Beth Holmgren
Professor with Tenure
Beth Holmgren is a full professor trained in Polish Studies and Russian Studies, with special expertise in narrative and film analysis, performance studies, gender studies, diasporic studies, and cultural history. She currently serves as chair of the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at Duke, beginning her seventh year in this office (2010-2015, 2016-). Holmgren is listed among the core faculty in Jewish Studies, and holds secondary appointments in Theater Studies and Women's Studies. Over the course of her career, Holmgren has worked closely with the Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (President, 2008); the Association for Women in Slavic Studies (President,2003-2005); and the Polish Studies Association, For her updated curriculum vitae. see her site at academia.edu.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
- Professor with Tenure, Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2007
- Chair in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2009
Contact Information
- 316 Languages Building, Durham, NC 27708
- Box 90259, Durham, NC 27708-0259
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beth.holmgren@duke.edu
(919) 660-3140
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Academia listing of complete cv and a number of publications
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Announcement about Wacław Jędrzejewicz History Award,
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Interview (in Polish) in connection with Waclaw Jedrzejewicz Award
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Presentation to PSFCU scholarship recipients in NY/NJ, June 2017
- Background
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Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Harvard University 1987
- B.A., Grinnell College 1975
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Duke Appointment History
- Professor of Theater Studies, Theater Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2009 - 2014
- Recognition
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In the News
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AUG 8, 2016 -
MAY 27, 2016 Patheos -
MAY 27, 2016 the Irish Times -
JAN 26, 2016 BBC -
OCT 13, 2015 News & Observer -
OCT 12, 2015 Raleigh News & Observer -
OCT 21, 2013
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Awards & Honors
- Oscar Halecki Prize . Polish American Historical Association. 2014
- ASEEES Kulczycki Book Prize for Polish Studies (best book in any discipline, on any aspect of Polish affairs). Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies. November 2013
- Kulczycki Books Prize in Polish Studies. Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 2013
- Heldt Prize for Best Book in Women's Studies. Association for Women in Slavic Studies. November 2012
- Honorable Mention, Barnard Hewitt Award. American Society for Theater Research. November 2012
- Senior Scholar Award. Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. April 2012
- Outstanding Contribution to the Profession. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. 2007
- Expertise
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Global Scholarship
- Research
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Selected Grants
- Publications & Artistic Works
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Selected Publications
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Books
- Hashamova, Y, Holmgren, B, and Lipovetsky, M. Transgressive women in modern Russian and east European cultures: From the bad to the blasphemous. January 1, 2016. Full Text Open Access Copy
- Holmgren, B, Hashamova, Y, Holmgren, B, and Lipovetsky, M. From the legs up: The rise and retreat of the chorus girl in interwar PolandIntroduction (PublishedPublished). January 1, 2016. Full Text
- Chatterjee, C, and Holmgren, B. Americans experience Russia: Encountering the enigma, 1917 to the present. December 1, 2013. Full Text
- Chatterjee, C, and Holmgren, B. Americans experience Russia: Encountering the enigma, 1917 to the present. December 1, 2013. Full Text
- Holmgren, B. Starring Madame Modjeska: On Tour in Poland and America. Indiana University Press, November 10, 2011.
- Goscilo, H, and Holmgren, B. Poles apart: Women in modern Polish culture. January 1, 2006.
- Goscilo, H, and Holmgren, B. Poles apart: Women in modern Polish culture. January 1, 2006.
- The Russian Memoir. Edited by Beth Holmgren. Northwestern University Press, November 19, 2003.
- Holmgren, B. Rewriting Capitalism. University of Pittsburgh Pre, December 15, 1998.
- Holmgren, B, and Holmgren, B. Women's Works in Stalin's TimeWomen's Works in Stalin's Time. Indiana University Press, January 1, 1993.
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Book Reviews
- Holmgren, B. "The Cult of Forbidden Thoughts: The Big Green Tent by Liudmila Ulitskaya, translated by Polly Gannon." Women's Review of Books 33, no. 4 (July 1, 2016): 12-13.
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Book Sections
- Holmgren, B. "Russia on their mind: How hollywood pictured the Soviet front." In Americans Experience Russia: Encountering the Enigma, 1917 to the Present, 105-123. December 1, 2013. Full Text
- Holmgren, B. "The Polish Actress Unbound: Tales of Modrzejewska/Modjeska." In The Other in Polish Theater and Drama, edited by B Johnston and K Cioffi, 57-77. Slavica Publishers, 2010.
