Professor Khapaeva is an international scholar and administrator with a track record of institution and community building and significant leadership of fundraising and research programs. Currently a researcher at Helsinki Collegium at the University of Helsinki, Khapaeva was the inaugural Director for International Relations and Research at the Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a joint program between St. Petersburg State University and Bard College that was Russia’s first “American-style” liberal arts college, and was the founding Director of Smolny Collegium, an institute for advanced studies.

“Our modern languages program is one of the most successful programs in the country," said Jacqueline J. Royster, Dean of Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “Dr. Khapaeva has the administrative and scholarly expertise to continue the pace of innovations in the applied language and intercultural studies that have been the hallmark of this very distinctive program." 

Khapaeva received a Ph.D. in History from St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia. She specializes in Russian literature and culture and so will strengthen the school's study track in Russian - one of the critical languages identified by the U.S. Department of State, as well as other languages. Dr. Khapaeva’s scholarly publications include four books and one translation from French; four chapters in collective volumes; more than 25 peer-reviewed articles with several in top tier peer-reviewed international journals published in Russian, English, and French.

She anticipates focusing on further development and expansion of the school’s nine modern language tracks and the internationalization and cultural adaptability of students.