I’m a teacher, parent, scholar of Russian literature and language, and generally curious fellow.
I hold a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures and have taught courses in Russian language, Russian literature, and comparative literature at Columbia University, the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), and the Bard Prison Initiative. I have also taught English and history at the secondary school level, first at Woodstock Day School and now at Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.
My published research focuses on Russian and Soviet literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, and I have worked extensively on the Russian cultural and environmental relationship to Central Asia. In the past few years, my attention has shifted toward the U.S. and the practices of activism, participatory democracy, and pedagogy. In recent years I have taught (or planned to teach) courses on U.S. History, environmental justice, African American History and Literature, and Global Queer Studies. I also spend a lot of time as a history department chair thinking about how best to teach climate crisis and working to make our curriculum and pedagogy more inclusive.
I am a proud resident of the Hudson Valley and Capital District.
Katharine Holt 