ALISA BALLARD

Ph.D. Candidate
Princeton University w Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures
249 East Pyne Hall w Princeton, NJ 08544
acballar@princeton.edu w 405-596-4428

EDUCATION

Princeton University
Ph.D., Slavic Languages and Literatures

expected June 2016

Dissertation: The Actors Consciousness in Russian Modernist Philosophy of Theater (in progress)
Advisor: Professor Caryl Emerson
Fields of Research: Russian theater and performance, theories of acting, Modernism,
the avant-garde, dramatic philosophy and philosophy of theater, aesthetics,
phenomenology, Russian philosophy.
M.A., Slavic Languages and Literatures
Brown University
A.B., Slavic Studies and Comparative Literature, with Honors
Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Honors Thesis: Play of (Non)existence in Sigizmund Krzhizhanovskys Mal mala menshe
Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU)
U.S. Fulbright Research Fellowship
Middlebury Schools Abroad

2013

2009

2009-2010
2007-2008

PUBLICATIONS

PEER-REVIEWED
Encounters : Krzhizhanovskys Theater of Fiction, The Slavic and East European Journal 56.4 (Winter 2012), 553576.
NON-PEER-REVIEWED
Conference Report, Conceptualizing the Human in Slavic and Eurasian Cultures (with Emily Wang), Russian Journal of
Communication 6.2 (2014), 210-211.
Mif o Moskve v proizvedeniakh Chekhova [The Moscow Myth in Chekhovs Works], Molodye issledovateli Chekhova [Young
Chekhov Researchers] Vol. 6 (2009), 140-145.
Review, Matiss by Aleksandr Ilichevski, World Literature Today 82.3 (May-June 2008).
Numerous journalistic articles in The Moscow Times (2010) and The Moscow News (2008).

ALISA BALLARD SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES ACBALLAR@PRINCETON.EDU

CONFERENCE ACTIVITY

CONFERENCES AND PANELS ORGANIZED
Bulgakov as Dramatist, Co-organizer
Symposium to accompany the Lewis Center for the Arts production of Mikhail Bulgakovs play
Zoyas Apartment, Princeton University

Nov. 2015

Philosophy and Literature: In Search of Lost Synergy , Co-organizer

Graduate Student Conference, Princeton University

Oct. 2015

Languages of Phenomenology: Semiotics, Acting, Communication in the Work of Shpet and Bakhtin
Organizer, Panel at American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages,
Vancouver, BC

Jan. 2015

Between Freedom and Decay: Vasilii Rozanovs Fallen Leaves, Organizer

Panel at Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Boston, MA

Nov. 2013

Conceptualizing the Human in Slavic and East European Culture, Co-organizer

Graduate Student Conference, Princeton University

Oct. 2013

PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Slavics Without Borders (New York-area Slavics graduate student colloquium), Princeton University
Krzhizhanovsky on Theater as Philosophy: Velocity, Changeability, and Humanness Onstage

Apr. 2015

Princeton-Columbia Graduate Student Conference, Princeton University

No Special Site or Building: Locations of Theater in Nikolai Evreinovs Theory of the
Theatrical Instinct

Apr. 2015

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Vancouver, BC

Jan. 2015
Actor as Metaphor in Krzhizhanovskys Fiction. Invited paper for presidential panel Translating
Krzhizhanovsky: Celebrating The Letter Killers Club and Autobiography of a Corpse
American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Vancouver, BC
Phenomenology of Character Creation in Shpets Theater as Art

Jan. 2015

Princeton-Columbia Graduate Student Conference, Columbia University

Gustav Shpets Philosophy of Actor-Centered Theater

Apr. 2014

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Chicago, IL

Shakespeare, Chekhov, and the Tragic Stage in Lev Shestovs Tragic Philosophy

Jan. 2014

Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Boston, MA

Vasilii Rozanovs Fallen Leaves and the Devilish Actor

Nov. 2013

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Boston, MA

Ethics in an Authored World: Considerations for the Ethics Question in Nabokovs Works

Jan. 2013

After the End of Music History, Princeton University

Krzhizhanovskys Philosophization of the Theater. Conference session on Krzhizhanovskys
Eugene Onegin

Feb. 2012

ALISA BALLARD SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES ACBALLAR@PRINCETON.EDU

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Pasadena, CA

Krzhizhanovsky and the Problem of Byt

Jan. 2011

Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Los Angeles, CA

Krzhizhanovskys Phantom As-If

Nov. 2010

International Chekhov Conference, Yalta, Ukraine

Mif o Moskve v proizvedeniiakh Chekhova [The Moscow Myth in Chekhovs Works]

