Evgeny Dengub, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D., Bryn Mawr College, 2012
Dissertation: “Investigating Syntactic and Lexical Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency in the Writing of Heritage Speakers of Russian.”

M.A., Second Language Acquisition and Russian, Bryn Mawr College, 2007

M.A./B.A., Teaching English and French as Foreign Languages, Khabarovsk State Pedagogical University, 2002

Academic & leadership positions

Director, Center for Languages and Cultures, USC · 2021–present

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, USC · 2022–present

Professor (Teaching) of Russian and Director of the Basic Language Program, USC · 2021–present

Associate Director for Language Programs, Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian, Middlebury College · 2021–2024

Program Director, NSA STARTALK Summer Institute · 2013–2024

Selected publications

2025. “Beyond Grades: A Humanistic Approach to Russian Language Learning through Ungrading.” Assessment of Russian as a Foreign Language: Unlocking Proficiency. Routledge.

2025. “Cultivating Expertise: Language Centers as Catalysts for Professional Development.” Language Center Handbook 2025. IALLT.

2021. Merrill, J., Dengub, E., & Pastushenkov, D. “Learner Performance in Online and Face-to-Face Russian Immersion Programs: A Comparison.” Russian Language Journal, 7.2.

2020. Dengub, E., Dubinina, I., & Merrill, J. (eds.). The Art of Teaching Russian. Georgetown University Press.

2017. Rifkin, B., Dengub, E., & Nazarova, S. Panorama: Intermediate Russian Language Textbook. Georgetown University Press.

2021. Dengub, E., & Nazarova, S. Etazhi: 2nd Year Russian Language and Culture. Georgetown University Press.

Recent invited talks & workshops

2025 · Feedback & Ungrading · Harvard University

2025 · Imagine. Inspire. Engage: Creative Teaching Strategies for Language Educators · Stanford University

2024 · Meaning-Making in Today’s Language Classroom · Stanford University

2024 · Humanistic Teaching and Learning through Ungrading · Middlebury College

2023 · Artificial Intelligence Tools in Language Education · University of Southern California

2023 · Rehumanizing the Humanities: Ungrading in the Russian Language Classroom · ACTR

Awards & grants

AATSEEL Best Contribution to Slavic Linguistics or Second Language Acquisition · The Art of Teaching Russian · 2023

AATSEEL Best Contribution to Language Pedagogy · Etazhi · 2022

ACTR Distinguished Service Award · 2022

MLA Kenneth W. Mildenberger Honorable Mention · The Art of Teaching Russian · 2019–2020

CALICO Access to Language Education Award · teachrussian.org · 2014

NSA STARTALK grants as Principal Investigator / Program Director · 2013–2024 · $770K+ total

Professional service

Jury Member, AATSEEL Linguistics/SLA and Pedagogy Book Prize · 2025–2027

ACTR Teaching Excellence Award and Olga Kagan Professional Development Fund selection committees · 2022–present

Creator & Director, Foreign Language Teaching Podcast · 2018–present

Board of Directors, ACTR · 2015–2021

Languages

Russian (native) · English (near-native) · French (intermediate)