Radha Balasubramanian

Radha Balasubramanian, Emerita Professor of Russian (PhD, Indiana University). She received her Ph.D. in Russian Literature from Indiana University. She has published two books: one on Korolenko's short fiction, “The Poetics of Korolenko’s Fiction,” and another on “The Influence of India on Tolstoy and Tolstoy’s Influence on India,” as well as many other articles on literature. She is collaborating with the Tolstoy group in the Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia in bringing out the 100 volume of Complete Collected works of Tolstoy. Her area of expertise is India and Tolstoy for this series. She frequently contributes articles to Yaroslavl State University journal on teaching Russian as a foreign language to an American audience.

She received the "Distinguished Teaching Award" from the College of Arts and Sciences in the year 2004. In recognition of her Leadership and Outstanding Service to International Students, the Nebraska Alumni Association and International Affairs presented the "Dermot Coyne Award for Exemplary Service" to her in 2003.

Publications

• Books
  
  • The Influence of India on Leo Tolstoy and Tolstoy's Influence on India: A Study of Reciprocal Receptions, The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York, 2013.
    
    
    Description
    

    Tolstoy's fictional works reflect a connection with Indian religious texts even before he had actually read them. His quest to read and assimilate ancient Hindu writing earned Tolstoy great respect- even reverence – from Gandhi and other Indian intellectuals such that Tolstoy took his place as a pre-eminent writer, thinker, and sage in India. Yet, much remained unexplored in regard to Tolstoy's relationship with India and this book addresses the gaps in that research.

    
    Reviews
    

    "Her monograph is a significant contribution to Tolstoy-India scholarship. It reflects, in a way that is unprecedented, the very special place that India with its religions, philosophies, and epic tradition occupies in Tolstoy’s spiritual universe."

  
  
  
  • The Poetics of Korolenko's Fiction, printed by Peter Lang, Inc., New York, 1997.
    
    
    Description
    

    Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (1853-1921) reigned high in popularity in the pre-revolutionary Russian as a writer of short fiction until his contemporary, Anton Checkhov, out-ranked him in the 1880s. This study examines Korolenko's fiction and highlights his contribution to short story writing. His talents synchronized descriptions of nature, landscape and surroundings with mood and action. He uncovered the guiding moral strength in heroes, notwithstanding their social standing. Although Korolenko continued classic Russian literary traditions, he was an original thinker motivated to write by his own compassion and search for justice for those who were defenseless.

