Cheryl A. Stephenson
Visiting Lecturer in Russian
About
Cheryl Stephenson received her PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago in 2018. Her work focuses on the ways ideas about belonging, identity, and nation circulate and transform through popular and amateur cultural forms including community-based art and theater, popular and DIY periodicals, clubs and organizations in Central and Eastern Europe.
At Bates, she teaches Russian language courses from the beginning through the advanced levels and European Studies courses (taught in English) focused on exploring the diverse range of cultures, experiences, ideas, and voices in 20th and 21st century Central and Eastern Europe.
Expertise
Current Courses
Short Term 2026
Puppets: Theory, Practice, and Play
This interdisciplinary course examines the questions, concepts, and potential surrounding puppets through a combination of hands-on work and play with puppets, discussion, readings, and viewings of puppet performances. Readings and other materials offer perspectives on what puppets are, how they int…
Fall Semester 2026
Pioneers, Punks, and Protestors: East European Youth Culture
What did life look like for young people in communist Eastern Europe? How did their lives change when communist regimes collapsed? What kinds of hopes and fears were young people expressing through all of these changes? This course explores youth culture in Eastern Europe from the early twentieth ce…
Elementary Russian I
This course, offered in the fall semester as part of a yearlong sequence, introduces students to Russian language and culture with an emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students also engage with contemporary Russian culture and everyday life through a variety of authentic texts i…