The study of history has always been a personal experience for Visiting Instructor of History Anna Bisikalo ’17. Bisikalo was born in Ukraine and moved to the U.S. at the age of five. While her cultural heritage remained a facet of her childhood, Bisikalo did not dive into the intricacies of her background until she got older. During her college years, a revelation about her grandmother made her think about applying historical study to everyday life.

“I grew up knowing her as a really devoted member of the church,” Bisikalo said. “[Then] I learned from my dad that she was an active Communist in his childhood! And the more I learned about history, I was like, ‘How does an active Communist turn into a devoted member of a religious group after 1991?’”

Questions like these have motivated Bisikalo to uncover the complexity of Ukrainian history and religion, first as an undergraduate at Wesleyan University and later as a PhD student at Harvard University. She currently teaches “Laboratory of Modernity: History of Ukraine, 1861-Present” and is writing a dissertation on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in both postwar and post-Soviet contexts. Bisikalo sat down with The Argus to discuss her heritage, academic interests, and her experience returning to the University as a student-teacher.

The Argus: You were a student at Wesleyan. What changes have you noticed since your time here?

Anna Bisikalo: I graduated five years ago, which is not a super long time ago! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but it was funny to come back and realize that so many staff are still here. It was nice to see that continuity of the same person swiping us in at Usdan.

The biggest change that I noticed right off the bat was the construction near Olin. I was a government major and spent a lot of time in PAC [the Public Affairs Center] and Albritton [Center], so it’s weird that it’s gone and being reconfigured.

I feel like the students that I’ve interacted with and seen on campus look very much like they could have been on campus five years ago, I don’t think the styles have changed too much. Students seem just as engaged, curious, and as interested in learning as when I was here.

A: What was your favorite class?

AB: I had a lot of classes that I really liked. Some classes that don’t have anything to do with what I do now were “Drawing 1” and “Drawing 2” with [Associate Professor of Art] Julia Randall. Those were wonderful classes and she helped me see and think about art beyond the formal craft. It was always nice to take a studio class while I was doing a lot of heavy reading and writing classes. It was just a different way for my brain and my hands to work.

Another favorite class was taught by my advisor, [Associate Professor of Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (REES)] Victoria Smolkin, and was called “A Moral Life in a Secular World.” It was a history of secularism and religion and how they intertwined in the 19th and 20th centuries.

A: Who were your favorite professors and why?

AB: Professor Smolkin and [Professor of REES] Peter Rutland. The content that I learned with them shaped me and how I think about the world. They’ve also been supportive in my journey through academia, offering support, letters of recommendation, etc. [Professor of REES] Susanne Fusso and [Professor of Russian Language and Literature] Priscilla Meyer…really gave me a lot of flexibility in how I wanted to study literature…[Associate Professor of Religion] Justine Quijada [is another]. I think what everyone had in common is that they took me and my ideas seriously, even when I didn’t really take them seriously yet…[they] helped me figure out what I was trying to say and motivated me to stay on that path.

A: As a student, what did you think your profession would be?

AB: When I got to Wesleyan I wanted to do English literature. I liked reading and writing because I took an advanced literature course in my senior year of high school. Usually, the changes in the trajectory of my career path have to do with a really impactful…teacher. I took a government class with [former Associate Professor of Government] Joslyn Traeger…[and] I did some research assistant work for her…[about] Vladimir Putin and the role of humiliation in international politics. I’ve always been interested in politics and society so I chose the International Relations track and also majored in [REES], in part because I already knew two Eastern European languages.

A: When did you know you wanted to become a professor?

AB: Growing up, I had a lot of teachers in my family. I have five close family members who are educators in some capacity…[and] they seemed to enjoy it. I both admired…[teaching] and it seemed like a viable career path.

I don’t remember an exact moment where I decided to apply for grad school. I was nearing the end of my senior year and didn’t really have any jobs that I was interested in…and essentially thought of grad school as a way to keep going to school for several years and delay working. I didn’t feel ready to go out into the real world and wanted to keep learning. I just feel really comfortable in the classroom. So…I applied to grad school the year after graduating and chose history over political science because the historical method has always jived with me a bit more.

A: How do you think you’ve changed since your time as a student at Wesleyan?

AB: I think I notice that more than I notice any differences about Wesleyan itself. Coming back to campus, I just felt such a flood of nostalgia in a way that was so intense and unexpected. Over the five years that I’ve been away from Wesleyan, I’ve grown into myself more as a person. I think my senior [year] especially felt rather chaotic. I was writing a thesis and I did not have great skills for how to do that in a way that was manageable…[which] took a toll on my mental health.

