People

Faculty
Graduate Faculty

Bożena Karwowska

Bożena Karwowska

Professor

bozena@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5956
location_onBuchanan Tower 920

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Holocaust Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Caroline Rieger

Caroline Rieger

Associate Professor

carolin@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5156
location_onBuchanan Tower 923

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it made Caroline Rieger a researcher and teacher. Born and raised in Luxembourg – a trilingual country – Caroline was curious about anything and everything related to languages from a very early age. This inquisitive fascination was a fruitful companion t...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - March 1, 2025

David Gramling

David Gramling

ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - March 1, 2025

They+

Professor

david.gramling@ubc.ca
phone604 802 7409
location_onBuchanan Tower 605

Regional Research Area

German Studies
David Gramling (they+) is author, editor, or translator of eight books in print: Literature in Late Monolingualism (Bloomsbury 2024); The Invention of Multilingualism (Cambridge University Press, 2021); The Invention of Monolingualism (Bloomsbury 2016, American Association for Applied Linguist...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025

Ervin Malakaj

Ervin Malakaj

ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025

Associate Professor

ervin.malakaj@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Dr. Malakaj specializes in late-18th- to 21st-century German media and cultural history. His research focuses on 19th-century literary cultures, film studies, queer studies, and humanities as well as language learning advocacy. Dr. Malakaj’s first book, Anders als die Andern (McGill-Queen’s...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Gaby Pailer

Gaby Pailer

Professor

pailer@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 4042
location_onBuchanan Tower 907

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Gaby Pailer joined UBC as Associate Professor of German Literature in 2001 leaving a grant-tenure position of Assistant Professor equivalent at the University of Karlsruhe (TH), Germany. She was promoted to Professor in 2010, served as Head of the Department of Central, Eastern and Northern Europea...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1 - December 31, 2024

Geoffrey Winthrop-Young

Geoffrey Winthrop-Young

ON LEAVE
July 1 - December 31, 2024

Professor

winthrop@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5155
location_onBuchanan Tower 919

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies
After graduating from UBC in 1991, Geoffrey Winthrop-Young taught at the Universities of Manitoba and Waterloo before returning to UBC in 1995, where he teaches in the German and Nordic sections of CENES. 1999/2000: Visiting Fellow, Institute for German Cultural Studies, Cornell University F...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Associate Professor | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Modern European Studies

iurascu@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 6489
location_onBuchanan Tower 926

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Affiliated Faculty, Bachelor of Media Studies. Ilinca Iuraşcu holds graduate degrees in Gender Studies from the Central European University and Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing her PhD at UPenn, she joined the Graduiertenkolleg Mediale Historiographien at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, where she had the chance to work on two of her favourite subjects: letters and early cinema....Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Katherine Bowers

Katherine Bowers

Associate Professor | CENES Department Head | Director, Centre for European Studies

katherine.bowers@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6431
location_onBuchanan Tower 917B

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Katherine Bowers is an expert in Russian literature and culture. Her research interests include genre, narrative, environmental humanities, imagined geography, and digital humanities. At UBC Dr Bowers directs the Centre for European Studies (2021-22, 2024-present) and is the lead and founder of th...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Digital Media Studies | Environmental Humanities | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Kyle Frackman

Kyle Frackman

he/him/his

Associate Professor

kyle.frackman@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5118

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies
Kyle Frackman is a 2023 recipient of the Killam Teaching Prize and a 2024 recipient of the Killam Accelerator Research Fellowship. Before joining the faculty at UBC in July 2012, Dr. Kyle Frackman (he/him) taught at institutions in the United States: the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Smith College, and Amherst College. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Dr. Frackman attended Hamline University, graduating with a major in German Studies. For 2001–2002, Dr. Frackman was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Hamburg, Germany....Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cinema and Media Studies | Cultural Studies | Digital Humanities | Disability Studies | Environmental Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Markus Hallensleben

Markus Hallensleben

Associate Professor

mhallen@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5140
location_onBuchanan Tower 922

