Summer Session Staff /Сотрудники летней программы
Second-Year Russian
Julia Titus, a native of Moscow and a Senior Lector in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University, where she has been teaching since 1992. Over the course of her career she has taught all levels of Russian, beginning to advanced, including intensive Russian and Russian for bilinguals. She has also taught many times for the Yale Summer Session, including the last four summers. Before coming to Yale, Ms. Titus worked extensively as an interpreter and translator in theater, film, and business.
Third-Year Russian, Program Director
Constantine Muravnik is a native of Moscow. He has a Ph.D. from the Slavic Department of Yale, where he has been teaching since 1995.
Prior to this, he taught Russian in the Slavic Department of Georgetown University and at Moscow State University, where he earned his B.A. He has taught in the YSS St. Petersburg Program since its inception in 2001.
Russian Culture
Nikolai Firtich was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he received an education in the fine arts. After moving to the US, in 1983, Nikolai eventually pursued the study of Russian literature, earning a Ph.D. from Yale in 2001.
Currently Nikolai is an associate professor and chair of Russian Studies at Vassar College, where he teaches a variety of courses on aspects of Russian culture, including literature, film, and visual arts.
Program Coordinator
Olga Plotnikova is a graduate from St. Petersburg State University. She has been with the Yale Summer Program since 2010. Besides coordinating the Russian part of the program, Olya likes to acquaint students with various aspects of Russian life via alternative activities such as parties with Russian friends and trips to less advertised exhibitions and concerts. She worked as a Russian Tutor in Bard College in the US in 2008-2009; she also taught Russian in European University and The Swiss Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.