Check out some of the ongoing projects!

   

Russian Movie Theater Project

The Russian Movie Theater Project is an archive and a study of film exhibition in St. Petersburg during the twentieth century: a portrait of film exhibition and movie-going scene in Soviet Leningrad and Post-Soviet St. Petersburg. Inspired by recent initiatives in the Digital Humanities at William and Mary, University of Pittsburgh, and other universities, Russian Movie Theater Project hopes to serve as a lab for collaborative scholarly work for William and Mary undergraduates and faculty. Among other things, the project analyzes what moviegoers remember (films, actors, directors), how they define themsleves as narrators (I or we), and how their cinematic experiences shape their identities as Soviets, Russians, and global citizens.

See also:

Spanish in Eastern Virginia                  

How is Spanish in the U.S. transforming? What can those changes about the nature of language change in the mind and communities of bilinguals more generally? And what do those changes indicate about the future of Spanish in the U.S.?

This project examines language as spoken in Eastern Virginia, beginning with the community surrounding the College of William and Mary and expanding outward overtime in order to shed light on how language change, especially as a result of language contact, comes about and is spread through a community and beyond. Answers to these question help decision makers plan and advocate for educational, legal, medial and other community resources. This project is approved (PHSC-2022-07-04-15711-rvarra).

Spanglish in the U.S.                  

This project examines Spanish speakers’ perceptions about what types of language count as Spanglish. Interested participants can contact a research assistant or find the study through the Amazon MTurk system. This study is IRB approved (PHSC-2022-02-23-15479-rvarra).

Precautions for social distancing during COVID-19:

Informants may select to have their interview using video conferencing, in-person inside or in-person outdoors. In the case of in-person interviews, distancing and sanitation precautions will be implemented. Further, participants may elect to receive payment in cash, as a Visa gift card, or via an electronic money transfer service (Venmo or Zelle).