Regional Research Area

Canada | Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern and Southeastern Europe | Eastern Europe | Europe | German Studies | Germany | North America | Peripheries of the Western World
Associate Faculty Member, UBC Centre for Migration Studies | Affiliated Faculty, Center for European Studies and Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice Although I was granted Canadian citizenship, I consider myself an uninvited visitor to the traditional territories and unced...Read more

Regional Research Area

Canada | Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern and Southeastern Europe | Eastern Europe | Europe | German Studies | Germany | North America | Peripheries of the Western World

Thematic Research Area

Anthropology | Colonialism | Contemporary social and cultural theory | Critical Race Studies And Black Studies | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Empire & Colonialism | Environmental Humanities | Gender Politics | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | History of the book | Holocaust Studies | Human Rights | Intercultural Communication | Jewish Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Migration Studies | Race | Race and Ethnicity studies | Race and Intersectionality Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Thomas Kemple

Thomas Kemple

Professor | CENES Associate Head | Director of Graduate Studies

kemple@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 2307
location_onBuchanan Tower 603

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe
Thomas Kemple is Professor of Classical Social Science and European Sociology in Central, Eastern & Northern European Studies (CENES). His recent books include Intellectual Work and the Spirit of Capitalism: Weber’s Calling (Palgrave, 2014), Simmel (Polity, 2020), and Marx’s Wager: Das Kapit...Read more

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Tim Frandy

Tim Frandy

Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Nordic

tim.frandy@ubc.ca
phone604 822 2169
location_onBuchanan Tower 901

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies
Tim Frandy is a Sámi- and Finnish-American born and raised on Anishinaabe Aki in northernmost Wisconsin on the south shore of Gitchi-Gami, Lake Superior, amidst the region’s thousands of lakes and deep forests of pine, birch, maple, and balsam. Growing up in close relation with the woods and wate...Read more

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Migration Studies
Full-time Faculty

Adelheid O'Brien

Adelheid O'Brien

Lecturer

aob25r@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5457
location_onBuchanan Tower 908

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Adelheid O’Brien is a 12-month lecturer in the department. She teaches in the German Language Program and is the coordinator of the German Reading Program. Her areas of specialization include second language acquisition and pedagogy, intercultural language learning and teaching, reading comprehens...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies

Ann-Kathrine Havemose

Ann-Kathrine Havemose

Danish Lecturer

annkathrine.havemose@ubc.ca
location_onBuchanan Tower 905

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies
Ann-Kathrine Havemose is the lecturer of Danish and Scandinavian studies. She is a native Danish speaker, and has an MA in comparative literature and general linguistics from Aarhus University, Denmark, while also having studied Celtic Civilization and Irish folklore at University College Cork, Irel...Read more

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies | Translation and Reception Studies

Biz Nijdam

Biz Nijdam

Assistant Professor of Teaching | Director of Undergraduate Studies, German

biz.nijdam@ubc.ca
phone604 827 6394
location_onBuchanan Tower 927

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she lives, works, and learns on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamis...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Comics Studies | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Migration Studies

Bożena Karwowska

Bożena Karwowska

Professor

bozena@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5956
location_onBuchanan Tower 920

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Holocaust Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Caroline Rieger

Caroline Rieger

Associate Professor

carolin@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5156
location_onBuchanan Tower 923

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it made Caroline Rieger a researcher and teacher. Born and raised in Luxembourg – a trilingual country – Caroline was curious about anything and everything related to languages from a very early age. This inquisitive fascination was a fruitful companion t...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
2024W Term 1

Daniela Hempen

Daniela Hempen

ON LEAVE
2024W Term 1

Lecturer

hempen@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5133
location_onBuchanan Tower 904

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Daniela Hempen received an M.A. in German and Scandinavian languages and literatures from Eberhard-Karls Universität in Tübingen, Germany, in 1991. In September of that same year, Daniela relocated to Vancouver, Canada, to pursue doctoral studies in the Department of Germanic Studies at the Univer...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies
ON LEAVE
September 1 - December 31, 2024

Dariya McEwen

Dariya McEwen

ON LEAVE
September 1 - December 31, 2024

Lecturer of Russian

dariyap@mail.ubc.ca
location_onBuchanan Tower 902

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Dariya (Dasha) McEwen has been with CENES since 2005, and teaches Russian language, culture and literature courses. Dasha has Masters degrees in Russian Language and Literature (LSU, Ukraine) and Liberal Studies (SFU, Canada).  Her current PhD project’s interests include the symbolic role of ...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Literature Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - March 1, 2025

David Gramling

David Gramling

ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - March 1, 2025

They+

Professor

david.gramling@ubc.ca
phone604 802 7409
location_onBuchanan Tower 605

Regional Research Area

German Studies
David Gramling (they+) is author, editor, or translator of eight books in print: Literature in Late Monolingualism (Bloomsbury 2024); The Invention of Multilingualism (Cambridge University Press, 2021); The Invention of Monolingualism (Bloomsbury 2016, American Association for Applied Linguist...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025

Ervin Malakaj

Ervin Malakaj

ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025

Associate Professor

ervin.malakaj@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Dr. Malakaj specializes in late-18th- to 21st-century German media and cultural history. His research focuses on 19th-century literary cultures, film studies, queer studies, and humanities as well as language learning advocacy. Dr. Malakaj’s first book, Anders als die Andern (McGill-Queen’s...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Florian Gassner

Florian Gassner

Associate Professor of Teaching

florian.gassner@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5165
location_onBuchanan Tower 918

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Florian is a Fellow of the New Europe College in Bucharest and he has represented the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the Donetsk National University. He has also taught at Mount Allison University, and he joined the University of Kassel as a guest professor in 2016/17. His areas of speci...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Literature Studies

Gaby Pailer

Gaby Pailer

Professor

pailer@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 4042
location_onBuchanan Tower 907

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Gaby Pailer joined UBC as Associate Professor of German Literature in 2001 leaving a grant-tenure position of Assistant Professor equivalent at the University of Karlsruhe (TH), Germany. She was promoted to Professor in 2010, served as Head of the Department of Central, Eastern and Northern Europea...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies | Translation and Reception Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1 - December 31, 2024

Geoffrey Winthrop-Young

Geoffrey Winthrop-Young

ON LEAVE
July 1 - December 31, 2024

Professor

winthrop@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5155
location_onBuchanan Tower 919

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies
After graduating from UBC in 1991, Geoffrey Winthrop-Young taught at the Universities of Manitoba and Waterloo before returning to UBC in 1995, where he teaches in the German and Nordic sections of CENES. 1999/2000: Visiting Fellow, Institute for German Cultural Studies, Cornell University F...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Associate Professor | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Modern European Studies

iurascu@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 6489
location_onBuchanan Tower 926

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Affiliated Faculty, Bachelor of Media Studies. Ilinca Iuraşcu holds graduate degrees in Gender Studies from the Central European University and Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing her PhD at UPenn, she joined the Graduiertenkolleg Mediale Historiographien at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, where she had the chance to work on two of her favourite subjects: letters and early cinema....Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Jason Lieblang

Jason Lieblang

Associate Professor of Teaching | Director of First-Year and Interdisciplinary Programs for Arts

Jason.Lieblang@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5154
location_onBuchanan Tower 906

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Dr. Jason Lieblang holds a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Toronto and teaches across the German Studies undergraduate curriculum in CENES. His interests include curriculum design; emerging technologies in foreign language learning; translation; teaching with and abo...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Comics Studies | Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies | Translation and Reception Studies

Katherine Bowers

Katherine Bowers

Associate Professor | CENES Department Head | Director, Centre for European Studies

katherine.bowers@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6431
location_onBuchanan Tower 917B

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Katherine Bowers is an expert in Russian literature and culture. Her research interests include genre, narrative, environmental humanities, imagined geography, and digital humanities. At UBC Dr Bowers directs the Centre for European Studies (2021-22, 2024-present) and is the lead and founder of th...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Digital Media Studies | Environmental Humanities | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Kyle Frackman

