Bio


Ruth Averbach is a Teaching Fellow in the Program for Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE). She holds a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Stanford University. Her dissertation, "Writing Women: Gender, Representation, and Alterity in Russian Realism," examines why male authors passionately took up the cause of women's rights in mid-19th century Russia. Ruth is currently writing a book on author and memoirist Alexander Alexandrov, commonly misnamed as Nadezhda Durova, which examines the author's transmasculine identity and his social reception among his contemporaries. The first chapter, "The (Un)Making of a Man," is available in article form in the Fall 2022 issue of Slavic Review.

Academic Appointments


  • Lecturer, Stanford Introductory Studies - Civic, Liberal, and Global Education

Professional Education


  • Ph.D., Stanford University, Slavic Languages and Literatures (2020)