Staff
Dr. Irina Dubinina is a professor of Russian and the director of the Russian language program at the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literature. She joined Brandeis in 2007 and has been active in various pedagogical training programs and initiatives at the university and beyond. A winner of the 2012 Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the 2023 School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Service Award, Irina has shown passion and commitment to pedagogy not only in her teaching at Brandeis, but also in her years of experience in organizing and running workshops and training programs for faculty in the United States and abroad.
Irina serves on the Board of Directors for American Councils of Teachers of Russian, where she leads the Committee on Professional Development, and on the Pedagogy Advisory Board of the National Heritage Language Resource Center.
Dr. Marty Samuels holds a PhD in biochemistry from Harvard University where he also taught dozens of undergraduate biology and chemistry courses. As the associate director for Science at Harvard’s Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, he worked with faculty across disciplines to incorporate active learning and inclusive teaching, (re)design courses and assignments, train TAs, foster communities of practice and support student success. Marty also has extensive experience in helping faculty apply for educational grants.
Before joining the Bok Center, he served as the assistant director for Undergraduate Studies for Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemical and Physical Biology, teaching and mentoring hundreds of students. His teaching excellence has been recognized with multiple awards at the university level. Most recently, he was the Head of Content for LabXchange, Harvard’s free, interactive science education platform.