Kyle Frackman

he/him/his

Associate Professor

kyle.frackman@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5118

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies
Kyle Frackman is a 2023 recipient of the Killam Teaching Prize and a 2024 recipient of the Killam Accelerator Research Fellowship. Before joining the faculty at UBC in July 2012, Dr. Kyle Frackman (he/him) taught at institutions in the United States: the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Smith College, and Amherst College. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Dr. Frackman attended Hamline University, graduating with a major in German Studies. For 2001–2002, Dr. Frackman was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Hamburg, Germany....Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cinema and Media Studies | Cultural Studies | Digital Humanities | Disability Studies | Environmental Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Lena Karlström

Lena Karlström

Swedish Lecturer

lenak@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5119
location_onBuchanan Tower 921

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies
Lena Karlström came to the department in 1993, leaving Stockholm where she combined teaching with freelance travel journalism. She teaches the Swedish language courses and Scandinavian literature courses, for example Scandinavian Crime Fiction (SCAN 336), Scandinavian Cinema (SCAN 337) and Scandina...Read more

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Markus Hallensleben

Markus Hallensleben

Associate Professor

mhallen@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5140
location_onBuchanan Tower 922

Regional Research Area

Canada | Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern and Southeastern Europe | Eastern Europe | Europe | German Studies | Germany | North America | Peripheries of the Western World
Associate Faculty Member, UBC Centre for Migration Studies | Affiliated Faculty, Center for European Studies and Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice Although I was granted Canadian citizenship, I consider myself an uninvited visitor to the traditional territories and unced...Read more

Regional Research Area

Canada | Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern and Southeastern Europe | Eastern Europe | Europe | German Studies | Germany | North America | Peripheries of the Western World

Thematic Research Area

Anthropology | Colonialism | Contemporary social and cultural theory | Critical Race Studies And Black Studies | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Empire & Colonialism | Environmental Humanities | Gender Politics | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | History of the book | Holocaust Studies | Human Rights | Intercultural Communication | Jewish Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Migration Studies | Race | Race and Ethnicity studies | Race and Intersectionality Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Olena Morozova

Olena Morozova

Assistant Professor of Ukrainian Studies | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Slavic

olena.morozova@ubc.ca
phone604 827 3546
location_onBuchanan Tower 605

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies | Ukrainian Studies
Dr Morozova's current research is aimed at improving the understanding of how language is used in macro-social contexts, in particular, discourses of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine; how the gap between the cognitive and linguistic aspects can be narrowed so as to put language into a more useful dialogue with linguistic cultural practices, such as language teaching....Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies | Ukrainian Studies

Thematic Research Area

Linguistics

Thomas Kemple

Thomas Kemple

Professor | CENES Associate Head | Director of Graduate Studies

kemple@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 2307
location_onBuchanan Tower 603

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe
Thomas Kemple is Professor of Classical Social Science and European Sociology in Central, Eastern & Northern European Studies (CENES). His recent books include Intellectual Work and the Spirit of Capitalism: Weber’s Calling (Palgrave, 2014), Simmel (Polity, 2020), and Marx’s Wager: Das Kapit...Read more

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Tim Frandy

Tim Frandy

Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Nordic

tim.frandy@ubc.ca
phone604 822 2169
location_onBuchanan Tower 901

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies
Tim Frandy is a Sámi- and Finnish-American born and raised on Anishinaabe Aki in northernmost Wisconsin on the south shore of Gitchi-Gami, Lake Superior, amidst the region’s thousands of lakes and deep forests of pine, birch, maple, and balsam. Growing up in close relation with the woods and wate...Read more

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Migration Studies
ON LEAVE
September 1 - December 31, 2024

Uma Kumar

Uma Kumar

ON LEAVE
September 1 - December 31, 2024

Lecturer

uma.kumar@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6329
location_onBuchanan Tower 928

