Olson, Laura J.

Research

research overview

Professor Olson (Osterman) researches the folk culture of Eastern Europe and Eurasia, including the intersections of folk culture and women's subjectivity and the ideological uses of folklore in the construction of national, religious and ethnic identities.

Publications

selected publications

book
chapter
- The Multiple Voices of Bulgaria's Unofficial Islamic Leaders. 122-141. 2015
- Materinstvo: intimnye praktiki zhenskoi ierarkhii 2010
- Stsenarii i zhizn’: pereizobretenie russkoi rozhdestvenskoi traditsii v Saratovskoi oblasti. 232-242. 2006
- Akhmadulina, Bella. 22-24. 2000
- Zoshchenko, Mikhail. 1520-1522. 2000
journal article
- The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev, vol 1. Journal of American Folklore. 230-232. 2020
- The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev, vol 2. Journal of American Folklore. 230-232. 2020
- Enacting Pomak Belonging: Wedding Performance and Social Media in Post-Socialist Bulgaria. 104-130. 2019
- Negotiating meaning through costume and social media in Bulgarian Muslims' communities of practice. Nationalities Papers. 560-580. 2017
- THE "PAINTED BRIDE" AS AN EMBLEM OF IDENTITY: POMAKS OF SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 326-340. 2017

Teaching

courses taught

ITAL 2271 - Space, Invention, and Wonder in Fairy Tales, Literature and Film
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2024
Explores the themes of space, invention, technology and wonder in fairy tales from Italian, Russian, French, German, and Spanish traditions in order to compare their transformation in different national and historical settings. Students analyze the intersection of fairy tales and science in literature and film. Counts for the Space Minor. Taught in English.
REES 2271 - Space, Invention, and Wonder in Fairy Tales, Literature and Film
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
Explores the themes of space, invention, technology and wonder in fairy tales from Italian, Russian, French, German, and Spanish traditions in order to compare their transformation in different national and historical settings. Students analyze the intersection of fairy tales and science in literature and film. Counts for the Space Minor. Taught in English.
REES 4321 - Mythological Russia and Ukraine
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
Examines folklore, popular culture, and everyday life in contemporary Russia and Ukraine to reveal beliefs, ideals, and ideologies. Subjects include witchcraft, shamanism, healing, death, remembrance, nostalgia, collective memory, obscenity. Students will learn to analyze artifacts, photographs, interviews, memoirs, songs, stories, and rituals. Taught in English. Same as REES 5321. Formerly RUSS 4321.
REES 4471 - Women in 20th-21st Century Russian, East European and Eurasian Cultures
Primary Instructor - Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines issues facing women in 20th-21st century Russia, East Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, based on study of current events, history, literature, posters and film. Studies images of women as Amazons and rebels, salon hostesses and poets, New Soviet Women and women in combat, prostitutes and mothers. Taught in English. Same as WGST 4471 and REES 5471.
REES 5110 - Slavic Culture and Society
Primary Instructor - Fall 2024
Examines important ideologies and myths in Slavic societies, with emphasis on contemporary movements and their reinterpretation of history. Acquaints students with major tools for study of cultures of Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet states: research methods, bibliography, transliteration, critical thinking and writing skills. Required for Russian MA. Taught in English. Formerly RUSS 5110.

REES 5321 - Mythological Russia and Ukraine
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
Examines folklore, popular culture, and everyday life in contemporary Russia and Ukraine to reveal beliefs, ideals, and ideologies. Subjects include witchcraft, shamanism, healing, death, remembrance, nostalgia, collective memory, obscenity. Students will learn to analyze artifacts, photographs, interviews, memoirs, songs, stories, and rituals. Taught in English. Formerly RUSS 5321. Same as REES 4321. Recommended prerequisite: prior experience with folklore or Russian studies.

REES 5471 - Women in 20th-21st Century Russian, East European and Eurasian Cultures
Primary Instructor - Fall 2024
Examines issues facing women in 20th-21st century Russia, based on study of current events, history, literature, posters and film. Studies images of women as Amazons and rebels, salon hostesses and poets, New Soviet Women and women in combat, prostitutes and mothers. Taught in English. Formerly RUSS 5471. Same as REES 4471 and WGST 4471.

RUSS 2231 - Fairy Tales of Russia
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Fall 2021
Provides a general introduction to fairy tales including various theoretical approaches to classifying and interpreting them; introduces students to a wide selection of Russian folk and fairy tales. Examines the cultural, social and political values they reflect, as well as the continuing influence of fairy tales and folk beliefs in Russian literature, music, folk art, and film, and in the political propaganda of the 20th century. Taught in English.

