Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages - by Sunnie Rucker-Chang & Rachel Stauffer (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Since 2020, there have been various calls to action in the instruction of East European and Eurasian Languages to address predominantly white demographics in Slavic and Eurasian studies fields and long-standing disparities in access and opportunities for students of the global majority. Despite these acknowledgements and drive to change the nature of the field, there persists a great deal of investigation and interrogation needed to realize the potential benefits of the inclusive East European and Eurasian language classroom. Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages offers new pathways for affirming and representing diversity, both in the regions of inquiry and in classrooms"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Since 2020, there have been various calls to action in the instruction of East European and Eurasian Languages to address the predominantly white demographics in the fields of Slavic and Eurasian studies and long-standing disparities in access and opportunities for students of the global majority. Despite these acknowledgements and drive to change the nature of the field, there persists a great deal of investigation and interrogation needed to realize the potential benefits of the inclusive East European and Eurasian language classroom. Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages offers new pathways for affirming and representing diversity, both in the regions of inquiry and in classrooms.

Review Quotes

"Expansive in scope and meticulously researched, Inclusive Strategies and Critical Pedagogies for East European and Eurasian Languages tackles the most pressing issues facing today's world language programs. From modernizing the Russian language and culture curricula to equity-minded inclusive pedagogy in East European and Eurasian Studies, this volume describes some of the historical prejudices in our field and boldly outlines the ways to address them through justice-oriented teaching that acknowledges, appreciates, and centers the diverse, multilayered identities of our students. With a rich and varied selection of chapters, this volume makes a lasting contribution to the field."

--Dr. Colleen Lucey, Associate Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, University of Arizona

"We stand on the precipice--at a moment when teaching faculty in Russian and Eurasian studies feel the ground shifting beneath our feet, and when the tried-and-true paths within our profession are contracting and crumbling. This is also the moment when Rucker-Chang and Stauffer bring us a set of practices that illuminate new pathways of greater potential. I read inclusive and critical in this volume's title as synonymous with expansive and explosive. This volume of essays contains within its pages a set of ideas to explode the narrow frameworks that have been our past and to expand our vision of what is possible in the uncertain times ahead. These chapters guide us in imagining a new future of our field, a wider vision of who we are and what we study, and an expansion of our classroom practices that just might be the thing that saves us."

--Dr. Molly T. Blasing, Associate Professor of Russian Studies, University of Kentucky

About the Author

Rachel Stauffer is an educational researcher who examines practices and histories of education about the Russian-speaking world in the United States. She has an MA and PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures (University of Virginia) and a Masters of Education with emphasis in Diversity and Equity (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign).