Research Fellow Sought for Pittsburgh-Moscow Heritage Speakers Program

[Peirce, Gina M]

Research Fellow Sought for University of Pittsburgh's Summer 2008 Russian Heritage Speaker Seminar

The University of Pittsburgh's Summer Language Institute (SLI) is seeking a Research Fellow for the 2008 Russian heritage speakers' intensive summer language seminar in Pittsburgh and Moscow. The Research Fellow must be a junior faculty member or advanced graduate student with Russian language teaching experience and native or near-native Russian language proficiency. Through his/her participation in the seminar, the Research Fellow will develop pedagogical strategies for teaching and assessing the progress of heritage learners and gain preparation in designing and teaching courses for such students, who are expected to constitute an increasingly significant portion of enrollment in college Russian language programs in future years.

The Research Fellow will observe the Heritage Speaker Seminar class sessions and write a research paper on aspects of the pedagogical challenges facing teachers of heritage speakers, which he/she will be encouraged to publish and/or present to other language instructors at professional meetings in order to disseminate the knowledge gained through the seminar. The Research Fellow will also assist the heritage learners enrolled in the seminar (who will be a combination of graduate and advanced undergraduate students) with designing and carrying out their own individual research projects, using Russian-language research resources. Finally, the Research Fellow will be involved in reviewing the students' final research papers and discussing their evaluation with the Resident Director of the seminar. This process will give the Research Fellow an opportunity to consider ways to assist heritage learners at his/her home institution in developing their academic research and professional writing skills in Russian.

The 2008 Russian Heritage Speaker Seminar will take place from June 9-July 11 at the University of Pittsburgh, and then from July 14-August 15 at Moscow State University. While in Moscow, the Research Fellow will reside in a single room in a Moscow State University dormitory, along with the SLI Resident Director, Resident Assistant, and students. The SLI will assist the Research Fellow with housing arrangements for the Pittsburgh portion of the program, if needed. Contingent on the receipt of grant funding for which the SLI has applied, the Research Fellow's airfare to Moscow and a stipend for living expenses will be paid by the SLI.

To apply, please send a CV and letter of interest by April 1, 2008 to:

Christine Metil, Associate Director
Slavic and East European Summer Language Institute
University of Pittsburgh
1417 Cathedral of Learning
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
E-mail: slavic at pitt.edu

For more information on the University of Pittsburgh's Summer Language Institute, please visit http://sli.slavic.pitt.edu.

*************************************
Gina M. Peirce
Assistant Director
Center for Russian and East European Studies
University of Pittsburgh
4414 Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: (412) 648-2290
Fax: (412) 648-7002

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