Tamara Karakozova, Ph.d.
Instructional Assistant Professor of Modern Languages
Dr. Tamar Karakozova is an educator and scholar specializing in Russian language, English language teaching, and secondary education. She earned her B.A. in Russian Language and Literature (2004) and M.A. in Humanities/Slavic Linguistics (2006) from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. She later completed an M.A. in TESOL (2008), an M.A. in Higher Education Administration (2010), and a Ph.D. in Secondary Education, English (2016) at the University of Mississippi.
Dr. Karakozova has extensive experience teaching ESL/EFL and Russian in both the Republic of Georgia and the United States. Throughout her career, she has worked with a range of educational and international organizations, including The New School, Kids Corporation, The British Corner, United Nations, St. Giles International, and World Vision Georgia. She also volunteered with Tbilisi Youth House, supporting youth development initiatives.
In 2006, Dr. Karakozova earned the Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Adults (CELTA) in Tbilisi. Soon after, she came to the United States through the Edmund Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State. At the University of Mississippi, she previously taught in the Intensive English Program and joined the Russian program in 2009. After teaching in Tbilisi, Georgia from 2017 to 2019, she returned to the University of Mississippi in 2019, where she continues her work in language education.
In her doctoral dissertation at the University of Mississippi, she examined how practicing grammar through formula tales influenced students’ memorization, highlighting the role of narrative structure and repetition in language retention. Her current scholarship explores two primary directions. First, she investigates the pedagogical implications of AI-generated output in teaching writing, focusing on how emerging technologies can support student development while maintaining academic integrity and critical thinking. Second, she is conducting an interdisciplinary study on the representation of Russian male and female villains in American television and film over the past 25 years. Drawing on gender studies, media representation theory, and post–Cold War cultural analysis, the project analyzes how gender shapes portrayals of “the Russian enemy” in U.S. popular culture. Through close examination of character traits, narrative roles, visual coding, and ideological subtext, Dr. Karakozova’s research uncovers patterns in the construction of Russianness and gender—and reveals how these depictions reflect shifting cultural anxieties within American society.
Gender Studies -Related Research Interests: language pedagogy, second language acquisition, folklore, project-based learning, and the integration of technological and conceptual tools in the classroom.
