ACTR Teaching Excellence Award for Post-Secondary Instructors
Nominations open!

This award offers national recognition to a college or university instructor who demonstrates effective and innovative teaching practices and the ability to serve as an influential advocate for teaching Russian on a regional and/or national basis. With this award, we would like to honor an outstanding instructor of the Russian language and culture at the post-secondary college/university level. 

Congratulations to the 2023 Award Winner
Dr. Olga Thomason, University of Georgia

Eligibility
  • The award is open to instructors of Russian language from any public or private post-secondary institution of any rank, whether part-time/adjunct, full time, contract or tenured, lecturer or full professor.
  • The nominee must be a current member of ACTR
  • The nominee must have taught Russian language courses at least five (5) years
  • Candidates can be nominated by anyone, including a colleague, supervisor, or student(s)
  • Graduate students are not eligible but they can be nominated for the ACTR Teaching Excellence Award for graduate student instructors
  • ​Only one nomination will be accepted from each institution.
Selection Committee

Susan Kresin, UCLA (Chair) 
Evgeny Dengub, USC
Irina Dubinina, Brandeis 
Olga Klimova, University of Pittsburgh
Kaylin Land, McGill University
Benjamin Rifkin, Farleigh Dickinson University
To Apply
Nomination Process
  • Nominations are due by December 15th of each calendar year
  • Notification of award recipients will be made by January 15th
  • The finalist will be announced at the general ACTR membership meeting at annual AATSEEL conference and recognized in the ACTR Newsletter

The nomination packet should include the following:

From the nominator: 
The nominator should submit a nomination letter in which he/she shows how the candidate demonstrates excellence and innovation and inspires students in their study of Russian language and culture. You may wish to address the following factors:
  • The nominee’s dedication to students’ linguistic and cultural development.
  • The nominee’s commitment to professional growth, including participation in pedagogical workshops, conferences, programs, etc., and contributions or potential to contribute to the field of Russian language pedagogy;
  • The nominee’s innovations in teaching, including the development of teaching materials (traditional or digital);
  • The nominee’s efforts to promote Russian language and culture through organizing and participating in extracurricular activities or other outreach work;
  • The nominee’s commitment to fostering students’ understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity of the Russophone world, creating an inclusive classroom environment, and practicing equitable pedagogical approaches.”

From the nominee: 
The nominee should submit
  1. a CV which should focus on teaching and be no more than 5 pages;
  2. ​a one-page annotation of an effective language learning activity that you developed independently, and 
  3. an application statement, where you explain what makes you an excellent teacher. You may wish to address some of the following factors: teaching innovations:
  • development of inclusive classroom practices and curricular materials,
  • materials and courses developed independently or in collaboration, 
  • undergraduate mentorship and community building at your institution, 
  • promotion of interest in Russian studies and the Russian speaking world,
  • contributions to the field of Russian language teaching, 
  • anything else that distinguishes you as an excellent teacher of Russian. 
Timeline
Nominations and the nominee’s CV, teaching statement and description of a teaching activity must be submitted electronically by December 15th.
Finalists will be notified by January 15th. 
Awardees will be announced at the ACTR general membership meeting during the AATSEEL annual convention and recognized in the ACTR Newsletter.
Questions? Please email Susan Kresin at kresin at humnet.ucla.edu