Vita

Education
Institutions and Areas of Specialization

• ABD Doctoral Student in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature

University of Pittsburgh, 2004-present, expected date of defense: Spring 2010

Areas of interest: minority and identity issues in contemporary German migrant literature, German, Postcolonial and Balkanist Studies

• Master’s in German Languages and Literature

University of Pittsburgh, 2002-2004
M.A. Thesis: The Subversion of the Body in Karen Duve’s Novel “Der Regenroman”

• Master’s and Bachelor’s in German Philology

Shumen University “Bishop K. Preslavsky,” Bulgaria, 1996-2001
Staatsexamen (government-recognized exam)

Pedagogy Training and Certifications

• Cultural Studies Certificate, University of Pittsburgh, 2004-present
•  UPOLAI Training session, University of Pittsburgh, October, 2006
• “Zertifikat Deutsch,” Training Session - Goethe Institute, University of Pittsburgh, October, 2003 
• "More Students Learning More German with TPRS," AATG Seminar, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, October, 2002

Professional Experience and Skills

Teaching Experience and Pedagogical Skills

• Advised and guided students in basic and advanced knowledge of German as a:

Teaching Assistant and Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, 2002-present

German Teaching Aid, Foreign Languages High School, Shumen, Bulgaria, 2001

• Developed students’ ability to better understand, learn, and use new material
• Explained the teaching material with examples regarding a situation or a text structure
• Stimulated students to develop cognitive, cooperative, and creative thinking
• Organized extra-curricular activities (meetings with German authors, etc.)

Courses Taught

• Elementary German I & II; Intermediate German I & II; Augsburg Recitation

Creative Skills

• Cooperated with two employees from the local TV channel “Shumen” in Shumen, Bulgaria to translate audio-visual document films about Austria and Germany, 1999
• Translated film scripts from German into Bulgarian and performed the voice-overs

Communication skills

• Translated for MALEV LTD (German-Bulgarian import-export company), 1997-1998
• Drafted professional letters for the German bureau in Hamburg and corresponded with business partners there
• Organized business visits between German sales representatives

 
Recognition and Service

Departmental administrative assignments

• Co-coordinator for Intermediate German 2, German Department, University of Pittsburgh, 2007-2008
• Rater of UPOLAI in German (University of Pittsburgh Oral Language Assessment Instrument), German Department, University of Pittsburgh, 2006-2008
• German Department TA mentor, University of Pittsburgh, 2007-2008
• Undergraduate advisor for the study abroad program at the German department, University of Pittsburgh, 2006-2007

Research Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships

• Austrian Room Committee Scholarship Grant, 2009
• NeMLA Summer Research Fellowship Award, 2009
• ACLA Travel Grant, April 2008
• Lillian B. Lawler Predoctoral Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching and Research, AY 2008-2009
• Cultural Studies Predoctoral Fellowship, AY 2008-2009 (declined)
• European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center Research Award, University of Pittsburgh, 2008
• Travel Grant for GSA conference in San Diego, CA, 2007
• University of Pittsburgh Research Grant, Bulgarian-Polish Relations, Summer 2007
• Bavarian Ministry of Education Grant, University of Augsburg, Germany, 2001-2002
• University of Shumen Grant for Research on Balkan-German Relations, University of Bucharest, Romania, 2001
• DAAD Scholarship for an exchange semester at University of Augsburg, 1998-1999

Conference Presentations

• Northeast Modern Language Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, Feburary 26 - March 1, 2009. “Knocking on Europe’s Doors: On Migrants and ‘New Europeans’ in the Works of Wladimir Kaminer and Dimitre Dinev.” When East Meets West: Representations of Germans and Eastern Europeans.
• American Comparative Literature Association 2008 Annual Meeting: Arrivals and Departures. Long Beach, CA, April 24-27, 2008. “Balkan Stories, Migrant Realities! Reconfiguring Eastern European Identities under Global Conditions: The Case of Dimitre Dinev.”  Cultural Journeys: In and Out of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia.

• 61^st Kentucky Foreign Language Conference. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, April 17-19, 2008. “Diasporic Voices or the Aporia of Shifting Identities in Rumjana Zacharieva’s Bärenfell (Bear Skin 1998).”  German Studies?? Transnational Writing in German.
• Interzone EU: Crossroads of Migration. University of Pittsburgh, February 22-23, 2008.“Why is the West the Best?  On Losses and Gains of Identity in German-Balkan Migrant Writings!” The East Within.
• German Studies Association Thirty-First Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, 4-7 October 2007."In the Eyes of the Other. German Migrant Writing of the New Millennium." Germany-Poland Border Studies 3: Culture of the Other.
• Work in Progress Series organized by the German Department, University of Pittsburgh, 23 February 2007."Balkan Ghosts. Migrant Stories. Eastern European Identities Reconfigured."
• German Studies Association Thirtieth Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 28-October 2, 2006. “Renegotiating Immigrant Identities under Global Conditions: The Case of Wladimir Kaminer.” Narrating the New Economic Reality: German Literature's Response.
• Cultural Studies Graduate Student Conference: Empire and Imperialism, University of Pittsburgh, April 2005. “On Colonialism and Imperialism in Frantz Fanon’s ‘The Wretched of the Earth and Hannah Arendt’s ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism.”
• Workshop for the Language Media Center at the University of Pittsburgh, November 2006. "Making Digital Movies with Movie Maker."

Invited Talks

• 62nd Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY, April 16-18, 2009. "Reaching for a Common Ground.  Dimitre Dinev's and Wladimir Kaminer's East Side Stories of Migration." Transnational Writing in German.

Languages

• Bulgarian – native
• German - excellent all-round knowledge

• English – excellent all-round knowledge
• Russian – fair reading and speaking skills

Professional Affiliations:  AATG, MLA, WiG,  NeMLA