• Articles Published/To Be Published
  • Inherently Russian and Inherently Roman: Tolstoy's Miniature Masterpiece "Alyosha the Pot" (Co-authored) in the online European Studies Conference Proceedings 2011, Peer-reviewed. June 2012.
  • "Tolstoy's Characterization technique: A Fresh look at through Hindu Philosophy" Building Bridges Between India and Russia A Festschrift for Professor J. P. Dimri, Kolkata: Power Publishers, Peer-reviewed. Aug. 2012, pp.95-105.
  • "Leo Tolstoy from 1901-2010 in Two Leading English-Language Newspapers in India" Tolstoy's Studies Journal Vol XXIII, (2011): 61-68. Peer-reviewed. (published in 2012).
  • "Tolstoy and Buddhism" Lev Tolstoy als Theologischer Denker und Kirchenkritiker (April, 2012) in German. (peer reviewed). 7 pages in German. Peer-reviewed. To be published in 2012 (Awaiting confirmation from the editor).
  • "Parallels Between Tolstoy's Life, Writing and Hindu Philosophical Thought." "Fragmentos" (2012: Revista de Língua e Literatura Estrangeiras da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina), pp. 93-105. Type-set and ready (peer-reviewed). Delay in publication, so may be in 2013.
  • "Forward" for Leo Tolstoy by Daniel Moulin. Continuum Library of Educational Research, Oxford: Jan. 2011. 3 pages.
  • "Anna Karenina, Anna Kareena, or Gospozha Kartyaini?: Translation and Adaptation of the novel into Tamil Language" Tolstoi i o Tolstom. M: IMLI RAN, 2010. (Prestigious publication in Russian)
  • "Толстой и индийское философское мышление," ("Tolstoy and Indian Philosophical Thought"), Tolstoy and World Literature, Yasnaya Poliana, 2008, No. 5, pp. 297-306.
  • "Знакомство с pусской культурой через преподавание русского языка в Университете Небраски" Радха Баласубраманиан и Наташа Денис, Университет Небраски. March 2007. ("Acquainting the students with Russian Culture through Russian Language at the University of Nebraska", Teaching of Foreign Languages and Cultures as a Means of integration, Yaroslavl: 2007, pp. 16-19.
  • "Yaroslavl-Nebraska Telebridges" Radha Balasubramanian, University of Nebraska Lincoln and N.M. Gubina, Yaroslavl State University P.D. Demidov, Teaching of Foreign Languages and Cultures as a Means of integration 2007, pp 82-89.
  • "Introduction to Viktoria Tokareva's Life and Works" with Lyubov Popov, 2005 Studies Conference Selected Proceedings, European Studies Conference, http://www.unomaha.edu/esc/2005Proceedings/Intro_to_Tokareva.pdf Published in Aug. 2006, pages 13.
  • "Russian Through Fiber Optics" This was presented in Yaroslavl State University, Russia in Russian on Nov 05 and published in Russian in their university journal "The Immediate Problems in the Preparation of Specialists in the University," Yaroslavl: 2005, 2: 70-74. In Russian
  • "V.G. Korolenko" Russian Literature in the age of Realism in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, 277, 2003, 165-179
  • "Reading Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita from the Perspective of Hinduism." International Fiction Review. 28 (2001).
  • "Is the Core Rotten: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina." Russian Philology 17-18 (1998-99), 1-8. (Published in 2000-unrefreed).
  • "A Reexamination of the Master and Margarita," Program of the 1998 Annual Meeting of AATSEEL, 1998, 265-266. (Abstract)
  • "Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko 1853-1921," Reference Guide to Russian Literature, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers,1998, 465-466.
  • "Korolenko and Chekhov," Midlands conference on Language and Literature, 1995, VIII, 6-9 (came out in 1996).
  • "The Similarities Between Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita and Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses" International Fiction Review. 22 (1995) nos. 1-2, 37-46.
  • "Spatial Forms and Character Revelations: Korolenko's Siberian Stories" Canadian Slavonic Papers, 35 (1993) Nos. 3-4, 249-260 (This was published in 1994).
  • "Wordsworth's 'Phantom of Delight' Transits into Russian Poetry" Russian Philology 13 (1994), 49-63.
  • "Russian Language Programs in the U. S. Universities" Russian Philology 13 (1994), 121-122. (Report conducted and presented on request by the editor).
  • "Harmonious Compositions: Korolenko's Siberian Stories," Rocky Mountain Review 44 (1990) No. 4, 201-210.
  • "The Final Destination," Journal of the Department of Modern Languages, III, No. 1-2 (1987), 28-33. (On F. Sologub's short story: "Death by Announcement").
  • "Fathers and Sons in Don Tales," Journal of Russian Studies, VII (1986), 9-14.
  • "Eastern Wisdom in Korolenko," Russian Philology, IV (1985), 20-35.
  • "Time in Crime and Punishment," Indian Journal of Russian Language, Literature and Culture, 1:2 (1984), 48-58.
  • "Obuchenie grammatike russkogo iazyka studentov, govoriashchikh na tamil'skom iazyke" Voprosy prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v nejazykovoi srede, v chasnosti v Indii," 1976, 18-24. ("Teaching Russian Grammar to Tamil Students" published in "Questions on Teaching the Russian Language in a non-Russian Environment, Specifically in India").
• Reviews Published/Accepted
  • Review of Poverty of the Imagination by Herman Slavic and East European Journal (46.3) in Spring 2003, 592-593.
  • Review of Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman in by Andrew Kahn Slavic and East European Journal (45.1) in Spring 2002.
  • Review of Understanding Chekhov. A Critical Study of Chekhov's Prose and Drama by Donald Rayfield in Canadian Slavonic Papers, vol. 42, no. 4 (December 2000), pp. 578-80.
  • Review of The Classic Russian Novel ed. Malcom Jones and Robin Feuer-Miller published in Russian Review 58 (1999) no. 3.
  • Review of Notes from the Underground by Richard Peace published in Slavic and East European Journal 39 (1995) No. 3, 446-447.
  • Review of "Irony in the 70s in Russia" by A. Vishevsky published in Slavic and East European Journal 38 (1994) No. 4, 696-697.
  • Review of "The Early Fiction of Maksim Gorky" by Andrew Barratt published in Slavic and East European Journal 38 (1994) No. 1, 176-77.
  • Review of "A Semiotic Analysis of the Short Stories of Leonid Andreev 1900-1910," by Stephen Hutchins in Slavic and East European Journal 37, No. 2, (1993), 249-251.

Papers in Panels/Chair of Panels

• European Studies Conference, UNO, 2012 Read a paper with Kelsey McIntyre. Dickens influences on Dostoevsky's character portrayal in Crime and Punishment, Oct. 2012.
• European Studies Conference, UNO, 2011: Read a paper on "Inherently Russian and Inherently Roman: Tolstoy's Miniature Masterpiece Alyosha the Pot"
• Radha Balasubramanian and Thomas Winter, UNL, October 2011.
• European Studies Conference, UNO, 2009: Read a paper on "Tolstoy and Buddhism" October 2009.
• Анна Каренина, Анна Карина, или Госпожа Картяини? Переводы романа Толстого на тамилчский язык. (Anna Karenina, Anna Kareena, or Gospozha Kartyaini?: Translation and Adaptation of the novel into Tamil Language). I presented this paper in Russian at the "Tolstoy and World Literature" conference in Yasnaya Poliana, Russia in Aug 2008.
• Толстой и индийское философское мышление, ("Tolstoy and Indian Philosophical Thought"). I presented this paper in Russian at the "Tolstoy and World Literature" conference in Yasnaya Poliana, Russia in Aug 2007.
• "Знакомство с pусской культурой через преподавание русского языка в Университете Небраски" Радха Баласубраманиан и Наташа Денис, Университет Небраски. March 2007. ("Acquainting the students with Russian Culture through Russian Language at the University of Nebraska", "Yaroslavl-Nebraska Telebridges" Radha Balasubramanian, University of Nebraska Lincoln and N.M. Gubina. These were presented at Yaroslavl State University, Russia in March 2007 (Unfortunately, because of my teaching schedule I did not go, but my colleagues read them for me)
• Обучение русскому языку с помощью высокоскоростного видеосоединения ("Russian Through Fiber Optics"). This was presented in Yaroslavl State University, Russia in Nov 05 and has been accepted to be published in their university journal in Spring 2006. (Unfortunately, because of my teaching schedule I did not go, but my colleague, Albina Yegorova read it for me)
• European Studies Conference, UNO, 2005: Read a paper on "An Introduction to Viktoria Tokareva's Works and Problems of Translation into English" with Luba Popov (an undergraduate student) October 2005.
• Central Slavic Conference: Paper on "The Gita and Tolstoy's works" in October 2004.
• Central Association of Russian Teachers of America: Paper entitled "Tolstoy and Indian Philosophical Thought" has been accepted for the conference in April 2-4, 2004.
• SVU North American Conference: July 2003. Read an article on teaching Russian long distance, "Russian Through Fibre Optics."
• AAASS: Nov. '00 chaired a panel on Dostoevsky.
• Third World Studies Conference: Oct '00 presented a paper on Arundathi Roy's The God of Small Things entitled "Thawing of frozen times: The God of Small Things by Roy." I will submit this as an article to a journal on Third world Literature by April 2001.
• 52nd. Kentucky Foreign language Conference: April '00 presented a paper on Tolstoy's War and Peace and Bhagahwat Gita."
• Osmania University, Hyderabad: Oct '99 giving a lecture on "War and Peace and The Bhaghawat Gita."
• AATSEEL '98: Presented a paper on Bulgakov's Master and Margarita entitled "A Reexamination of Master and Margarita through Hinduism."
• Put together and submitted a proposal for a panel for AAASS on Bulgakov's symbolism, 1997 ( But I could not attend it).
• AAASS Chaired a panel on Émigré literature. Nov. 1996.
• AATSEEL, Chaired panel "Text and Context," Dec. 1995.
• Midlands Conference, Creighton University, 1995. Read a paper on "Korolenko and Chekhov," March 14-16.
