Russian Math Schools in the U.S.

Extracurricular programs teaching American students math according to Soviet and Russian methodologies are proliferating across the country. Until now, this phenomenon has received little attention. This presentation will examine who the founders and teachers are in this movement, how the program contributes to shadow education in the U.S., gender aspects of the schools, and their contribution to equality in the U.S. This research seminar will present work in progress and we look forward to audience participation.

Speakers:

Janna Ataiants is a Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Community Health and Prevention of Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the experiences of vulnerable women, including immigrant women, women who use drugs, and victims of human trafficking.

Yelizaveta Layer is a Senior Research Analyst at Refinitiv specializing in threat finance and customer due diligence. She holds a BA from American University in International Studies with a focus on Global and Comparative Governance.

Irina Olimpieva works as a research associate at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian studies at (IERES) and is President of the Center for Independent Social Research (CISRus). Her research interests are in the field of social studies of the economy with the main focus on post-communist societies.

Robert Orttung is a research professor at IERES and the director of research for Sustainable GW. He is editor of Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Demokratization and co-editor of the Russian Analytical Digest. His research focuses on issues of urban sustainability in the Arctic.