Marina Aptekman

Marina Aptekman

(617) 627-2637
Packard Avenue
Research/Areas of Interest:

Twentieth Century, Women Writers, Russian film, literature, culture and language, Russian and Soviet Jewish cultural history

Education

  • PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures, Brown University, Providence, United States, 2005
  • MA in English, Brown University, Providence, United States, 1997
  • BA in English Literature/Comparative Literature/Linguistics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, 1996

Biography

I came to Tufts in 2015 after teaching for 6 years at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, NY and before that at Cornell University and Brandeis University. I came to USA in 1996 and before starting my Ph. D. degree at Brown I lived in Russia and Israel; and I was born in a city and a country that no longer exist on maps – St. Petersburg, USSR. I love teaching language because I believe that the knowledge of foreign language, even very imperfect, opens you the doors into the true culture of a country, often hidden from foreigners. I also very much like to teach my course on Russian culture that tells the great stories of Russian art, literature, architecture, music, cinema and so much more, and allows students to glimpse at the 1000-year Russian cultural history. I also very much like to teach the turbulent history of Russian and Soviet Jews, that, in my opinion, is truly unique.

In my free time I like traveling in old European towns and hidden villages of Russia, swimming in the ocean, biking and reading new books. After living in USA for more than 25 years I am still very Russian - as most Russians I love nature; so in my free time I very much love to explore the woods of New England that make me feel I am still staying in a summer cottage outside Moscow - hunting for mushrooms, foraging for wild berries, swimming in the lakes and streams, and enjoying life with my family.