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Uma Kumar moved to Vancouver from India in 2003 and has been teaching with CENES since 2007. She holds a PhD in German Studies, a Master's in German Studies and a Master's in English Literature from the University of Bombay, India. Uma spent six years at the University of Vienna, doing research on A...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Holocaust Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies

Veta Chitnev

Veta Chitnev

Lecturer of Russian | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Russian

vchitnev@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 5541
location_onBuchanan Tower 903

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Dr. Veta Chitnev has been teaching with CENES since 2008. She teaches Russian language and culture courses and coordinates all sections of Russian language courses. Veta is also responsible for student placement tests and Russian proficiency examinations. Her areas of specialization are teachi...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies
Sessional Lecturers

Ania Switzer

Ania Switzer

Sessional Lecturer

Ania.Switzer@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Ania Switzer is not employed as a Sessional Lecturer in the CENES Department for 2024 - 2025. Ania Switzer was born in Upper Silesia, at that time in communist Poland. She received education at universities in Poland and United Kingdom. Ania worked at Jagiellonian University in Poland, Leo Baeck ...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Holocaust Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies

Igor Maslennikov

Igor Maslennikov

Sessional Lecturer (CS)

igmas123@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5457
location_onBuchanan Tower 908

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Igor Maslennikov studied at the Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus and at the Karl-Marx University in Leipzig, Germany. He also completed an internship program of the Carl Duisberg Society in Cologne, Germany. Since 2006 Igor has been an instructor within CENES and with UBC Continuing Stu...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies

Itamar Manoff

Itamar Manoff

he/him

Sessional Lecturer

itamar.manoff@ubc.ca
phone604 827 6341
location_onBuchanan Tower 1001

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe
Itamar is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC, where he focuses ethical and existential dimensions of adult language learning, and in particular the educational significance of the experience of error. Itamar is co-executive director of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewis...Read more

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Thematic Research Area

Applied Linguistics | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies

Liudmila Rodova

Liudmila Rodova

Sessional Lecturer

liudmila.rodova@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Language and Literacy Studies

Sara Pashan

Sara Pashan

Sessional Lecturer (CS)

sara.pashan@ubc.ca
phone604 827 6341
location_onBuchanan Tower 1001

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Sara Pashan has studied German and Psychology at the University of British Columbia and did a semester abroad at the Freie Universität Berlin during her time as a Graduate Student here in CENES. Sara is also a certified English language instructor and completed her CELTA (Certificate in Teaching En...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Migration Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Steve Commichau

Steve Commichau

PhD Candidate

commist@student.ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Steve Commichau is a PhD student in Germanic Studies. His MA thesis at the Freie Universität Berlin focused on the structural codification of hero and monster.

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies
Advisors

Biz Nijdam

Biz Nijdam

Assistant Professor of Teaching | Director of Undergraduate Studies, German

biz.nijdam@ubc.ca
phone604 827 6394
location_onBuchanan Tower 927

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she lives, works, and learns on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamis...Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Comics Studies | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Migration Studies

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Ilinca Iuraşcu

Associate Professor | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Modern European Studies

iurascu@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 6489
location_onBuchanan Tower 926

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Affiliated Faculty, Bachelor of Media Studies. Ilinca Iuraşcu holds graduate degrees in Gender Studies from the Central European University and Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing her PhD at UPenn, she joined the Graduiertenkolleg Mediale Historiographien at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, where she had the chance to work on two of her favourite subjects: letters and early cinema....Read more

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Language and Literacy Studies | Literature Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies | Theatre, Film and Performance Studies

Olena Morozova

Olena Morozova

Assistant Professor of Ukrainian Studies | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Slavic

olena.morozova@ubc.ca
phone604 827 3546
location_onBuchanan Tower 605

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies | Ukrainian Studies
Dr Morozova's current research is aimed at improving the understanding of how language is used in macro-social contexts, in particular, discourses of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine; how the gap between the cognitive and linguistic aspects can be narrowed so as to put language into a more useful dialogue with linguistic cultural practices, such as language teaching....Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies | Ukrainian Studies

