Andrew Kaufman, PhD, is currently a Visiting Lecturer in the
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of
Virginia. He holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from
Stanford University, and he has recognized success as both a
published scholar and an innovative, award-winning teacher of
Russian language, literature, and culture at some of the
country's top universities. Dr. Kaufman has worked as a
Russian language and literature expert for "Oprah's
Book Club," he has discussed Russian literature and culture
on the national television show Democracy Now!, and he has
been heard as a featured guest on Talk America Radio and on Silver
Rain Radio in Russia. A fluent speaker of Russian, Dr. Kaufman has
lived extensively in Russia, where he studied at Moscow State
University and also worked as an interpreter, translator, and
management consultant. To learn more about Dr. Kaufman, please
visit his website at www.professorandy.com.

Serafima Gettys, PhD, earned her doctorate degree in
Foreign Language Education from Gertzen State Pedagogical
University, Leningrad, USSR. She is currently a Coordinator of the
Foreign Language Program at Lewis University, where she also
teaches Russian. Prior to coming to Lewis University, she taught
Russian at Stanford University. Gettys is also a member of a number
of professional language associations.

Nina Wieda is a doctoral student in Slavic Languages and
Literatures at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is committed
to bringing Russian language and culture into the lives of her
readers and students, because, as the Latin proverb goes,
"With each new language, you live a new life." A
trained linguist with an MA in Social Sciences, Nina also has a
book of poetry published in Russian, and a number of scholarly
articles on Chekhov and contemporary drama published in
English.