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A Warm Welcome to Elena Ansdell

The Kotlas Connection warmly welcomes Elena Monastireva-Ansdell to the Waterville area. Elena is a native of Maikop, the capital of Adygheya, a small Muslim republic in southern Russia, where her family still resides. Maikop lies in the same latitude as Waterville. In 1990-91, Elena was one of the first Soviet exchange students to study at Colby College. She graduated from Piatigorsk State Institute of Foreign Languages. She now lives in Waterville with her husband and infant son.

Elena is currently an assistant professor of Russian at Colby College. She was hired as the replacement for retiring Sheila McCarthy. Before returning to Colby, she taught at Oberlin College and Bowdoin College. As well as Russian language, she teaches courses on 20^th- and 21^st-century Russian literature, cinema and culture. Her special interest is Russian cinema.

Elena is now the Kotlas Connection's liaison with Colby's Russian Department, and will play a vital role in the continuation of our annual Russian Sampler. She will also participate in the Russian film series that will be offered through Waterville Adult Education as part of the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the sister-city agreement between Kotlas and Waterville.

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