Thematic Research Area

Linguistics

Thomas Kemple

Thomas Kemple

Professor | CENES Associate Head | Director of Graduate Studies

kemple@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 2307
location_onBuchanan Tower 603

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe
Thomas Kemple is Professor of Classical Social Science and European Sociology in Central, Eastern & Northern European Studies (CENES). His recent books include Intellectual Work and the Spirit of Capitalism: Weber’s Calling (Palgrave, 2014), Simmel (Polity, 2020), and Marx’s Wager: Das Kapit...Read more

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Europe

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Media Studies | Science and Technology Studies

Tim Frandy

Tim Frandy

Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Nordic

tim.frandy@ubc.ca
phone604 822 2169
location_onBuchanan Tower 901

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies
Tim Frandy is a Sámi- and Finnish-American born and raised on Anishinaabe Aki in northernmost Wisconsin on the south shore of Gitchi-Gami, Lake Superior, amidst the region’s thousands of lakes and deep forests of pine, birch, maple, and balsam. Growing up in close relation with the woods and wate...Read more

Regional Research Area

Nordic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Ecology | Cultural Studies | Decolonial Approaches | Digital Humanities | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Migration Studies

Veta Chitnev

Veta Chitnev

Lecturer of Russian | Director of Undergraduate Studies, Russian

vchitnev@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 5541
location_onBuchanan Tower 903

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies
Dr. Veta Chitnev has been teaching with CENES since 2008. She teaches Russian language and culture courses and coordinates all sections of Russian language courses. Veta is also responsible for student placement tests and Russian proficiency examinations. Her areas of specialization are teachi...Read more

Regional Research Area

Slavic Studies

Thematic Research Area

Intercultural Communication | Language and Literacy Studies
Affiliates

Alex Alisauskas

Alex Alisauskas

Humanities & Social Sciences Librarian (Maps/Geospatial Data)

alexandra.alisauskas@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Regional Research Area

German Studies | Nordic Studies

Alexei Kojevnikov

Alexei Kojevnikov

Faculty Affiliate, Professor, Department of History

a.nikov@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Asia | Europe

Regional Research Area

Asia | Europe

Thematic Research Area

Soviet and Russian and Eurasian History

Alexia Bloch

Alexia Bloch

Faculty Affiliate, Professor and Head, Department of Anthropology

abloch@mail.ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Russia | Siberia

Regional Research Area

Russia | Siberia

Thematic Research Area

Anthropology of Gender | Migration Studies

Ayasha Guerin

Ayasha Guerin

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Professor, Department of English

ayasha.guerin@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Critical Race Studies And Black Studies | Environmental Humanities

Benjamin Bryce

Benjamin Bryce

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Professor, Department of History

ben.bryce@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Germany | Latin America

Regional Research Area

Germany | Latin America

Thematic Research Area

Migration Studies | Race and Ethnicity studies

Dennis Britton

Dennis Britton

dbritt01@mail.ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Britain | Ethiopia

Regional Research Area

Britain | Ethiopia

Thematic Research Area

Protestant Theology | Race | Theatre

Eagle Glassheim

Eagle Glassheim

Faculty Affiliate, Professor of History

eagle.g@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Thematic Research Area

Environmental History

Erica Frank

Erica Frank

Professor | University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine

erica.frank@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Europe | Germany
Erica Frank, MD, MPH, FACPM is an Affiliate Professor at UBC in German Studies and a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health, and the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Frank’s research primarily examines globally-scaled education interventions (especially in healthcare, public ...Read more

Regional Research Area

Europe | Germany

Thematic Research Area

Democratization Studies | Exile Reintegration | Holocaust Studies | Intervention Research | Public Health

