On January 8-11, Dr. Alla Kourova and her Research and Mentoring Student Irina Pidberejna presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages international conference.
Irina Pidberejna, an undergraduate student, won first place in the AATSEL Photo Contest. Her photograph was taken during a Study Abroad in Russia, and follows this year’s conference theme Time, reflecting the coexistence of past, present, and future in Russia. Her photograph will be published in the next AATSEL newsletter.
Ms. Pidberenja also presented her research from the Undergraduate Research Journal titled Impact of Culture on Students’ Motivation in Acquiring a Second Language. Similarly, Dr. Kourova, an assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, showcased her current grant project Picturing Russia at the conference.
Dr. Kourova and Ms. Pidberejna would like to thank the College of Arts and Humanities, the Office of Undergraduate Research and UCF Student Government for their financial support for this professional opportunity.
In addition to presenting at the AATSEL international conference, Ms. Pidberenja leads the Russian Club with Dr. Kourova as the faculty advisor. Thanks to a special US-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program that provides a grant worth $100,000, UCF will host Russian exchange students later this year.
It’s too late to visit Russia through the grant program, but Dr. Kourova is sponsoring a study abroad program this summer for two weeks of Russian language instruction at Moscow State University in Moscow. Visit the article on Knight News. to learn more about the grant and what the Russian Club has to offer.