Dr. Melissa Azari is an Instructor of Russian at the United States Air Force Academy, where she teaches first-year Russian language. She previously worked remotely as Instructor of Russian Culture for the Indiana University Bloomington Language Workshop in summer 2022 and as Interim Russian Flagship Program Manager at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in fall 2021.

While completing her graduate studies in the Slavic doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Dr. Azari taught first-year Russian in academic-year and summer intensive settings (both in-person and online), intensive summer second-year Russian, and ran discussion sections for 19th Century Russian Literature. She also worked in administrative roles at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, including as Resident Director for the Pushkin Summer Institute Abroad NSLI-Y Program in Daugavpils, Latvia in 2016 and as Project Assistant to the Language Institute's partnership with Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan in spring 2017.

Dr. Azari's doctoral dissertation explored the role of sound and music in the pre-emigration poetry of Russian poet and dissident Natalya Gorbanevskaya. Her current research also focuses on the life and work of Gorbanevskaya, specifically examining the intersection of her experiences as an activist and a mother.

Ph.D., Slavic Languages and Literature (Minor in Folklore Studies), University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (2021)

M.A., Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (2014)

B.A., Russian Language and Culture (Honors), Asian Languages and Cultures, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York (2012)

Academic Appointments

Instructor of Russian, Department of Foreign Languages
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado (August 2022 – Present)

Russian Culture Instructor, Language Workshop, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN (Remote) (May 2022 – July 2022)

Teaching Assistant, Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (August 2013 – August 2021)

Administrative Appointments

Interim Program Manager, Russian Flagship Program, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (Remote) (September 2021 – December 2021)

Project Assistant for Nazarbayev University Partnership, Language Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin (January 2017 – May 2017)

Resident Director, Pushkin Summer Institute Abroad, NSLI-Y Program, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Daugavpils, Latvia (June 2016 – August 2016)

Research

Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia Graduate Student Short-Term Travel Grant, “Mapping the Auditory Landscape of Natalya Gorbanevskaya’s Pre-Emigration Poetry,” University of Wisconsin–Madison, archival research at the Bremen University Research Center for East European Studies in Bremen, Germany (2019)

Mellon-Wisconsin Fall Semester Dissertator Fellowship, “Mapping the Auditory Landscape of Natalya Gorbanevskaya’s Pre-Emigration Poetry,” University of Wisconsin–Madison (2019)

Graduate School Chancellor’s Fellowship ($20,500 / 9 months), “Mapping the Auditory Landscape of Natalya Gorbanevskaya’s Pre-Emigration Poetry,” University of Wisconsin–Madison (2017)

Teaching

Early Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2015)

Honored Instructor (student-nominated), University Housing, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2015)

Academic

Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society Member, Zeta of New York Chapter, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (2012)

National Slavic Honor Society Member, “Dobro Slovo,” Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Language Training

Foreign Language Area Studies Summer Fellowship, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin–Madison, study of Russian language in the graduate program at Middlebury College Summer Language Schools in Middlebury, Vermont (2014)

Foreign Language Area Studies Summer Fellowship, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin–Madison, study of Russian language in the Level 7 at Middlebury College Summer Language Schools in Middlebury, Vermont (2013)

Foreign Language Area Studies Academic-Year Fellowship, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin–Madison, study of Bosnian Serbo-Croatian at University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin (2012)

Late Soviet Era

Russian Poetry

Folklore Studies

Sound Studies