RUSS 2271 - Space, Invention, and Wonder in Fairy Tales, Literature and Film
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019
Explores the themes of space, invention, technology and wonder in fairy tales from Italian, Russian, French, German, and Spanish traditions in order to compare their transformation in different national and historical settings. Students analyze the intersection of fairy tales and science in literature and film. Counts for the Space Minor. Taught in English. Same as ITAL 2271.

RUSS 3701 - Slavic Folk Culture: Ideals and Values in the Contemporary World
Primary Instructor - Spring 2021
Explores contemporary Slavic and American folk practices and investigates the possible origins and consequences of such practices. Focuses upon the value systems these practices represent, and ways that core values help to define identities and cultures. Topics include folk religion, magic, healing, life cycle and calendar rituals and folk music. Taught in English.

RUSS 4220 - Open Topics: Russian Culture in Russian
Primary Instructor - Spring 2022
Selected topics in Russian culture and society. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours when topic varies. Taught all or partly in Russian. Same as RUSS 5220

RUSS 4321 - Mythological Russia
Primary Instructor - Fall 2021
Examines folklore, popular culture, and everyday life in contemporary Russia to reveal beliefs, ideals, and ideologies. Subjects include witchcraft, shamanism, healing, death, remembrance, nostalgia, collective memory, obscenity. Students will learn to analyze artifacts, photographs, interviews, memoirs, songs, stories, and rituals. Recommended prerequisite: prior college-level experience with folklore or Russian studies. Taught in English. Same as RUSS 5321.

RUSS 4471 - Women in 20th-21st Century Russian Culture
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Spring 2021
Examines issues facing women in 20th-21st century Russia, based on study of current events, history, literature, posters and film. Studies images of women as Amazons and rebels, salon hostesses and poets, New Soviet Women and women in combat, prostitutes and mothers. Taught in English. Recommended prerequisite: lower level literature or culture course. Same as WGST 4471 and RUSS 5471.

RUSS 5110 - Slavic Culture and Society
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2022
Examines important ideologies and myths in Slavic societies, with emphasis on contemporary movements and their reinterpretation of history. Acquaints students with major tools for study of cultures of Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet states: research methods, bibliography, transliteration, critical thinking and writing skills. Required for Russian MA. Taught in English.

RUSS 5220 - Open Topics: Russian Culture in Russian
Primary Instructor - Spring 2022
Selected topics in Russian culture and society. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours when topic varies. Taught all or partly in Russian. Same as RUSS 4220.

RUSS 5321 - Mythological Russia
Primary Instructor - Fall 2021
Examines folklore, popular culture, and everyday life in contemporary Russia to reveal beliefs, ideals, and ideologies. Subjects include witchcraft, shamanism, healing, death, remembrance, nostalgia, collective memory, obscenity. Students will learn to analyze artifacts, photographs, interviews, memoirs, songs, stories, and rituals. Recommended prerequisite: prior experience with folklore or Russian studies. Taught in English. Same as RUSS 4321.

RUSS 5471 - Women in 20th-21st Century Russian Culture
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Spring 2021
Examines issues facing women in 20th-21st century Russia, based on study of current events, history, literature, posters and film. Studies images of women as Amazons and rebels, salon hostesses and poets, New Soviet Women and women in combat, prostitutes and mothers. Taught in English. Formerly GSLL 5471. Same as RUSS 4471 and WGST 4471.

RUSS 6950 - Master's Thesis
Primary Instructor - Fall 2021 / Spring 2022

WGST 4471 - Women in 20th-21st Century Russian, East European and Eurasian Cultures
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines issues facing women in 20th-21st century Russia, East Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, based on study of current events, history, literature, posters and film. Studies images of women as Amazons and rebels, salon hostesses and poets, New Soviet Women and women in combat, prostitutes and mothers. Taught in English. Recommended prerequisite: lower level literature or culture course. Same as REES 4471 and REES 5471.

... more

Background

education and training

Ph.D., Yale University 1994
M.A., Indiana University Bloomington 1990
B.A., SUNY College at Purchase 1983

awards and honors

Traditional Fulbright Scholarship, conferred by Council for International Exchange of Scholars, 2019
Kayden Book Award Honorable Mention, conferred by College of Arts and Sciences, 2015
Chicago Folklore Prize, conferred by American Folklore Society, 2013
Fellowship Awards, conferred by National Endowment for the Humanities, 2004
Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions Award, conferred by National Endowment for the Humanities, 2004

International Activities

geographic focus

Bosnia and Herzegovina Country
Bulgaria Country
Russian Federation Country
Uzbekistan Country
eastern Europe Transnational Region

Other Profiles

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Positions

Research Areas

Research

research overview

Publications

selected publications

book

chapter

journal article

Teaching

courses taught

Background

education and training

awards and honors

International Activities

geographic focus

Other Profiles

ORCID iD

Google Scholar

Academia.edu

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