 In college, you really want to experience everything you can, and I was really busy all the time hanging out with friends. It was wonderful! But I think since then, my life has slowed down in many ways. I feel a lot less manic than I did in college.

Coming back as an instructor was strange at first, but it feels really nice. This is my first time teaching a course independently. I think if I went to any other institution that I wasn’t as familiar with it would be much more nerve-racking. Knowing where everything is, how all the logistics work, a lot of the faculty, and the student body pretty well made me…more comfortable trying this new [role].

If you had told me when I was graduating that in five years I would come back to teach, I would be really surprised! But at this stage, it feels normal.

A: What are the best ways to engage students?

AB: This is a hard question to answer because…it feels like I’m just lucky and get students who are engaged themselves. But I do obviously put some effort into it! It’s nice teaching this class [“Laboratory of Modernity”] that has such a clear connection to the present day. I don’t really have to do any work to [explain] why it’s important, which helps. 

I also try to reflect often on what worked for me as a student, and I think a lot of times I felt really compelled [to participate] when the teachers showed that they’re real people. [It’s important to] break down this distance between yourself and students, making the classroom an environment in which everybody is learning.

I think switching things up throughout class is really important. Straight-up lecturing is not the best way to teach or to learn. I try to…lecture as little as possible and engage students in different ways.

Especially being so close in age to my students, I feel like it’s easy to trust that they are doing their own mental engagement with the material, even if I’m not controlling or observing every aspect of it. Basically, I’m trying to talk less in class and get students to talk more.

A: What influences your approach to teaching?

AB: When I reflect on what sort of training had the biggest impact on how I teach, what consistently comes to mind is that I did improvisational comedy in high school and at Wesleyan [with Gag Reflex]. It’s maybe a strange answer, but that practice really helped me feel confident speaking in front of people and not knowing where a conversation will go, which makes up most of teaching a history course, as it turns out.

A: You mentioned you went to graduate school at Harvard. Having graduated from both Wesleyan and Harvard, which institution can you say is better?

AB: I think in college I understood that I was there to learn, to make mistakes, and find [out] new things. When I got into grad school, especially Harvard, I felt a lot of pressure and was like, “Well, now I have to be an expert and I should already know [about] the things I’m going to be learning.” But, as it turned out, that was not the case at all. I got over that [feeling] once I let myself embrace how messy the learning process is.

In grad school, as the years go on, you start to approach it more like a nine-to-five. You have a [separate] home life and work life [in grad school], and I think in college all that being combined was really fun and wonderful, but also a little overwhelming.

There are also some differences between Harvard undergraduates and Wesleyan undergraduates. This is a broad generalization, but oftentimes Harvard undergraduates are really keen on [knowing] how their learning applies to what they want to do in the future. I just really loved the intellectual atmosphere at Wesleyan, where people [are] on sports teams, taking ceramics classes, and [in] music groups, et cetera. I think the student body at Wesleyan has a lot going for it.

When I toured Wesleyan, it was close to my top choice already, but it just felt special in some way that I couldn’t put into words. It felt very friendly, and I never felt any sense of competition in my undergrad [years]. It’s something I really treasured about the Wesleyan experience…I never felt competitive with other students. Everybody would praise each other’s successes and support each other through challenges. Obviously, students take academics seriously. But, given the size of the school and how intimate the campus is, it’s clear that students are also whole people who have their own lives and interests outside of school.

A: Could you describe your visits to Ukraine?

AB: I’m from Vinnytsia, which is halfway between Kyiv and Lviv. It’s strange visiting a place every year for a short amount of time because you really see it transform before your eyes. Every time I went to Ukraine it would feel very different from my life in the U.S. There would be certain conveniences that weren’t there. I would have to go to an internet cafe in the 2000s because we didn’t have internet at home in Ukraine. But over time, things started changing pretty rapidly. Now, in many ways, I would say Ukraine is more advanced than the U.S. In many cities, the transportation is touchless. You just tap your bank account on your phone to pay for transport, which is pretty different from the Boston MBTA [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority]. 

I saw the effects of globalization too. Every time I visited Ukraine I would notice more and more people who weren’t ethnic Ukrainians. In big cities, a much wider array of food has become available. For some reason, in Ukraine in the last few years, pizza plus sushi joints have become really popular! I’ve really seen it transform from this really devastated post-Soviet country… into a vibrant, democratic country.

 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Aaron Goldberg can be reached at apgoldberg@wesleyan.edu.