Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures
Professor of Russian California State University,

EDUCATION

B.A. UC Davis, l968 Long Beach, CA 90840
M.A. Stanford, l970 (562)985-8525fax:(562)985-2406
Ph.D. Stanford, l976 E-Mail: schefski@csulb.edu

TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS

Teaching Assistant, Stanford l972-76
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota l976-77
Assistant/Associate Professor University of Georgia l978-86
Associate Professor/Professor CSU Long Beach l986---

COURSES TAUGHT

Russian 101A-B (Elementary) Russian 201A-B (Intermediate) Russian 312-314 (Advanced), Russian 310 (Russian Literature in Translation), Russian 410 (Russian Civilization), Russian 428 (Russian Cinema).

RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Articles

1. The Changing Focus of Eikhenbaum's Tolstoi Criticism" (The Russian Review, July, l978, pp. 298-307)

2. Tolstoj's Case Against Doctors," (Slavic and East European Journal, Winter, l978, pp. 569-573).

3. "Leo Tolstoy's Short Sketch 'Three Deaths': A Reassessment of Its Place within His Literary Work," (Studies in Short Fiction, l979, pp. 349-50).

4. "Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind and War and Peace" (Southern Studies, Fall, l980, pp. 243-60).

5. "Tolstoy's Urban-Rural Continuum in War and Peace and Anna Karenina" (South Atlantic Review, January, l981, pp. 27-41).

6. "Tolstoi and the Jews" (The Russian Review, January, l982, pp. l-10).

7. "Eikhenbaum, Boris Mikhailovich" (Entry for The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet Literatures, Vol. 6, l982, pp. 110-118).

8. "Ostranenie: Tolstoy's Stylistic Legacy to Twentieth Century Russian Literature" (Russian Language Journal, Winter-Spring, l983, pp. 77-86).

9. "Yury Nagibin: Children and the Retreat from Collective Identity" (Scottish Slavonic Review, No. 4, Spring, l985, pp. 99-106).

10. "Novelle Structure in Turgenev's 'Spring Torrents," (Studies in Short Fiction, l985, pp. 431-435).

11. "Chekhov and Tostojan Philosophy," (New Zealand Slavonic Journal, l985, pp. 81-88).

12. "Griboyedov, Alexander (Drama entry), Research Publishing, l986, pp. 287-90.

13. "Presumed Death as a Retardation Device in the Russian Epopeja,"
(Australian Slavonic and East European Studies, No. l, l987, pp. l-9).

14. "The Russians Finally Translated Gone with the Wind, l982," (Forum, January, l988, pp. 4-5).

15. "Contrastive Parallelism in War and Peace: Sonja versus Natasha," (Russian Literature, XXIII, l988, pp. 281-94).

16. "Case Determination in a State of Transition: "Skuchat' po kom/chem or po komu/chemu?" (Russian Language Journal, Winter-Spring, l987, pp. 27-31).

17. "Childhood on a Pedestal: Tolstoy's Oasis from Nihilism" (San Jose Studies, November l989, pp. 48-61) {Funded by Summer Research Grant, l987}.

18. "The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Turgenev's Fathers and Sons" (Literature and Belief, Brigham Young University, l990, pp. 78-89).

19. "Tolstoy and Jealousy" (Irish Slavonic Studies, l0 (l989-91), pp. 17-30).

20. "Multiple Functions of the Human Eye in the Works of M. Lermontov" (Rusistika, No. 6, December, l992, pp 25-30).

21. "The Diplomatic Service of Presidents John Quincy Adams and James Buchanan in Nineteenth-century Russia" (Slavonica No. l, l993, pp. 1-10).

22. "The Use of the Adjective "Polnyj" with the Genitive and Instrumental Cases" (Russian Language Journal, XLVIII, Nos. 159-161, l994, pp. 3-7).

23. "Tolstoi's Vindication of General Kutuzov as Subtext in War and Peace," (Russian History/Histoire Russe, 22, No. l, Spring, l995, pp. 79-90).

24. "Missed Communications: Children and Adolescents in Yuri Nagibin's Short Stories," ( Russian Language Journal Forthcoming).

25. "Productive Wordbuilding with the Russian Root 'obraz' in Everyday, Technical and Religious Contexts" (Canadian Slavonic Papers, Fall, 2002, pp. 279-284).

