معرفی
Benjamin Rifkin is Professor of Russian and University Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he previously served as Dean of the Maxwell Becton College of Liberal Arts and Education. Earlier he spent fifteen years on the faculty of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and held academic leadership roles at Temple University, The College of New Jersey, Ithaca College, and Hofstra University.
Education:
- Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan
- M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan
- M.A. in Russian and East European Studies, Yale University
- B.A. in Russian and East European Studies, Yale University
Research & Teaching Interests:
Rifkin’s scholarship integrates world-language pedagogy, curriculum design, and assessment of learning outcomes with content in Russian language, literature, and film. Recent work explores compassion and global citizenship as explicit learning outcomes within the liberal arts. He regularly teaches courses on Russian literature in translation, Russian film history, Russian history, sociolinguistics (Language and Discrimination), and methods of teaching world languages.
Across four decades his publications have addressed communicative and performance-based language instruction, advanced proficiency attainment, study-abroad integration, digital listening resources (RAILS), and textbook authoring (Panorama, Advanced Russian through History). His 2024 article on training literature-in-translation faculty exemplifies ongoing engagement with graduate pedagogical preparation.
Grants & Projects:
Rifkin has secured millions of dollars in grants from private foundations and the U.S. Department of Education to develop oral-history interview programs, faculty-led study tours with community-engaged learning, and award-winning instructional materials for Russian language, history, and culture.
Current Focus:
As Provost he collaborates across schools and colleges to expand transformative learning opportunities—undergraduate research, internships, study abroad, and community-based projects—while continuing to write and speak on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the role of compassionate global citizenship in higher education.
