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Languages & Literatures

Russian Faculty

Luc Beaudoin

Luc Beaudoin, Associate Professor of Russian, received his PhD from the University of Toronto in Slavic Languages and Literatures (concentration: Russian Literature, with a minor in Polish Literature). Though he has been teaching primarily in the Russian Language and Literature Program since his arrival at DU, he also teaches in DU's general humanities and Core curricula. He is currently working on his second book, and his research interests include gender/gay issues in Russian poetry and culture, literary psychoanalysis and Lacan, cultural semiotics, and Romantic irony and idealism in its Russian manifestations. He and his partner Mark live in Capitol Hill next to the Molly Brown Mansion (the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" of Titanic fame). Their faithful Golden Retriever Sasha loves to go for walks and keep an eye on the neighborhood cats and squirrels.

Phone Number:

Email: luc.beaudoin@du.edu

Polina Rikoun

Polina Rikoun, Lecturer of Russian, received her PhD from Harvard University in Comparative Literature, with a main focus on Russian and additional specializations in Ukrainian and American literature. She loves teaching Russian language, literature, and culture; her three favorite literature courses that she has taught so far were on nineteenth-century Russian classics, Russian women writers, and on slavery and serfdom in Russian and American fiction. She is also developing a course on evil in Russian and Ukrainian literature and culture, to be taught in the Arts and Humanities Foundations curriculum. Her research interests include narrative theory, empire studies, Russian-Ukrainian relations, and the cultural identity of post-imperial cities, particularly Odessa. She is now working on a book project, Narrating the Empire, which examines how writers use narrative to advance different interpretations of Russian imperial history. In her spare time, Polina loves to read, hike, cook with her husband Andrew, and play with her cat Gracie.

Phone Number:

Email: polina.rikoun@du.edu