Lora Wheeler Mjolsness

Picture of Lora Wheeler Mjolsness
Lecturer, Russian
School of Humanities
Ph.D., USC, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Email: lora@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
211 HIB
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
19th century, 20th century and Contemporary Children's Literature; Soviet and Russian Animation; Russian Folklore
Research Abstract
Lora Wheeler Mjolsness received her Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Southern California. Her dissertation Children in Transition: Popular Children's Magazines in Late Imperial and Early Soviet Russia, 1900-1932, explores the themes of the orphaned hero, the female protagonist, the role of education and the use of fantasy in these magazines. Her most recent publications have been on Russian and Soviet animation, both for children and adults. Her other interests include 19th and 20th century Russian literature, Russian and Soviet cinema, modern Russian art and Russian folklore.
Publications
She Animates: Female Soviet Subjectivity in Russian Animation. Co-Author Michele Leigh. Brighton:
Academic Studies Press, 2020.
Zhenskoe litso sovetskoi i rossiiskoe animatsii. Co Author Michele Leigh. Translator Alena Fomenko. St. Petersburg: Sovremennaya zapadnaya rusistika, 2023.
CONFERENCE PAPERS

“Animated Russian Women Warriors and the Men who Love Them: Medieval Russia, National Identity and the Russian Animation Industry” Presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference in Boston, March 21-26, 2012.

“Early Russian and Soviet Animation: Child’s Play and Adult Pursuits” Presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference in New Orleans, March 10-14, 2011.

“Technical Innovations and Creative Directions: Two Version of Konek-Gorbunok” Presented at The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEES) Annual Conference in Los Angeles, November , 18-21, 2010.


"The Brumbergs and Soiuzmultfilm. Presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference in Los Angeles, March 17-21, 2010.

"Ivan Ivanov-Vano: Writing Soviet Animation" To be Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) Annual Conference in Boston, November 12-15, 2009.

"Animated Auteurs: The Brumberg Sisters and Early Soviet Animation." To be Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Annual Conference in San Francisco, December 27- 30, 2008.

Vertov’sSoviet Toys: Commerce, Commercialization and Cartoons. Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) Annual Conference in New Orleans, November 15-18, 2007.

"Abandoning Childhood: Coming of Age in Post-Soviet Film." Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) Annual Conference in Washington, D. C. November 16-19, 2006.

"Cool or Cooler? The Siberian School of Animation." Presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference in London, March 31- April 3, 2005.

"Reading Russian is Easy." Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Annual Conference in Philadelphia, December 27- 30, 2004.

"Glasnost’, Childhood and Animation: The Power of Transformation."
Presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference in Minneapolis, March 6-9, 2003.

“Soviet Animation: The Representation of Childhood.” Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Annual Conference in New York, December 26-30, 2002.

“Learning to Read: Contemporary Portrayals of Russian Adolescent Girls.” Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) Annual Conference in Pittsburg, November 15-18, 2002.
“The Animated Collapse of Soviet Childhood” Presented to the Society of Animation Studies (SAS) Annual Conference in Los Angeles, September 2002.

"Children at the Movies: A Child's Reception to Early Russian and Soviet Cinema." Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL)Annual Conference in New Orleans, Dec. 27-30, 2001.

The Adolescent Orphaned Hero in Late Imperial and Early Soviet Children’s Literature." Presented to The International Interdisciplinary Conference on National and Cultural Identity in Children's Literature and Media, University of Reading, UK, April7-9, 2001.

"Russian Girl Power:Female Heroes in pre- and post-Revolutionary Children's Magazines." Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Annual Conference in Washington D.C.,December 27-30, 2000.
“Russian Web Animation From St. Petersburg to Siberia.” Animation Journal 13 (2005): 54-66. (J1)
Co-Editor
Introduction and editing of the Symposium articles “Traditions and Transitions: Russian Language Teaching in the United States” Russian Language Journal 2013 (currently under review)

Book Entries
"Vertov's Soviet Toys." Directory of World Cinema: Russia. Chicago: Intellect at the University of Chicago, 2011: 271-273.

"Ivanov-Vano's Humpback Horse." Directory of World Cinema: Russia. Intellect at the University of Chicago, 2011: 274-276.

"The Brumberg Sisters's Feiua Zaitsev." Directory of World Cinema: Russia. Intellect at the University of Chicago, 2011: 276-278.

Journal Articles
“Vertov’s Soviet Toys: Commerce, Commercialization and Cartoons.” Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema Volume 2. Issue 3 (2008): 247-267.

“Russian Web Animation From St. Petersburg to Siberia.” Animation Journal 13 (2005): 54-66.

Film Review
“The Three Bogatyrs and the Shamakhan Queen” Kinokultura July 2011

“Adventures of Alenushka and Yerioma” Kinokultura, April 2009

Book Reviews
“Clare Kitson’s Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales.” Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2 (2006) 299-
302.
Grants
2018 US Department of State Title VIII fellowship at the Slavic Research Lab at UIUC
Last updated
10/09/2023