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Andrew Kaufman, PhD, is currently a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia. He holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Stanford University, and he has recognized success as both a published scholar and an innovative, award-winning teacher of Russian language, literature, and culture at some of the country’s top universities. Dr. Kaufman has worked as a Russian language and literature expert for “Oprah’s Book Club,” he has discussed Russian literature and culture on the national television show Democracy Now!, and he has been heard as a featured guest on Talk America Radio and on Silver Rain Radio in Russia. A fluent speaker of Russian, Dr. Kaufman has lived extensively in Russia, where he studied at Moscow State University and also worked as an interpreter, translator, and management consultant. To learn more about Dr. Kaufman, please visit his website at www.professorandy.com.

Serafima Gettys, PhD, earned her doctorate degree in Foreign Language Education from Gertzen State Pedagogical University, Leningrad, USSR. She is currently a Coordinator of the Foreign Language Program at Lewis University, where she also teaches Russian. Prior to coming to Lewis University, she taught Russian at Stanford University. Gettys is also a member of a number of professional language associations.

Nina Wieda is a doctoral student in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is committed to bringing Russian language and culture into the lives of her readers and students, because, as the Latin proverb goes, “With each new language, you live a new life.” A trained linguist with an MA in Social Sciences, Nina also has a book of poetry published in Russian, and a number of scholarly articles on Chekhov and contemporary drama published in English.