Kathleen Parthé named to Brugler chair

Parthé

Kathleen Parthé, director of the Russian Studies Program and an associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, has been named Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Parthé specializes in Russian national identity and cultural history. Since joining the faculty in 1986, she has taught Russian language, literature, culture, and civilization. Among other new courses, Parthé introduced Russia Now, offered each semester, in which students in small discussion groups analyze daily events in Russia using print and electronic resources. Several of her courses are part of the curriculum of Judaic Studies and Polish and Central European Studies.

As director of Russian Studies, Parthé redesigned the program and established two speakers' series and monthly luncheons for students and faculty. Alumni working in Moscow and Washington, D.C., as well as those pursuing advanced degrees, keep in touch with program faculty and current students, meeting periodically on campus and in Russia during the annual summer study program.

"Professor Parthé's gifts for curricular conception and development have helped make Russian Studies one of the most stable and appealing of the College's interdepartmental programs," said William Scott Green, dean of the College.

For four years, Parthé has worked on a study of Russian national identity in the post-Soviet era at the invitation of James Billington, Librarian of Congress. The two traveled to Moscow in June to help conduct an in-depth discussion with Russian leaders.

"That meeting was one of the most intense and satisfying experiences of my career," she said. "The fact that the full conference report was sent to policymakers in the State Department, Congress, and the White House is very gratifying. But I also bring much of what I learned through this project to the classroom, so that students get a very up-to-date sense of the state of the country."

Parthé is a graduate of Barnard College, with a master's degree and a doctorate from Cornell University. She has taught at Cornell, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and SUNY College at Oswego, and she has also been a visiting professor at Princeton University. She is on the advisory council for the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, and has served on the academic council of the World Literature Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences and as vice president of the American Assocation of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages.

The University established the professorship in 1979 to honor Mercer Brugler, chair emeritus of the Board of Trustees. It recognizes excellence in teaching and in encouraging the development of cross-disciplinary instruction. The chair is awarded for a three-year period.