- Holmgren, B. "Ne-natural’naia shkola:Semeistvo Tal'nikovykh Panaevoi." In Trava: Punkty, edited by S Ushakin and E Trofimova, 45-72. Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2009.
- Holmgren, B. "Jean de Reszke." In POLISH-AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, edited by J Pula. 2009.
- Holmgren, B. "Edouard de Reszke." In POLISH-AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, edited by J Pula. 2009.
- Holmgren, B. "Aristocrats and Working Girls: Towards a History of Russian Emigre Women in the United States"." In MAPPING THE FEMININE: RUSSIAN WOMEN AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCE, edited by H Hoogenboom, C Nepomnyashchy, and I Reyfman, 231-47. 2008.
- Holmgren, B. "Settlling for the Real Hollywood: Russians in Studio-Era American Film." In American Artists From the Russian Empire, edited by Y Petrova, 97-115. The State Russian Museum & The Foundation for International Arts and Education, 2008.
- Holmgren, B. "Evgeniia Ginzburg." In Yivo Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, edited by GD Hundert. Yale UP, 2008.
- Holmgren, B. "Nadezhda Mandel’shtam." In Dictionary of Literary Biography: Russian Prose Writers After World War II, edited by C Rydel, 164-71. Thomson Gale, 2008.
- Holmgren, B. "Fiction and the Acting Life: The Memoir of Helena Modjeska." In Real Stories, Imagined Realities: Fictionality and Non-fictionality in Literary Constructs and Historical Contexts, edited by M Lehtimaki, S Leisti, and M Rytkonen, 343-57. Tampere University Press, 2007.
- Holmgren, B. "Five short articles – "Nadezhda Mandelstam," "Liudmila Petrushevskaia," "GUM," "Lidiia Ruslanova," "Red Army Chorus"." In THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN CULTURE, edited by K Evans-Romaine, H Goscilo, and T Smorodinskaya. Routledge UP, 2006.
- Holmgren, B. "Public women, parochial stage: The actress in late nineteenth-century Poland." In Poles Apart: Women in Modern Polish Culture, 11-35. January 1, 2006.
- Holmgren, B. "W domu u Sienkiewicza." In Polonistyka Po Amerykansku: Badania Nad Literature Polska W Ameryce Polnocnej (1990-2005), edited by H Filipowicz, A Karcz, and T Trojanowska, 301-15. Wydawnictwo, Warsaw, Poland: Instytut Badan Literackich PAN, 2005.
- Holmgren, B. "Imitation of Life: A Russian Guest in the Polish Regimental Family." In Polish Encounters/Russian Identity, edited by D Ransel and B Shallcross, 37-49. Indiana University Press, 2005.
- Holmgren, B. "America, America: Scouting the Routes of Translation." In Living in Translation: Polish Writers in America, edited by H Stephan, 29-43. Rodopi Press, 2003.
- Holmgren, B. "Emigre-zation: American Picture Books and Russian Artists." In KAZAAM! SPLAT! PLOOF! The American Impact on European Culture Since 1945, edited by S Ramet and G Crnkovic, 219-33. Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.
- Holmgren, B. "Writing the Female Body Politic (1945-1985)." In The Cambridge History of Russian Women's Literature, edited by A Barker and J Gheith, 225-42. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Holmgren, B. "The Importance of Being Unhappy, or Why She Died." In Imitations of Life: Two Centuries of Melodrama in Russia, edited by L McReynolds and J Neuberger, 79-98. Duke University Press, 2002.
- Holmgren, B. "Ameryka, Ameryka, czyli jak zyc w przekladzie." In Zycie W Przekladzie, edited by H Stephan, 17-33. Wydawnictwo Literackie, Krakow, Poland, 2002.
- Holmgren, B. "At Home with Sienkiewicz." In Framing the Polish Home: Postwar Cultural Constructions of Hearth, Nation, and Self, edited by B Shallcross, 219-36. Ohio University Press, 2002.
- Holmgren, B. "Helena Modjeska on the American Stage." edited by A Litak and B Kurylczyk, 2-3. The Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Krakow, Poland.
- Holmgren, B. ""Nadezhda Mandelstam"." In YIVO ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE, edited by GD Hundert. Yale UP.
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Journal Articles
- Holmgren, B. ""Cabaret Identity: How Best to Play a Jew or Pass as a Gentile in Wartime Poland"." Journal of Jewish Identities July 2014, no. Issue 7, number 2 (July 2014): 15-33. Open Access Copy
- Holmgren, . "Collecting the Show on the Road: Spotlight on Anna Mieszkowska and the Polish Cabaret Archive." The Polish Review 59, no. 4 (2014): 3-3. Full Text Open Access Copy
- Holmgren, B. "Cabaret Identity: How Best to Play a Jew or Pass as a Gentile in Wartime Poland." Journal of Jewish Identities 7, no. 2 (2014): 15-33. Full Text Open Access Copy
- Holmgren, B. "The Lives of Secret Others." East European Film Bulletin (August 2013). (Essay)
- Holmgren, B. "Acting Out: Qui pro Quo in the Context of Interwar Warsaw." EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES 27, no. 2 (May 2013): 205-223. Full Text Link to Item
- Holmgren, B. "Toward an Understanding of Gendered Agency in Contemporary Russia." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 38, no. 3 (March 2013): 535-542. Full Text
- Holmgren, B. "Women in Contemporary Russia: A Thematic Cluster Toward an Understanding of Gendered Agency in Contemporary Russia." SIGNS 38, no. 3 (2013): 535-542. Full Text Link to Item
- Holmgren, B. "The Art of Playing Patriot: The Polish Stardom of Helena Modjeska." THEATRE JOURNAL 62, no. 3 (October 2010): 349-+. Link to Item
- Holmgren, B. "War, Women, and Song: The Case of Hanka Ordonowna." Aspasia: The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women’s and Gender History 2 (2010): 139-54.
- Holmgren, B. "Taking Stock, Screening History: Twenty Years of Women’s Studies at AAASS." NewsNet of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies 49 (January 2009): 1-4.
- Holmgren, B. ""Od Booth-a do Modrzejewskiej: Wyrafinowany Szekspir na scenie amerykanskiej" ("From Booth to Modjeska: Refining Shakespeare for the American Stage")." PAMIETNIK TEATRALNY (THEATRE JOURNAL) LVIII (2009): 27-57.
- Holmgren, B. "Review of Knut Andreas Grimstad & Ursula Phillips, ed. GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN ETHICAL CONTEXT: TEN ESSAYS ON POLISH PROSE." SLAVIC REVIEW 66 (2007): 323-24. (Review)
- Holmgren, B. ""The Blue Angel" and Blackface: Redeeming Entertainment in Aleksandrov's "Circus"." Russian Review 66, no. 1 (2007): 5-22. Full Text Link to Item
- Lyman, GH. "Introduction." Clinical Cornerstone 8, no. SUPPL. 5 (2007): S4-. Full Text
- HOLMGREN, B. "Cossack Cowboys, Mad Russians: The Emigre Actor in Studio-Era Hollywood." Russian Review 64, no. 2 (April 2005): 236-258. Full Text
- Gheith, J, and Holmgren, B. "Art and prostokvasha: Avdot'ia panaeva's work." (December 1, 2003): 128-144. (Chapter)
- Holmgren, B. "Nadezhda Mandelstam and Her American Interlocutors." The Russian Review: an American quarterly devoted to Russia past and present 61 (October 2002): 531-34.
- Holmgren, B. "Virility and Gentility: How Sienkiewicz and Modjeska Redeemed America." Polish Review XLVI, no. 3 (2001): 283-296.
- Holmgren, B. "Patronized saints: The cult of the artist in Poland's illustrated weekly." East European Politics and Societies 10, no. 3 (September 1, 1996): 416-437.
- Holmgren, B. "Those Unsettling Slavs, Or There's No Place Like Home." Literary Studies East and West 11 (1996): 98-110.
- Holmgren, B. "Why Russian Girls Loved Charskaia." Russian Review 54, no. 1 (January 1995): 91-91. Full Text
- Holmgren, B. "Bug Inspectors and Beauty Queens: The Problems of Translating Feminism into Russian." Genders 22 (1995): 15-31.
- Holmgren, B. "The Heart of the Matter? Nationalizing the Russian and Polish Romance." Teksty drugie (texts 2) 3/4 (1995): 68-86.
- Holmgren, B. "The Transfiguring of Context in the Work of Abram Terts." Slavic Review 50, no. 04 (1991): 965-977. Full Text
- Holmgren, B. "Rozmowy z Gombrowiczem.(Gombrowicz’s A Kind of Testament)." Pamiętnik Literacki (The Literary Journal) 1 (1990): 75-106.