Erik Kwakkel

Erik Kwakkel

Faculty Affiliate, Professor and Director, UBC School of Information

erik.kwakkel@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Europe

Regional Research Area

Europe

Thematic Research Area

Digital Humanities | History of the book

Eugene Barsky

Eugene Barsky

Research Data Management Librarian

eugene.barsky@ubc.ca

Thematic Research Area

Research Data Management

Gregg Gardner

Gregg Gardner

Associate Professor and the Diamond Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics, AMNE

gregg.gardner@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern

Regional Research Area

Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern

Thematic Research Area

Jewish Studies

Heidi Tworek

Heidi Tworek

Faculty Affiliate, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor

heidi.tworek@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Europe | North America

Regional Research Area

Europe | North America

Thematic Research Area

History and Policy of Health Communications

Igor Drljaca

Igor Drljaca

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film

idrljaca@mail.ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Eastern and Southeastern Europe
Igor Drljaca is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia. He completed his Master’s in Film Production at York University in 2011. He is the recipient of the Ontario Art Council’s K.M. Hunter artist award for media arts in 2014. His wo...Read more

Regional Research Area

Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Thematic Research Area

Film Production

Laurie Prange

Laurie Prange

Professor, School of Business Capilano University

Regional Research Area

Circumpolar North | Nordic Studies | Scandinavian Studies

Regional Research Area

Circumpolar North | Nordic Studies | Scandinavian Studies

Thematic Research Area

Business Studies | Management Studies | Nordic Model

Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom

Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom

Faculty Affiliate, Professor of Political Science

lisa.sundstrom@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Russia & the former Soviet Union

Regional Research Area

Russia & the former Soviet Union

Thematic Research Area

Democratization | Gender Politics

Rabbi Kylynn Cohen

Rabbi Kylynn Cohen

Senior Jewish Educator, Hillel BC

kylynn@hillelbc.com

Regional Research Area

Israel | North America

Regional Research Area

Israel | North America

Thematic Research Area

Jewish Studies

Ross King

Ross King

Faculty Affiliate, Professor, Korean Language and Literature

ross.king@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Korean Studies

Regional Research Area

Korean Studies

Thematic Research Area

History of Korean linguistics | Korean dialectology | Korean language pedagogy

Sara Knutson

Sara Knutson

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of History

sa.knutson@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Africa & the Middle East | Asia | Europe

Regional Research Area

Africa & the Middle East | Asia | Europe

Thematic Research Area

Economic History | Empire & Colonialism

Sergey Kravchenko

Sergey Kravchenko

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Prof., Dept. of Materials Engineering

sergey.kravchenko@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Eastern Europe

Regional Research Area

Eastern Europe

Thematic Research Area

Polymer-based Composites for a Sustainable Mobility

Stephen Guy-Bray, F.R.S.C.

Stephen Guy-Bray, F.R.S.C.

Professor

Stephen.Guy-Bray@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Thematic Research Area

Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies

Susan Atkey

Susan Atkey

Reference Librarian | Humanities & Social Sciences Division

susan.atkey@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern Europe

Regional Research Area

Central and Eastern Europe | Eastern Europe

Tijana Vujosevic

Tijana Vujosevic

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Prof., School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture

tijana.vujosevic@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Peripheries of the Western World

Regional Research Area

Peripheries of the Western World

Thematic Research Area

Architectural History and Theory

William Brown

William Brown

Faculty Affiliate, Assistant Professor of Film

William.Brown@ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

Europe

Regional Research Area

Europe

Thematic Research Area

Cinema and Media Studies | Digital Media Studies
PhD Student

Steve Commichau

Steve Commichau

PhD Candidate

commist@student.ubc.ca

Regional Research Area

German Studies
Steve Commichau is a PhD student in Germanic Studies. His MA thesis at the Freie Universität Berlin focused on the structural codification of hero and monster.

Regional Research Area

German Studies

Thematic Research Area

Cultural Studies | Gender, Queer, and Intersectionality Studies | Literature Studies
Postdoctoral Researcher

Babak Amini

Babak Amini

He/Him

babak.amini@ubc.ca
Babak Amini is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on the impact of the First World War on the foundational development of the social sciences....Read more