• European Studies Conference, UNO, 1994: Read a paper on "Russia's Conscience: Tolstoy and Korolenko," October 6-9.
• Central Slavic Conference, UNL, 1994: Conference Committee Member, Read a paper entitled: "Is the Core Rotten: Rereading Anna Karenina," and Chaired a panel, October 20-22.
• AATSEEL '1994: Secretary for the panel "Text and Context."
• AATSEEL 1993. Read a paper "Korolenko's Stories in the Context of Works by Major Nineteenth Century Russian Writers." The paper will be included in my book on Korolenko in the chapter on the "Role of Korolenko as a Fictional Writer."
• Central Slavic Conference, October '93. I read a paper entitled: "V. G. Korolenko's Quest: Personal and Universal." The paper will be included in my book on Korolenko in the chapter on the Narrator.
• AATSEEL, 1991: Chaired the panel "Memoir and Autobiographical Literature."
• Twentieth Century Literature Conference, Louisville, Kentucky, Feb. '91. "Manuscripts do not Burn: Mikhail Bulgakov and Salman Rushdie."
• IV World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies, Harrogate, England, July '90. Chaired the panel: "India in Russian Literature and Ballet."
• PNCFL Conference, Portland, OR, May '90, "Korolenko's Search."
• AATSEEL National Conference, Washington DC, December '89. "Metaphors of Korolenko's Life."
• AATSEEL National Conference E, Washington DC, December '88. "V. G. Korolenko's Narrator."
• AAASS National Convention, Honolulu, HI, November '88. "The Siberian Stories of V. G. Korolenko." Published in Rocky Mountain Review as "Korolenko's Siberian Stories: Harmonious Compositions."
• Tenth Ohio University Film Conference, Athens, OH, October '88, with T. Scott Smith. "Changing Patterns and Patterns for Change in Hindi and Tamil Films."
• The Central Pennsylvania Consortium's Women's Studies Conference, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, March '88, with T. Scott Smith, "The Power of Indian Women: Hindi and Tamil Films."
• AAASS Midwest Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, March '88. "Time and Space in V.G. Korolenko's Short Stories." Re-written for Canadian Slavonic Journal.
• Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, April '87. "Identification vs. Alienation: Techniques in Narration in Korolenko's "Speechless."
• Southeastern Conference on Foreign Languages and Literatures, Rollins College, FL, February '87, "Korolenko and his Predecessors."
• 1975-1986: Read six more articles at conferences held in India on teaching Russian language and literature.

Academic Grants

• Oct 2012: Submitted STARTALK grant for $98k from NSA for 2013-14. I am the Program Director STARTALK.
• Oct. 2011: Received STARTALK grant of $82k from NSA for 2012-13. I am the Program Director STARTALK.
• Mar. 2011: Online Arabic Courses, US Department of Education. Denied.
• Feb. '05: Applied for "Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards" with Professors Saskova-Pierece and Asato. Our proposal was not awarded a grant.
• Dec 98: Applied for SSRC Grants (of $10.8620.00) for Summer language Institutes for Teaching Russian in the summer '99 along with Mila Saskova-Pierce. We proposed to teach Russian 210. We did not get it.

Service Awards

• 2003 (April): Dermot Coyne Award for Exemplary Service in recognition of Leadership and Outstanding Service to International Students
• Received "Outstanding Student Organization, Education Entertainment Programming" for 1997 for the student organization "Raag" for which I am the faculty advisor.
• "Rookie of the Year" (1994) for my work as the faculty advisor of the Student Association to promote Indian music and culture.