Lucey, Colleen M | Department of Russian and Slavic Studies

luceyc@arizona.edu

Phone

520-621-3608

Office Hours

Please contact instructor for
office hours

Lucey, Colleen M

Associate Professor

Colleen Lucey, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at the University of Arizona and an affiliated member of the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching interdisciplinary PhD program, the Human Rights Practice Program, and the Institute for LGBT Studies. She earned a B.A. in Russian from Barnard College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of nineteenth-century Russian culture, gender and sexuality studies, terrorism and literature, and Russian language pedagogy. She is the author of Love for Sale: Representing Prostitution in Imperial Russia (NIU Series, Cornell University Press, 2021), which won the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Best First Book Award. Her articles have appeared in a variety of journals, including Folklorica, The Russian Review, The Russian Language Journal, and Slavic and East European Journal. Her current book project examines the image of Russian and East European women terrorists in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fiction, art, and drama.

Dr. Lucey's research has been supported by the Title VIII Research Scholar Program, the U.S.-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program, and the Foreign Language & Area Studies Program. She previously served as Vice President on AATSEEL's Executive Council (2020-2023), as a member on the ACTR (American Council of Teachers of Russian) Board of Directors (2020-2022), as co-director of the REEES Think Tank (2019-2023), and on the ALTA (American Literary Translators Association) Board of Directors (2020-2023).

Select Publications

Monographs

Love for Sale: Representing Prostitution in Imperial Russia. NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Cornell University Press, 2021.

Peer-reviewed Articles and Chapters

“Building Networks of Support for Students of Color in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies: Lessons from Minority Serving Institutions,” SEEJ 64.4 (Winter 2020): 586-589.

"Oral History in the Russian Language Curriculum: A Transformative Experience." Chapter co-authored with Benjamin Rifkin and Benjamin Jens, The Art of Teaching Russian, eds. Evgeny Dengub, Irina Dubinina, and Jason Merrill, 211-230. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2020.

"Fallen but Charming Creatures: The Demimondaine in Russian Literature and Visual Culture of the 1860s." The Russian Review 78, no. 1 (Jan. 2019): 103-121.

"Borscht, Bliny, and Burritos: The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Experiential Learning through Food." Article co-written with Naomi Caffee, Russian Language Journal 68 (Dec. 2018): 33-54.

"The Hunt for an Eternal Legacy: Putin and the Vampire Legend in Modern Russia." Article co-written with Melissa Miller, Folklorica 22 (2018): 25-56.

"Violence, Murder, and Fallen Women: Prostitution in the Works of Vsevolod Garshin." Canadian Slavonic Papers 58, no. 4 (Dec. 2016): 362-85.

Language Textbooks:

Russian Folktales: A Reader for Students of Russian, 2^nd Edition, co-authored with Jason Merrill. Hackett Publishing, 2016. 190 pages.

About That, Which Did Not Happen: An Annotated Russian Reader, co-authored with Evgeny Dengub and Petia Alexieva. iLearnRussian Publishers, 2015. 73 pages.

Media:

"Another Look: Eugene Onegin with Shawna Lucey and Dr. Colleen Lucey" for Santa Fe Opera (July 2021).

"Oral History Projects for Language Students" interview for the podcast We Teach Languages (Oct. 2018).

Interview and Q&A with Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova, University of Arizona Humanities Festival (Oct. 3, 2017).

Currently Teaching

RSSS 315 – Vampires and Werewolves: Slavic & East European Folklore in our Culture

This course will examine the ways in which the vampire and werewolf serve as metaphors for human fears and desires. Starting with East European peoples, we will explore how the folklore around the monsters symbolized "the other" and cultural taboos. We will trace how Western cultures engaged with, adopted and transformed the East European beliefs to reflect evolving conception of identity, social conflict, gender/sexuality, and the nature of good and evil

View Section Details

RSSS 340 – The Pen and the Sword: Russian Writers and Autocracy 1825-1905

This course is designed to be an introduction to the "Golden Age" of Russian literature. We will read a selection of classic Russian texts, with representative works from "canonical" authors like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, among others. The writers we will read not only played a key role in the development of Russian literature, but their handling of life's greatest issues (the existence of God, the meaning of life, struggle for gender equality, the organization of society, the mystery of death, etc.) have influenced cultural, intellectual, and political movements throughout the world. The course readings are organized chronologically and by theme, and we will trace the progression of the major literary movements of the era (sentimentalism, romanticism and realism) while exploring the individual style/technique of each author. Works will be considered within their cultural context --historical, social, ideological and intellectual --in order to provide a better understanding of Russian thought, culture, and literature. All readings, discussions and written assignments will be in English.

View Section Details

RSSS 305 – Russian and American Foodways: Cultivation, Culture, and Connectedness

Although Arizona and Russia have vastly different climates, cultures, and histories, there are more shared traditions of food cultivation, preparation, and consumption than we might assume. This is a comparative course in Russian and Sonoran foodways that not only explores food preferences, recipes, and cooking as part of human identity but also examines power structures behind food economies; the significance of ancient recipes and remedies in indigenous cultures; and the effect of oppressive policies/ideologies, such as colonialism or communism, on foodways. This course offers an in-depth study of food culture, traditional cuisine, agriculture, and "locavore" movements in Russian and American (particularly Sonoran) contexts. Through a variety of readings, films, lectures, and experiential learning activities, students will investigate how foodways serve as markers of inequalities or oppression (but also resistance and liberation) that inevitably leave a deep imprint on cultures, with additional emphasis on contemporary issues of sustainability, environmental impact, and global interconnectedness.

View Section Details