- Holmgren, B. "Witold Gombrowicz within the Wieszcz Tradition." The Slavic and East European Journal 33, no. 4 (1989): 556-570. Full Text Link to Item
- Blobaum, R, Holmgren, B, and Wampuszyc, E. "Warsaw 2013 (Published online)." East European Politics & Societies . Full Text
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Artistic Works & Non-Print Media
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Audio Recordings
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Video Recordings
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- Teaching & Mentoring
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Recent Courses
- AMI 274: Spies Like Us: Screening Cold War Espionage 2018
- ICS 262: Spies Like Us: Screening Cold War Espionage 2018
- LIT 225: Spies Like Us: Screening Cold War Espionage 2018
- SES 270: Spies Like Us: Screening Cold War Espionage 2018
- VMS 258: Spies Like Us: Screening Cold War Espionage 2018
- AMI 240S: Around the Bloc: Cold War Culture in the USSR and Eastern Europe 2017
- AMI 298S: Revealing Histories: Polish Cinema 2017
- CULANTH 259S: Around the Bloc: Cold War Culture in the USSR and Eastern Europe 2017
- JEWISHST 290S: Special Topics in Jewish Studies 2017
- LIT 241S: Around the Bloc: Cold War Culture in the USSR and Eastern Europe 2017
- LIT 298S: Revealing Histories: Polish Cinema 2017
- POLISH 298S: Revealing Histories: Polish Cinema 2017
- POLISH 301S: Contemporary Polish Composition and Readings 2017
- RELIGION 290S: Special Topics in Religion 2017
- SES 240S: Around the Bloc: Cold War Culture in the USSR and Eastern Europe 2017
- SES 290S: Special Topics in Slavic and Eurasian Studies 2017
- SES 491: Independent Study 2017
- VMS 297S: Revealing Histories: Polish Cinema 2017
- AMI 250FS: Alien America: Immigrant Experiences in Literature and Film 2016
- ICS 383: The Actress: Celebrity and the Woman 2016
- LIT 250FS: Alien America: Immigrant Experiences in Literature and Film 2016
- RUSSIAN 383: The Actress: Celebrity and the Woman 2016
- RUSSIAN 990: Directed Readings 2016
- SES 250FS: Alien America: Immigrant Experiences in Literature and Film 2016
- THEATRST 323: The Actress: Celebrity and the Woman 2016
- WOMENST 260: The Actress: Celebrity and the Woman 2016
- Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
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Presentations & Appearances
- Rethinking Gender Roles at War: The Polish Women's Auxiliary Service, 1941-1945. International Gender Studies Conference. Interdisciplinary Research Foundation. June 24, 2016 - June 25, 2016 2016
- "The Polish II Corps in Mandate Palestine: Illusion and Escape, 1943-1944. International Polish Jewish Studies Conference. University of Illinois at Chicago. April 11, 2016 2016
- Women, Class, Performance: Helena Modjeska as Understudy and Impresario. Public lecture. University of Michigan. February 18, 2016 2016
- "Revolutionary Fun: The Polish-Language Literary Cabaret in Interwar Poland". Association for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies. November 2015 2015
- Banding Together Against the Cavalry: 'Polishness' and the Soldiers' Song in World War II. International Polish Jewish Studies Conference. Princeton University. April 2015 2015
- The Uses of Starlight: Female Entertainers in the Anders Army, 1942-1946. AWSS Biennial Conference. Association for Women in Slavic Studies. March 2015 2015
- The Showman Presents the Ghetto: Jerzy Jurandot's City of the Doomed. Loyola College Jan Karski Conference. Loyola College. September 19, 2014 2014
- From the Legs Up: The Rise and Fall of the Chorus Girl in Interwar Warsaw. Stefan and Lucy Hejna Annual Lecture. University of Illinois at Chicago. April 7, 2014 2014
- Improvising Poland on the March: Entertaining the Polish and Allied Forces in World War II. University of Chicago Central European Workshop. University of Chicago. February 25, 2014 2014
- Face Time Networking. November 22, 2013 2013
- Subversive Primers: Adult Art in Polish Children's Books. November 21, 2013 2013
- Ziminska and Her Boys: Backstage Warsaw. March 22, 2013 2013
- Reframing the Story: Hooks and Haunts. February 8, 2013 2013
- Shows of Solidarity: Cabaret in Interwar Warsaw. January 31, 2013 2013
- The Strange, But True, Adventures of Kazimierz Krukowski. November 17, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. April 22, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. April 21, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. March 8, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. March 7, 2012 2012