Apr. 2008

PANEL DISCUSSANT/CHAIR
Chair, Language and Discourse in Later Soviet Culture Panel
American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Vancouver, BC

Jan. 2015

Discussant, Princeton Kruzhok colloquium paper by Prof. Stephen Kotkin, Princeton University

Mar. 2014

Discussant, Playwrights in Times of Turmoil Panel

Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Boston, MA

Nov. 2013

Discussant, Princeton Kruzhok colloquium paper by Prof. Jochen Hellbeck, Princeton University

Feb. 2012

TEACHING

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, NJ

Spring 2015
Special Topics in Performance Practice: Krzhizhanovsky and the Soviet Fantastic (THR 330)
Collaborated with Prof. Caryl Emerson on weekly syllabi design, co-led lectures and discussions, and gave feedback on the
students weekly performance work and final projects. Translated from Russian specially for the course over 100 pages of
Krzhizhanovskys drama and essays on theater, all of which otherwise would have been inaccessible to the students.
Spring 2014

Vladimir Nabokov (SLA 417)

Collaborated with Prof. Olga Peters Hasty on syllabus design, and led two weekly discussion sections. Responsible for lesson
planning, grading of papers and exams, and feedback on student work. Guest lectured on The Defense and on Pale Fire.

Fall 2013
Spring 2014

Beginning Russian I and II (RUS 101-102)

Taught three out of five class meetings per week. Responsible for all lesson planning, grading, and feedback on student work
for those class meetings. Designed and assessed final oral project.

Fall 2013
Present

Writing Fellow, Princeton University Writing Center

Met individually with undergraduates and graduate students from all disciplines to instruct them in academic writing and
offer feedback on their work. Have held nearly 200 conferences.

PEDAGOGICAL TRAINING
Slavic Pedagogy, Princeton University, Fall 2014
Graduate seminar with Visiting Professor Ben Rifkin, leading scholar in the field of Russian Second-Language Acquisition.

ALISA BALLARD SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES ACBALLAR@PRINCETON.EDU

STARTALK Institute for Teachers of Russian, Middlebury College, July 2014

Intensive two-week course in Russian Second-Language Acquisition with Professors Evgeny Dengub and Irina Dubinina. Guest taught
for the Middlebury Russian Language School.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS/SERVICE

Princeton-in-Petersburg Program Assistant
Summer 2015
Oversaw 13 Princeton undergraduates studying in St. Petersburg, Russia for the summer, including mentoring them,
tutoring them in using Russian outside the classroom, planning cultural excursions, and being on call in case of emergencies.
Independent Work Mentor, Princeton Writing Center
Fall 2014 Present
Planned and led workshops for Princeton juniors and seniors on various stages of writing long research projects.
Initiated and facilitated other programming to guide juniors and seniors in their independent work.
Dissertation Boot Camp Sergeant, Princeton Writing Program
Facilitated three week-long boot camps for dissertation writers.

2014 2015

Princeton-in-Petersburg Visas Coordinator

Spring 2014
Managed the extensive, time-sensitive process required to obtain Russian visas for the group of undergraduates studying
in St. Petersburg for the summer.
Graduate Student Representative (Liaison between students and faculty), Department of Slavic Languages 2012 2013
and Literatures, Princeton University
Co-organizer, Classics of Polish Cinema Film Series, Princeton University

Spring 2012

Co-organizer, Czech New Wave Film Series, Princeton University

Fall 2011

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Selected Participant, Mellon School for Theater and Performance Research, Harvard University
Selected Participant, STARTALK Institute for Teachers of Russian, Middlebury College
Princeton University Graduate Study Fellowship
U. S. Fulbright Research Fellowship
Departmental Honors in Slavic Studies, Brown University
Pushkin Prize for Honors Thesis, Brown University Slavic Department
Dobro Slovo (National Slavics Honors Society)
Phi Beta Kappa
Gabriella Mistral Prize for Spanish-language proficiency, Brown University

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
American Society for Theater Research
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

2014
2014
2010 2015
2009 2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2006

ALISA BALLARD SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES ACBALLAR@PRINCETON.EDU

LANGUAGES

English (native), Russian (fluent), Polish (proficient), German (proficient), Spanish (proficient)

OTHER SERVICE
Graduate Student Government Representative for Slavic Department, Princeton University

Aug. 2014 Present

Brown University Alumni Interviewer

2011 Present

Giving What We Can: Princeton (international effective altruism organization), Project Manager

2011 2013

Last updated June 28, 2015