Interview with Professor Erin Alpert Holmes
Pavel Parkhimovich
I know that you attended William & Mary a while ago. Could you tell me about your experience here?
So, I went to William & Mary. I majored in Global Studies with a concentration in Russian Studies. I also minored in Film studies. I had a really great experience at William & Mary. I was involved in a lot of different activities, especially in the music department. I played in the band and pep band and I was a member of the Nu Kappa Epsilon. I was also a work study in the Modern Language Department doing administrative work in the office. There used to be a modern language computing lab, which is not there anymore, but I also worked there.
What did you decide to do after you graduated from William & Mary?
So, I went to the University of Pittsburgh for graduate school. They do a combined master’s & PhD program there. So you can go through the master’s degree while getting your PhD. It was a really interesting experience. Something that I really liked about my experience over there was that you get a lot of teaching experience. I learned very quickly that something I loved doing as I was studying Russian and Russian Literature and Russian film, was teaching. I was a teaching assistant for a class called Russian Fairy Tales. This was their version of Russian Myths and Legends. Russian Myths & Legends is the class that I’m teaching now at William & Mary. As a graduate student, I took classes in Russian language, culture and literature. I took classes that taught me how to teach Russian. I decided to take a Polish language class while I was at graduate school, although I don’t remember much of it anymore.
After finishing the PhD program, why did you decide to come back to teach at William & Mary?
Well, after finishing grad school, I continued to teach at the University of Pittsburgh. I have been teaching online classes at this university for almost 10 years now. I have also been teaching English to speakers of other languages as my main job. Lena and Sasha Prokhorov actually invited me to apply for the teaching position to teach this Russian Myths and Legends class in the Russian department at William & Mary. I was very excited about being a part of this department because it really shaped me when I was a college student at William & Mary. I even remember when the first issue of Gazeta came out and the fact that it is still around is fantastic.
Would you say that there are any similarities or differences in the Russian program now compared to how it was for you when you were a student here?
I would say there are a lot of similarities. For example, the Gazeta course is still being offered to this day. A lot of the faculty is also the same including Sasha and Lena Prokhorov and Bella Feliksovna. The students that are taking my classes show a lot of passion and dedication which is still the same as how it used to be at William & Mary. I took classes with Sasha, Lena, and Bella Feliksovna as a student at William & Mary. I actually took Russian in high school and came into William & Mary at an advanced level. I took Russian Myths & Legends with Sasha Prokhorov my freshman year of college and it is surreal that I am now teaching this class myself.
Do you collaborate with Sasha & Lena to design Russian classes in the department?
Yes, I worked with both Sasha and Lena to help design the Russian Myths & Legends class. The class that I’m teaching now is a little bit different from the version that Sasha is teaching. I got a lot of feedback from Sasha and Lena about the class. I haven’t had the opportunity to work with them on other classes yet. I’m still new to the department but I have been in touch with them a lot about the class that I’m teaching. I still teach the online courses at University of Pittsburgh while teaching the Russian Myths & Legends course at William & Mary. Students at these institutions, I would say, are different. For example, at the University of Pittsburg many of the students in my online classes, after being away for a while, decide to continue their education further. I would love to teach in person at William & Mary, but I would say that I’m pretty settled in Cleveland.
Why did you decide to pursue a PhD after you finished your bachelor’s degree?
I decided to pursue a PhD because I wanted to teach. Most teaching positions for Russian require a PhD-level education. I also have been teaching literature and culture classes in translation, which is something that I very much enjoy. I knew that teaching is something I wanted to do and graduate school confirmed that, so I decided to continue on that track.
Have you ever thought about studying anything else besides Russian?
Honestly, not in my grown-up life. After taking Russian during my freshman year of high school, I realized that this is what I wanted to do. I find everything associated with the Russian language to be very fascinating and it is what I really enjoy. At some point, I did want to be a writer, but Russian is definitely my passion. I have also taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to people who speak different languages, and I would say that my experience in teaching Russian really helped me develop the kind of skills to teach English to others. A lot of them are Russian speaking students. These classes are taught to students 17 and older. We teach free ESL classes for adults through a community college. These classes are mostly taught in community locations like libraries and community centers.
What interests you the most about Russian language and culture in general?
I have a great love of Russian cinema and how the culture and the times are reflected in Russian cinema. Obviously, there are many interesting things about the Russian language and culture but cinema, I would say, is my favorite.
Have you ever traveled to Russia?
Yes, I have traveled to Russia a couple of times. I found learning the rules and Russian culture to be very interesting, including the bureaucracy, paperwork, documents, and things of that nature– little everyday cultural things. For example, I joined a gym and took a yoga class over there. I noticed differences in culture with things like people putting away the equipment. Setting up yoga mats was also different compared to the gyms that I’ve been to in the United States. Every time I traveled to Russia, I went there to study and take Russian classes. The last time I went there, I took classes in Moscow. This was about 10 years ago. I’ve been to Russia three times, twice to St. Petersburg and once to Moscow. The first time was a cultural exchange for only a couple of weeks. The other times were both for studying. I stayed in Russia for the entire summer during my visit. I spent most of the time taking classes there while living in a student dorm. I spent my free time exploring the city and also doing research. I spent a lot of time looking at films that the organizational memorial had in their archives, mostly looking at documentaries, specifically, that were related to representations of the Gulag. As a PhD student I studied Russian culture and film through an organization outside of the University of Pittsburgh. I finished my Russian coursework, then my PhD and moved forward onto teaching.
Did you do any research after finishing your PhD?
I did some. Obviously I did my dissertation and finished my PhD. I didn’t do a lot of extra research after that; I have looked at some topics that were related to my dissertation. I’ve done a couple of conference presentations. But I would say that I’ve focused more on teaching than on research. If I had to choose between teaching and research, I would probably choose teaching because that is my passion. When I do research it is mainly focused on documentary film.
Do you teach English to students who mainly speak Russian, or do you have students of all backgrounds?
I have students from all different backgrounds. In Cleveland, there is a large Russian speaking community, but my students come from all over the world. This includes places like South America, Africa, and Asian countries. Most of the European students are from former Soviet Republics. My students speak languages such as Spanish, French, and Chinese.
Do you have a favorite class that you’ve taught before?
Yes, my favorite class that I have taught would be a class called “Behind Bars”. I taught this class for several semesters but don’t teach it now. It is a comparative prison culture class. We usually look at the Gulag, Nazi concentration camps, and the American prison system. We look at these through the lens of writing, including both fiction and non-fiction, and even through films, TV series, and tattoo culture. I was the first person who taught it at the University of Pittsburgh so it was very fascinating to me. The class is still being taught at the University of Pittsburgh. I would love it if it could be taught online so that I could still teach it.