- Scapegrace Relics: Saving the Stars of Warsaw Cabaret. March 1, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. February 28, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. February 25, 2012 2012
- Modjeska and Polonia: readings from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. February 2, 2012 2012
- Talk and reading from STARRING MADAME MODJESKA: ON TOUR IN POLAND AND AMERICA. January 19, 2012 2012
- Alien Takes: How Hollywood Screened the Russian War. December 3, 2011 2011
- Cabaret Makes the City: Warsaw in the 1920s. December 3, 2011 2011
- Framing Polish Jews: What Happens When Film Displaces Reality. December 1, 2011 2011
- Questions of Collaboration: Americans and Russian Feminism. November 2, 2010 2010
- The Art of Playing Patriot: The Polish Stardom of Helena Modjeska. September 16, 2010 2010
- The Backstory of Modern Russian Feminism. July 28, 2010 2010
- Russian Feminism: Twenty Years Forward. April 17, 2010 2010
- A Very Short Course on Russian Women's History. December 1, 2009 2009
- Book Talk discussant for Roman Koropeckyj's ADAM MICKIEWICZ: A LIFE OF A ROMANTIC. December 1, 2009 2009
- Modern Russian Feminism: Twenty Years Forward. December 1, 2009 2009
- On Tour with Madame Modjeska: Polish Actress, American Star. December 1, 2009 2009
- Presenting Madame Modjeska. December 1, 2009 2009
- Cataclysm, Nation, Self: An Endoscopy of Polish Lives. November 12, 2009 2009
- Helena Modjeska and the California Dream. November 1, 2008 2008
- The Lady and the Star: How Modjeska Conquered America. October 31, 2008 2008
- Reinvigorating the Paradigm: Russia and the West. March 28, 2008 2008
- From Immigrant to Settler: Helena Modjeska and the California Dream. February 22, 2008 2008
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Service to the Profession
- Organizer and chair of roundtable. Ad-Hoc Committee on Non-Academic Professions in the Field. Association for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies. November 2015 2015
- Tenure review -- Kansas University. September 30, 2013 2013
- Manuscript review, Northwestern University Press. June 2013 2013
- ACLS East European Studies, Dissertation Fellowships Evaluator. February 2013 2013
- UCLA Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures External Review. February 1, 2013 2013
- Full professor review, Duke University, Romance Studies. November 30, 2012 2012
- Full professor review, Indiana University. November 1, 2012 2012
- Manuscript review for SLAVIC REVIEW. November 1, 2012 2012
- Tenure review, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. November 1, 2012 2012
- Extraordinary review for full professor UCLA. December 3, 2011 2011
- Manuscript review for POLISH INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES OF AMERICA. December 3, 2011 2011
- Manuscript review for SLAVIC REVIEW. December 3, 2011 2011
- Tenure review (dean's level) for Princeton University. December 3, 2011 2011
- Tenure review for East Carolina University. December 3, 2011 2011
- Manuscript review for SLAVIC REVIEW. December 6, 2010 2010
- Tenure review for University of Virginia. October 31, 2010 2010
- Review of Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University. April 2010 - May 30, 2010 2010
- Review of Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University. March 5, 2010 - March 31, 2010 2010
- Manuscript reviewed. December 1, 2009 2009
- Associate to full professor review, Indiana University-Bloomington. November 1, 2009 2009
- Associate to full professor review, University of Maryland - College Park. November 1, 2009 2009
- Review of Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute. November 1, 2009 2009
- Meet the Editors: Advice to New and Seasoned Authors about Trends in Book Publishing : 2008 AAASS Convention. November 23, 2008 2008
- Beyond Academia: Career Paths of Professional MAs : 2008 AAASS Convention. November 22, 2008 2008
- Is There a Feminist Press in Central/Eastern Europe? Women's Voices in the Contemporary Media : 2008 AAASS Convention. November 22, 2008 2008
- Revisiting the Gender Question: Scholarship, Exchange, Experience : 2008 AAASS Convention. November 20, 2008 2008
- Manuscript review. May 1, 2008 - May 21, 2008 2008
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