Elizabeth Purdy
Instructor, Department of Translingual Fluency and Language
I began teaching Church Slavonic and all levels of Russian at Holy Trinity Seminary in 2018. After receiving my master’s degree in Slavic Linguistics in 2013 from UC Berkeley, where I taught Russian courses for undergraduates, I worked in the translation field and taught Russian and other subjects at St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy in San Francisco. I also taught Church Slavonic for non-Slavic language speakers at the Summer School of Liturgical Music in 2015.
I bring to the classroom knowledge of U.S. and international pedagogy methods, language standards, proficiency testing, teaching technology and distance education, as well as methods for implementation. Courses have a strong cultural component to ensure students use language in a culturally appropriate way to maximize communication and minimize misunderstanding.
Educational Background
- B.A., University of Washington, Russian, 2002
- M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Slavic Languages and Literature, 2013
Teaching Interests
- Slavic Languages and Russian Area Studies
- Synchronic and Diachronic Russian Linguistics
- Church Slavonic and Historical and Contemporary Liturgics
- Russian Orthodoxy and Russian Culture
Current Projects and Research Interests
Research interests include the effects of language change on liturgical development, synchronic and diachronic Russian linguistics, and issues in liturgical translation.
Selected Publications
Translations from Church Slavonic:
- Akathist to Jesus Christ For a Loved One Who has Fallen Asleep, St. Paisius Monastery, 2004
- Akathist to the Mother of God, “Healer of Cancer,” St. Paisius Monastery, 2003
- Akathist to the Mother of God, “Nurturer of Children,” St. Paisius Monastery, 2002