Dr Katherine A New
Russian Language Teacher
Research Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford
I have been involved in teaching and student support at Oxford University at both College and Faculty level since 2017. During this time, I have held a range of appointments, including a Tutorship in Russian for REES, OSGA, Stipendiary Lectureships at Oriel College and Wadham College, a Non-stipendiary Lectureship at University College, a Graduate Teaching Assistantship at New College, a Junior Research Fellowship and Research Fellowship at Wolfson College and a Research Assistantship at St Edmund Hall.
My teaching is informed by an active and internationally recognised research profile spanning Russian drama, poetry and intellectual history from the 18th to the 21st century. I have published widely on Russian theatre and literary culture, covering multiple aspects of Russian drama, including stagecraft and cinematic interpretations. I am the author of an award-winning article on Russian political theatre (“‘Following Our Own Path’: Pavel Katenin’s Political Theatre”) in the Russian Review. My recent publications include 'Speaking Truth to Power: Understanding the Role of Political Theater in Russia' (Russian Review, 2026) and 'Is 'All Russia Our Garden'? The Dualism of Environmental Space in Chekhov's Cherry Orchard and Modern Women's Drama' (SEEJ, 2024).
I am developing two major research projects. I am currently working on a monograph that will provide the first comprehensive study of Russian women’s drama of the 19th-21st centuries in the global context of European literary and dramatic traditions. My second research project offers the first cross-disciplinary study of Russian political theatre, with a special focus on the multimodal aspect of political discourse in theatre and on the performative techniques employed by theatrical communities in Russia.
Research clusters
- Social and political activism
Research keywords
- Russian drama, theatre, political discourse, multimodality