Photo of Popova, Polina

Polina Popova

Graduate Student

PhD Candidate

History

Email:

ppopov2@uic.edu

About

Polina has been a Ph.D. candidate since May of 2020.

Courses Taught:

Instructor:

  • RUS 101 Beginner's Russian (UIC, Fall 2022)
  • HIST 101 Western Civilization since XVI Century (UIC, Spring 2022)
  • HIST 223-02 Russian and Soviet History, online, synchronous (Columbia College Chicago, Fall 2020)
  • HIST 223-02 Russian and Soviet History (Columbia College Chicago, Fall 2016, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022)

Teaching Assistant:

  • Japanese - Reading (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Spring of 2007)
  • HIST 117 Understanding the Holocaust (UIC, Fall of 2015, Fall of 2016)
  • HIST 105 Global Transformation and the Rise of the West Since 1000 (UIC, Spring of 2016, Spring of 2017)
  • HIST 100 Western Civilization Part 1 (UIC, Fall 2017)
  • HIST 272 China Since 1911 (UIC, Spring 2018)
  • HIST 101 Western Civilization Part 2 (UIC, Fall 2018)
  • HIST 255 History of Chicago (UIC, Spring 2019)
  • HIST 213 Europe 1815-1914 (UIC, Fall 2019)
  • HIST 271 Late Imperial China (UIC, Fall 2020)

Selected Publications

“Vera Smirnova’s Optimistic Picture Book Komu plokho, komu khorosho (1930)”

“An Image of Japan and Its People in 1920s Soviet Children’s Literature”

“Two Hearts: Explaining Pregnancy to Soviet Children”

“Death from starvation threatens every working man:” A Soviet book about hunger, but not the Ukrainian people.”

“Ukrainian Children’s Books in the Interwar Period: Looking Back on Soviet Policy”

“Two Worlds”

Notable Honors

Spring 2024, UIC President’s Research in Diversity Travel Assistance, University of Illinois at Chicago

Spring 2022, Open Research Laboratory Associateship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2020, Davis Graduate Student Grant, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

2019-2020, Princeton University Library Research Grant, Rare Book Division, Cotsen Fund

2013, 2014, Egan-Martinez Scholarship, DePaul University

2013, 2014, 2015, DePaul Student History Award for Scholastic Excellence, DePaul University

2013, DePaul Graduate Fellowship, DePaul University

2005, 2006, Scholarship, International Shinto Foundation

Education

M.A. in History from DePaul University (2015)
B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the Lomonosov Moscow State University (2007)

Selected Presentations

  • DePaul University Student History Conference presentations (Chicago, 2013, 2014, and 2015)
  • DePaul LAS Graduate Student Conference (Chicago, 2014)
  • Midwest Slavic Conference (Ohio State University, 2017)
  • Loyola University Graduate Student Conferences (Chicago, 2016 and 2017)
  • 51st Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Conference (San Francisco, 2019)
  • 53rd Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Conference (virtual, 2021)
  • Midwest Russian History Workshop (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022)
  • NESEEES 2022 Annual Conference (virtual, 2022)
  • 54th Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Conference (Chicago, 2022)
  • Princeton University Graduate Student Conference The Art of Self-Obsession? Ego-Documents and Auto-Fiction in Eastern Europe (Princeton, 2022)
  • 55th Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Conference (Philadelphia, 2022)
  • 30th REEECAS Northwest Annual Conference (Seattle, 2024)
  • 56th ASEEES Annual Conference (Boston, 2024)

Research Currently in Progress

The Representation of Power in Soviet Children's Literature from the 1920s until 1953 in Biographies of Party Leaders

Research Interests:

Modern Russian and Soviet history, Modern Eastern European history, Women under Communist Regimes, Children's History, Children's Literature

Artistic and Professional Performances and Exhibits

Podcasts: