The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures is delighted to welcome Anna Borovskaya-Ellis as our new Director of the Language Program.

Prof. Borovskaya-Ellis received her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from the Philology Department at Herzen State Pedagogical University in St. Petersburg, Russia. After moving to the United States, she completed her MA at the University of Missouri and her PhD in Slavic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her graduate programs she gained extensive experience in teaching language, literature, history, and culture. Anna’s language teaching is influenced by her work for the Russian Flagship Program at UW, her training as an ACTFL-certified Oral Proficiency Interview tester, and her long-standing interest in the scholarship of methodology and educational psychology. She has taught in multiple countries to people of various age groups, economic backgrounds and religions. She appreciates diversity in her classroom and maintains a welcoming atmosphere that allows all students to share their diverse experiences. Anna will be teaching different levels of Russian and Methods of Teaching Slavic Languages.

Anna replaces our much beloved Lilia Travisano, who retired in 2016.  Prof. Travisano still lives in Charlottesville and is happy to see her former students passing through town.