Program Director
Dina Mokhnatkin, M.A.
Director of the Program, Professor Mokhnatkin, has an M.A. in Russian Language and Literature and was a Research Fellow in Art and Architecture at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. She has extensive experience in teaching Russian language, literature, civilization and cultural studies at all levels in both the United States and Russia. For the past 15 years, Professor Mokhnatkin has been the Director of two Russian Immersion Programs at CSUN – the summer STARTALK Russian Language and Culture Immersion Program and the year-long National Strategic Language Initiative Program (SLI). In addition, she has been the head of a study abroad program for 7 years in which students travel to Russia, organizing and coordinating an agreement between California State University, Northridge and the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow, Russia. Under her leadership, the program has become coveted throughout the United States and known for its focus, structure, and unprecedented results in achieving fluency in Russian language. Alumni of the program have gone on to employ the Russian language in their future endeavors, from translating at the Russian Winter Olympics in Sochi to teaching English in Russia at the University level while on Fullbright Scholarship to participating in the Peace Corps in Russian speaking countries.
Professor Mokhnatkin has also developed new curriculum for her Russian Studies program at California State University, Northridge utilizing her methodology and pedagogical skills. She has created new classes for the program, such as Russian Civilization, Russian Folklore, and Russian Business and Travel. Her topic of interest is the methodology of teaching Russian Language for non-native speakers.
She is very proud of the instructors who have worked with her in the program, as well as the Teaching Assistant team.
Instructors
Dr. Tanya McIntyre, Lead Instructor
Dr. Tanya McIntyre worked as Lead Instructor at our program in summer of 2021 (during the online immersion due to COVID). She received her Ph.D. in Translation Studies from Kent State University (KSU) in 2012. She also holds Bachelor’s in Linguistics and Foreign Language Pedagogy from Tver State University, Russia, and Master’s degrees in Russian Translation and Teaching English as a Second Language from KSU. Dr. McIntyre is Associate Professor of Russian and Translation Studies at Kent State University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Russian language, literature, and translation. Dr. McIntyre has taught in Russian language immersion programs since 2007, when she started working at the KSU Regents Foreign Language Academy, a summer immersion program in critical languages for high school students, which became the KSU Regents STARTALK Foreign Language Academy in 2008. Dr. McIntyre has extensive experience in teaching foreign languages (Russian and English) and coordinating foreign language instructions at all levels and environments (immersion, traditional classroom, as well as online and blended learning). In 2019, Dr. McIntyre was co-director of the KSU STARTALK Foreign Language Academy. Her research interests include corpus-based translation studies and the pedagogy of translation and Russian as a second language. Dr. McIntyre has presented at multiple STARTALK conferences and published articles on translation and second language pedagogy. Her most recent contribution was to the volume Translating Texts: An Introductory Coursebook on Translation and Text Formation (Routledge 2020).
Tatiana Scanlan, Professor
Professor Scanlan has an M.A. in Russian and is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Linguistics from Moscow State University. She has experience teaching Russian language and literature to foreign students at Moscow State University, University of Kansas, and Johnson County Community College. In her research she specializes in the analysis of oral speech and methods of teaching Russian pronunciation. She is an author of several textbooks and special courses. Professor Scanlan is proficient in French and has an extensive experience working as a tour guide in Moscow, as well as a translator/interpreter. Currently, she is a Board Member of Central Association of Russian Teachers in America (CARTA).
Garri Mangasarian, Instructor
Instructor Mangasarian was born and grew up in the European part of Russia. He has moved to the U.S. in 2011. Upon completing high school he went to Pasadena City College (PCC) where he was fortunate enough to meet and befriend Professor Mokhnatkin. After spending five years and acquiring 4 associate degrees Mr. Mangasarian transferred to California State University Northridge (CSUN). He has successfully graduated CSUN with the degree of Management in the summer of 2019.
Starting from 2017 Mr. Mangasarian was employed at STARTALK as a teaching assistant and technical assistant in the learning training course at California State University Long Beach (CSULB).
Throughout the years of working with Dina Aleksandrovna instructor, Mangasarian developed a passion and interest in helping students to overcome their barriers and guiding them to their success.
Спасибо за внимание, всем удачи во всех начинаниях.
Thank you for your attention, good luck in all of your endeavors.
Teaching Assistants
Sandra Leyva
Hello, my name is Sandra.
I have a BA in English and am studying to get my MA in the same field at California State University, Northridge. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and while I do not speak Russian, I have witnessed the incredible value the language has internationally. I have happily assisted the Director of the STARTALK program, Dina Mokhnatkin, for two years and have ensured that all operations ran as smoothly and efficiently as possible. I was in contact with students and professors and aided in the recruitment process. I believe this program has been incredibly beneficial to all its participants and I encourage all interested students to apply for a great learning experience.
Bella Sargsyan
Hello, my name is Bella.
I was born and raised in Armenia in a bilingual family. Russian and Armenian are my native languages. Also, I am fluent in English and French. In the early 2000s, I moved to Moscow, Russia, where I have been a volunteer TA in a secondary school for several years. Also, I worked as a translator/interpreter in a film producing company and a teacher of English as a second language in Moscow. About 3 years ago my family moved to California, USA. I decided to continue my education and started attending PCC. I was lucky to be a student of Dina Aleksandrovna, who offered me an opportunity to become a TA in the CSUN STARTALK Russian Language and Culture Immersion Program. I enjoyed assisting teachers and students, sharing my knowledge of Russian language and culture, and being part of the educational process. I am quite sure that this immersive program is extremely beneficial for students, who want to focus on contemporary, daily, and authentic Russian; to meet prominent guest speakers of Russian heritage; to improve communicative skills; and to reach educational and professional goals.