26. "Leo Tolstoy and the Russian Autocrats: From Confrontation to Condemnation" (Australian Slavonic and East European Studies, vol. 16, 1-2, 2002, pp. 105-23)

Books

1. Nikolai Leskov, The Jews in Russia (Annotated translation with Introductory article, l80pp. Kingston Press, Princeton, N.J., l986).

Other Publications

1. "Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind and War and Peace" published as a chapter in Richard Harwell's Book: Gone with the Wind as Book and Film (University of South Carolina Press, Fall, l983, pp. 229-243).

2. "The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Turgenev's Fathers and Sons" published as a chapter in Harold Bloom's Ivan Turgenev Modern Critical Views(Chelsea Publications, 2003, pp. 85-94).

Book Reviews

1. David Goldstein's Dostoevsky and the Jews (for The Russian Review, April, l982, pp. 236-37)

2. James Curtis' Solzhenitsyn's Traditional Imagination ( for South Atlantic Review, September, l984, pp. 91-93).

3. Klaus Mehnert's The Russians and Their Favorite Books (for Soviet Union/Union Sovietique, 12, No. l, l985, pp. 103-105).

4. Katerina Clark's The Soviet Novel, History as Ritual ( for Scottish Slavonic Review, No. 8, Spring, l987, pp. 142-43).

5. Peter Henry and Dennis Ward, Editors, Scottish Slavonic Review--A Journal of East-West Contacts, Nos. l-9 (l983-87). (for Russian Language Journal, Winter-Spring, l987, pp. 208-211).

6. A.N. Wilson's Tolstoy ( for Scottish Slavonic Review, Spring/Autumn, l989, pp. 172-174).

7. Hugh McLean's (ed.) In the Shade of the Giant. Essays on Tolstoy (for Scottish Slavonic Review, Fall/Winter, l990).

8. Rimvydas Silbajoris' Tolstoy's Aesthetics and His Art. (for Scottish Slavonic Review, No. 22, l994).

Research Evaluation

1. "Letter to the Editor," (The Russian Review, April, l983)--Evaluation of the article "Tolstoi and the Jews" (The Russian Review, January, l982).

2. Darden Asbury Pyron in Recasting: Gone with the Wind in American Culture (Univ. Presses of Florida, l984), cites and evaluates my article "Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind and War and Peace (Southern Studies, l980, p. 243-260).

3. Review of Nikolai Leskov. The Jews in Russia (Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter, l987, pp. 626-27).

4. Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts selects my article titled "Case Determination in a State of Transition: "Skuchat' po kom/chem or po komu/chemu?"for abstracting and dissemination in 55 countries (Russian Language Journal, l988).

5. Rancour-Lafierre, Daniel Tolstoy on the Couch New York University Press, l998 cites three of my articles in bibliography and quotes extensively from my article Tolstoy and Jealousy (l989)

Papers Presented

1. "The Three Methods of Ejxenbaum's Tolstoy Criticism" (Wisconsin AATSEEL meeting, May, l977).

2. "Lev Tolstoj: The Çase Against Doctors" (California AATSEEL meeting, March, l978).

3. "Ejxenbaum and the 'Skaz' Narrative Device in Russian Literature" (South Atlantic Modern Language Association, November, l979).

4. "Tolstoy's Urban-Rural Continuum in War and Peace and Anna Karenina" (National AATSEEL meeting, San Francisco, December, l979).

5. "War and Peace and Gone with the Wind" (University of Georgia Colloquium, April, l980).

6. "Business Russian" (Annual Meeting of Georgia Teachers of Russian, May, l980).

7. "Tolstoy and the Jews" (Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, April, l981).

8. "Reassessing Sonya's Role in War and Peace" (South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Louisville, Kentucky, November, l981).

9. "Novelle Structure in Turgenev's 'Spring Torrents" (Mountain Interstate FL meetings, Wake Forest Univ., N.C., October, l982).

10. "Skaz' as an Indigenous Narative Device in 19th Century Russian Literature" (University of Georgia Winter Colloquium, Feb., l983).

11. "Precocious Children in Jurij Nagibin's Short Stories' (Southern Conference on Slavic Languages and Literatures, Emory Univ., GA
October, l983).

12. "Chekhov and Tolstojan Philosophy" (Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference, Virginia Tech Univ., October, l983).

13. "The Functions of Presumed Death in the Russian Epopeya" (Southeast Conference on Foreign Languages and Literatures, Rollins College, FL February, l985).

14. "Surrogate Father and Prodigal Son Motifs in Turgenev's Fathers and Sons" (Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference, Furman University, S.C., October, l985).

