition, including the perceived necessity of learning English, parental language practices, and generational differences in proficiency. To capture the perspectives of American English teachers working in the Czech Republic, my research explores their attitudes, expectations, and challenges. This considers factors such as the necessity of knowing the Czech language and the perception …

Spectre Of Justice: Russian Reform In The Courtrooms Of Dostoevsky And Tolstoy, Abby Moore

Senior Theses

The Great Reforms of Alexander II are regarded as transformative policies in the history of Tsarist Russia, drastically changing the empire’s social and political fabric. The judicial reforms of 1864 in particular addressed longstanding issues within the existing criminal justice system, yet they also liberalized the institution at large. Following in the West’s footsteps, the reforms introduced an unprecedented level of democracy into Russia’s courtroom. Among the critics of these changes were renowned authors Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy, both of whom used the realm of fiction to explore their respective concerns with reformed Russian jurisprudence. Both authors bring distinct …

Alyosha The Christian Hermeneut, Eddie Li

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Presentation Abstract: Alyosha as the Christian Hermeneut

This presentation is adapted from my essay Alyosha as the Christian Hermeneut, written under the supervision of Dr. Paul Contino. In the essay, I gave an analysis of the character Alyosha in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, in light of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics, and Dr. Contino’s book on Incarnational Realism. I discussed how Alyosha adapts from an inexperienced Christian disciple to a mature interpreter capable of conducting the hermeneutical fusion of horizons with different horizons. Within this capability, Alyosha develops his unique Christian horizon, enabling him to understand and reconcile the …

The Romani People In The European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée And Virginia Woolf, Nadya Siyam

Theses and Dissertations

Scholarly literature on Roma is scarce compared to other racial groups as a lack of academic interest, financial limitations, and other social and political factors has constrained it. This resulted in a cross-cultural circulation of misinformation about Romani people and the reproduction of Romani myths and stereotypes in fiction. This project aims to analyze selected literary works on Gypsies from three Eastern and Western European countries and two periods to unpack the cultural and political roots of Romani literary misrepresentation. This research employs a range of theoretical frameworks chosen to put the Gypsy protagonists under maximum spotlight without unnecessary repetition, …