Irina Vasilyeva Meier

Senior Lecturer of Russian

Photo: Irina Vasilyeva Meier
Email:  imeier@unm.edu
Phone:  505-277-4771
Office:  323B
Hours:  M W F 11:00 - 2:00 or by appointment

Research Area/s:

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies,  Russian

Biography:

Irina Meier teaches Russian language courses and a range of interdisciplinary courses in translation, for majors and non-majors alike, on 19th, 20th and 21st-century Russian culture and literature through film as well as courses on Russian terrorism and Russian immigration. She also serves as the Director of the Russian program. Her research focuses on AI in education and cultural analysis, violence in modern society, and postcolonial memory in Chechen culture. She is also the creator of DavAI, the first multi-character, multi-dialectal ChatGPT-based bot designed for beginner and intermediate Russian language learners.

Educational History:

2016, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

Dissertation: Evil Men Have No Songs: The Terrorist and Littérateur Boris Savinkov, 1879-1925. 

2010, M.A. in English, Eastern New Mexico University 

2008, B.S. in Political Science, Eastern New Mexico University 

2006, Specialist (equivalent to Master's) in Translation and Theory of Translation, Linguistics, Vyatka State University of Humanities, Kirov, Russia.

Research Interests:

  • AI in education and cultural analysis
  • Digital Humanities
  • Violence in modern society
  • Culture of Russian terrorism
  • Russian and Chechen film
  • Postcolonial collective memory in Chechen culture

Representative Courses:

  • Immigration: The Russian Factor (remote learning)
  • Culture of Russian Terrorism
  • 19th Century Russian Culture and History Through Film
  • Saints and Sinners in Russian Culture
  • Modern Russia: Digital Humanities Methods
  • Intermediate Russian
  • Advanced Russian
  • Approaches to Modern Languages and Cultures (remote learning)
  • Immigration, Languages, Cultures (in-person and remote learning)

Publications:

Peer-reviewed Articles and Book Chapters

Meier, Irina. “DavAI: Designing a Custom ChatGPT bot for Russian Language Learners”. Russian Language Journal, 74(1), 2024. https://doi.org/10.70163/0036-0252.1400

Meier, Irina. “Mass Shooters as Underground Men of the Twenty-first Century.” Cognitive Approaches to Slavic Cultures. Ed. Tom Dolack. 191–210. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, November 2024.

Meier, Irina. “The Cinematic Representation of the 1944 Chechen and Ingush Deportation in Erkenov’s ‘Ordered to Forget’ and Magomadov’s ‘February’.” Slavic & East European Journal (special issue/edited volume on representations of ethnic deportations). Ed. Anca Luca Holden and Oana Popescu Sandu. Forthcoming.

Meier, Irina. “Beyond the Standard: Teaching Russian Through Its Dialects with Custom AI Chatbots.” Turmoil and Transformation: Generative AI and the Future of Russian Language Teaching and Learning. Ed. Molly T. Blasing and Kit Pribble. Routledge. Forthcoming.

Books Under Contract

Burvikova, E., Khotimsky, M., Meier, I., & Poliakova, I. Learning Russian through Diverse Voices, Places, and Stories. Under contract with Routledge.

Invited Scholarship

Meier, Irina. “ ‘The Greatest Monsters’: Re-writing Russian History through Cinematic Representations of Revolutionary Terrorism.” NYU Jordan Center Blog. October 19, 2022. https://jordanrussiacenter.org/blog/the-greatest-monsters-re-writing-russian-history-through-cinematic-representations-of-revolutionary-terrorism

Zagrai, E., Ivanova-Sullivan, T., Meier, I., Patterson, L., & Shkireva, A. Teaching and learning Russian language and culture in New Mexico (In Russian). Russian Language Abroad. Special issue on Russian Studies in the USA: pp. 9-15, 2017.

Applied Digital Humanities and Open Educational Platforms

DavAI, a Customized ChatGPT bot for Beginner and Intermediate Russian Language Learners, 2024.

Tales from the Motherland: Student Podcast Interviews with Members of the Russian-Speaking Immigrants in New Mexico. Designed for Modern Russia Through Digital Humanities Methods, 2023.

Other Information:.

AI Literacy Program for UNM Faculty. 2025. (Co-leading an interdisciplinary training program on AI literacy and critical pedagogy for university faculty. Covered prompt design, algorithmic bias, classroom integration, and ethical frameworks.)

Outstanding Lecturer of the Year. The University of New Mexico. 2024.

AATSEEL Certificate Program in Diverse and Inclusive Pedagogies (CDIPS). 2021-2022 Cohort.

Promineo Tech Software Development Certification, Front-End Software Development (2022).