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Evgeny Dengub

Professor (Teaching) of Russian
Evgeny Dengub
Email dengub@usc.edu

Biography

Dr. Evgeny Dengub is a teaching Professor of Russian and Director of the Basic Language Program at the University of Southern California, where he also leads the Center for Languages and Cultures. A recipient of the American Councils of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) Distinguished Service Award and multiple accolades from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages (AATSEEL), Dr. Dengub is widely recognized for his contributions to language pedagogy. His co-authored textbooks Etazhi (2021) and Panorama (2017) have received awards for excellence in language teaching materials. He also co-edited The Art of Teaching Russian, recognized by the Modern Language Association with the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Honorable Mention Award. Most recently, he co-created OK Story Cards, an educational resource for storytelling and language development

Dr. Dengub served on the ACTR Board of Directors and as Associate Director of the Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian at Middlebury College, where he led STARTALK programs that trained over 100 Russian language educators.

His current research focuses on alternative grading practices, including ungrading, and their impact on student learning and motivation.

Education

  • Ph.D. Second Language Acquisition and Russian, Bryn Mawr College, 5/2012
  • M.A. Second Language Acquisition and Russian, Bryn Mawr College, 5/2007
  • M.A. English as a Foreign Language, Khabarovsk State Pedagogical University, Russia, 2002

  • Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical Appointments

    • Senior Lecturer in Russian; Director of the Russian Language program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2020-2021
    • Lecturer in Russian; Co-director of the Three College Russian Initiative, Smith College, 2017-2020
    • Lecturer in Russian, Amherst College, 2010-2017
    • Adjunct Instructor, Temple University, Department of French, German, Italian and Slavic, 2006-2010

    Visiting and Temporary Appointments

    • Russian Language Reviewer, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 09/01/2019 –

    Other Employment

    • Associate Director for Language Programs, Middlebury College Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian, 11/01/2021 –
    • Program Director, Lead Instructor, Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy for Russian Teachers STARTALK Summer Institute, Middlebury College, 2013 – 2019
    • Testing Program Coordinator, Oral and Writing Proficiency Testing Trainer, Kathryn Wasserman Davis Summer School of Russian, Middlebury College, 2012 – 2021

  • Conference Presentations

    • Rehumanizing the Humanities: Ungrading in the Language Classroom and Beyond , Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and AssessmenTalk/Oral Presentation, American Association of Colleges and Universities, online, 2022-2023
    • Ungrading in the Russian Language Classroom , WebinarTalk/Oral Presentation, American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), Invited, online, 2022-2023
    • Increasing students’ oral production: Effective elicitation techniques and appropriate activities across proficiency levels , Flagship Teacher Training Workshops Talk/Oral Presentation, Indiana University , Invited, online, 2021-2022
    • Post-pandemic classroom: Technology in the language curriculum , Flagship Teacher Training Workshops Roundtable/Panel, Indiana University, Invited, online, 2021-2022
    • (Fall 2021) RUSS 120. Beginning Russian I, MW, 02:00pm – 03:50pm
    • (Fall 2021) RUSS 220. Intermediate Russian I, MTWTh, 11:00am – 11:50am
    • (Spring 2022) RUSS 250. Intermediate Russian II, MWF, 01:00pm – 01:50pm
    • (Spring 2022) RUSS 310. Advanced Russian in Popular Culture, TBA – TBA

  • Book

    • Dengub, E., Nazarova, S. (2021). Etazhi: Second Year Russian Language and Culture. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown UP. Book on Amazon.com
    • Dengub, Evgeny, Irina Dubinina, and Jason Merrill (Ed.). (2020). The Art of Teaching Russian. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown UP.
    • Rifkin, B., Dengub, E., Nazarova, S. (2017). Panorama: Intermediate Russian Language and Culture. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown UP.
    • Dengub, E., Alexieva, P., Lucey, C. (2015). About That, Which Did Not Happen. Annotated Russian Reader (B1-B2). iLearnRussian Publishers.
    • Rojavin, M., Dengub, E., Forrester, S. E. Russian for Advanced Students. Russian for Advanced Students (ed.). Dunwoody Press, 2013, 2013.

    Journal Article

    • Merrill, J., Dengub, E., Pastushenkov, D. (2021). Learner performance in online and face-to-face Russian immersion programs: A comparison. Russian Language Journal. Vol. 71 (2), pp. 199-232.
    • Dengub, E., Rojavin, M. (2010). The Conjunctions A, HO and I: A Comparison of Usage by Heritage and Traditional Students of Russian. Slavic and Eastern European Studies Journal. Vol. 53 (4), pp. 147-164.
    • Foreign Language Pedagogy Podcast, https://teachrussian.libsyn.com;
      Creator, Producer, 2019 –
    • Educational Resource, OK Story Cards (www.okstorycards.com): A set of 80 illustrated cards and 20 blanks designed to support language learning and storytelling. , 2024-2025
    • Best contribution to language pedagogy prize to the textbook Etazhi from American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages (AATSEEL), 2022 , 2022-2023
    • The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Honorable mention in the competition for the 36th Kenneth Mildenberger Prize for an outstanding work in the fields of language, culture, literary, or literacy with strong application to the teaching of languages other than English, 2021-2022
    • American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service to the Russian Profession, Spring 2022
    • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Best contribution to language pedagogy prize to the textbook Panorama from American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages (AATSEEL), 2020, 2020-2021
    • Access to Language Education for www.teachrussian.org from Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO), 2013-2014

  • Administrative Appointments

    • Director of Undergraduate Studies, 2022-2023
    • Director of the Center for Languages and Cultures, 2021-2022

    Committees

    • Dornsife Committee on Appointments and
      Promotions for the RTPC (DCAP-RTPC), 08/16/2022 – 08/15/2024

    Other Service to the University

    • Faculty Advisor for Organization for Students of Slavic and East European Studies, 04/01/2022 –
    • Faculty advisor to Trojan Bloom: USC Multilingual Journal, 2022-2023

  • Administative Appointment

    • OPI Tester, OPIc, WPT, and AAPPL rater in Russian and English, Language Testing International, 2011 –

    Conferences Organized

    • Co-organizer, International Gender-Inclusive Language Instruction Conference, online, Spring 2023
    • Co-organizer, Symposium on Professional Development of Graduate Student Teaching Assistants (Fellows), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Spring 2023

    Editorships and Editorial Boards

    • Editorial Board Member, Russian Language Journal, 2015 – 2022

    Professional Offices

    • Member of the Board of directors, American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), 2015 – 2022

    Professional Memberships

    • California Language Teachers’ Association, 2022 –
    • International Association for Language Learning Technology, 2021 –
    • ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), 2011 –
    • American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), 2010 –
    • American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages (AATSEEL), 2007 –

    Review Panels

    • Pearson and Massachusetts Board of Education, Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure Objective Review Committee, 2012

    Reviewer for Publications

    • The Acquisition of Russian as a Second Language: A Research Overview, Routledge, This book provides a synthesis of empirical research on the acquisition of Russian as a second or foreign language. According to the Ethnologue, Russian has over 258 million speakers worldwide, including both native and non-native speakers, and is the eighth most widely spoken language in the world. Research on the second language acquisition (SLA) of Russian has grown considerably over
      the past two decades. This volume aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the major findings and research directions in this area, with the goal of informing both researchers in SLA and teachers of Russian as a second or foreign language of the latest developments and research findings., Fall 2021
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