15. "Tolstoy and Jealousy" (Southeast Conference on Foreign Languages and Literatures, Rollins College, FL February, l986).

16. "Highlights of Leningrad and Moscow" at Modern and Classical Language Fall Conference, November, l986, CSU Northridge.

17. "The Moral Superiority of Tolstoy's Literary Children" at American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Southern California Chapter, May, l987.

18. "The Russians Finally Translated Gone with the Wind," at Modern and Classical Language Fall Conference, Nov., l987, Mount Saint Mary's College.

19. "Multiple Functions of the Human Eye in Lermontov's Work" at AATSEEL, Southern California Chapter, May, l988.

20. "Tolstoy's Kutuzov: Fact or Fiction," at National AATSEEL meeting, Washington, D.C., December, l988.

21. "An Evaluation of Russian Institutes Abroad" at Rocky Mountain MLA Las Vegas, Nevada, October, l989.

22. "Adapting 'Russian for Everybody" for the Second-Year Classroom" (Western Slavic Association, Tucson, Arizona, March, l990).

23. "From Beethoven to Tolstoy: The Kreutzer Sonata as Sign and Symbol" (Comparative Literature/Classics Spring, l990 Conference,CSULB).

24. "The Dilemma of First-Year Textbooks" (Rocky Mountain MLA, Weber State, Ogden, Utah, Fall, l992).

25. "The Diplomatic Service of John Quincy Adams and James Buchanan in l9th Century Russia" (Midwestern Slavic Conference, Michigan State Univ., Spring, l993).

26. "Missed Communiations Among Adolescents" in Juri Nagibin's Short Stories" (National AATSEEL meetings, San Diego, Dec. l994).

27. "The Russian Word Root 'obraz' in Diverse Contexts" (National AATSEEL meetings, Chicago, Dec. l995).

28. "Leo Tolstoy and the Czars of his Time" (Midwestern Slavic Conference, Ohio State University, April, l997).

29. "Taking Sides in a Dysfunctional Marriage: The Case of the Tolstoy Children" (American Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies Southern Conference, UNC Chapel Hill, N.C., March, l998).

30. "Literary Harbingers of Psychological Disorders: Nikolai Gogol's and Leo Tolstoy's Notes of a Madman"(Comparative Literature Conference, CSULB, April, l998)

31 "Russian Film Since the Gorbachev Revolution as a Medium for Exposing Stalin's Preoccupation with Annihilating the Individual"
(Twenty-Third Annual colloquium on Literature and Film, West Virginia University, October, l999).

32. "Evaluating Second Year Russian Readers" at Rocky Mountain Slavic Association ( San Diego, CA April 2001)

33. "Using Russian Emigration to Create Awareness of a Russian Studies Program" Central Association of Russian Teachers of America (Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 2002).

34. "Reverberations of Chaos and Order in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin" 17th Annual International Conference in Literature, Visual Arts, and Cinema (Atlanta, GA November, 2002).

35. "Russian Anthologies: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" Central Association of Russian Teachers of America (Albuquerque, NM, April, 2003).

36. "Silence and Laughter' in Gogol's Comedy 'Revizor" 18th Annual International conference in Literature, Visual Arts and Cinema (Atlanta, GA October, 2003)

HONORS AND AWARDS

1. Undergraduate Honors: Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi

2. Excellent Teacher Award, University of Georgia (l980)

3. Faculty Summer Stipend, University of Georgia (l983)

4. Faculty Summer Stipend, CSULB (l987).

5. Elected to Phi Beta Delta, CSULB (l988)

6. Meritorious Performance Award, CSULB (l989).

7. Performance Step Increase Award, CSULB (l996-97).

8. Faculty Merit Increases, l997-98 and l998-99, 2000

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

1. Escorted seven student groups to Russia (l983-l989)

2. Created new Russian Film Course (Russ 428)

3. Fund Raising Activities to Open Russian Endowment (l997-2003).
$50, 000 raised.

SERVICE

1. Writer's Proficiency Exam Reader and Table Leader (1987--).

2. Faculty Council (l989) (1991) (1993)

3. RTP School and Department Committees (l993), (l996) (1997) (1999) (2000)

4. CLA Student Awards Committee (l997-2001)

5. Faculty Commencement Participation (l991--)

6. RGRLL Search Committee Francophone position (1998)

7. Phi Beta Kappa Vice President, President and Selection Committee Member(2000---)

8. CLA Fundraising Award (May, 2003)