Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Most of our classes usually take place at Lossi 3 or Jakobi 2.
Lossi 3 study building is open Mon–Fri 7:00–21:30 and Sat–Sun 8:00–20:00.
Jakobi 2 study building is open Mon–Fri 7:30 and Sat-Sun 8:00–18:00.
Opening hours are different on state holidays and during summer months (June-August). You can always ask the receptionists about the exact opening hours by calling +372 737 6104 (Lossi 3) and +372 737 5103 (Jakobi 2).
Our academic affairs specialists and coordinators are usually present Mon–Fri at 8–17. However, to make sure the person you wish to meet with is present at the time you need it, we strongly recommend scheduling a meeting beforehand (esp. during distant learning periods).
Terje Loogus
Dr. phil.
Director of Institute 0.8 p
Research and supervision topics:
- culture and translation
- culture-specific translation problems
- sociology of translation
Tanel Lepsoo
PhD (French Language and Literature)
Deputy Head of Institute
Research and supervision topics:
- French theatre
- French literature at the beginning of the 20th century
- cultural transfers
- issues of figuration and representation
Raili Marling
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Deputy Head of Institute
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary and modernist American literature
- gender studies
- discourse analysis and political rhetoric
- political affects and emotions
- intercultural communication
Age Allas
Coordinator
Kätlin Luhamägi
Administrative Manager
Marianne Liibert
Senior Communications Specialist
Mari-Liis Tina
Librarian 0.6 p
Lossi 3-208
Raili Marling
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Head of Department, Professor of English, Programme Director for Germanic and Romance Languages and Literatures
Lossi 3-333
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary and modernist American literature
- gender studies
- discourse analysis and political rhetoric
- political affects and emotions
- intercultural communication
Nicholas William Groom
PhD
Visiting Professor
Djuddah Arthur Joost Leijen
PhD (General Linguistics)
Associate Professor of English Language
Lossi 3-306
Research and supervision topics:
- academic writing
- academic writing and GenAI
- rhetoric and composition
- academic literacy
- communication and technology
- genre studies
- applied linguistics
Jane Padrik
PhD (General Linguistics)
Associate Professor of English Language 0.2 p
Lossi 3-332
Research and supervision topics:
- usage-based linguistics
- sociolinguistic variation
- learner language research
- digital humanities
- empirical methods in linguistics (corpus linguistics, linguistic experiments, statistical modelling)
Katiliina Gielen
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Lecturer in English Language and Translation Studies
Lossi 3-324
Research and supervision topics:
- translation studies
- translation history
- comparative literary studies
- gender studies
Liina Tammekänd
PhD (General Linguistics)
Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics
Lossi 3-324
Research and supervision topics:
- corpus linguistics
- learner English of Estonian speakers
- second language acquisition theories
- academic writing
- artificial intelligence in academic writing
Pilvi Rajamäe
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Lecturer in English Literature
Lossi 3-334
Reeli Torn-Leesik
PhD (General Linguistics)
Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, Programme Director for English Language and Literature
Lossi 3-324
Research and supervision topics:
- Estonian learner English
- morphosyntax (esp. voice constructions)
- English grammar and vocabulary
- English phonetics
- first and second language acquisition
Natalja Zagura
MA (English Language and Literature)
Junior Lecturer in English Language and Teaching Methodology
Lossi 3-324
Research and supervision topics:
- acquisition and learning of English as a foreign language
- oral interaction
- conversation analysis
- compensatory strategies
- plurilingualism
- action-oriented approach in foreign language teaching
Eva Rein
Junior Lecturer in English Language and Canadian Literature
Lossi 3-334
Research and supervision topics:
- Canadian literature in English
- trauma studies
- memory studies
- identity
- Canadian and Estonian/Estonian Canadian comparative literature
Anneli Sigus
MA (Teacher of English)
Junior Lecturer in English and Language Education
Research and supervision topics:
- learning and teaching English
- implementing the CEFR in language teaching
- creating elective courses for teaching English (especially speaking courses)
- language testing and assessment"
Inga Laant
Teacher of English 0.5 p
Lossi 3-335
Ele Sepp
mag (Interpreting)
Teacher of English Language
Lossi 3-335
Anett Raup
MA (Translation)
Teacher of English Language
Lossi 3-335
Ülle Türk
MA (Linguistics)
Teacher of English Language and Culture 0.5 p
Lossi 3-324
Research and supervision topics:
- Common European Reference for Languages and the action-oriented approach in foreign language education
- task-based and project-based language teaching
- language testing and assessment
- academic reading and writing
- teaching literature and culture
- British and Irish culture (incl media and film studies)
Susanna Soosaar
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Research Fellow in English Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary and postmodern literature and theory
- political emotions and affect theory
- climate policy and environmental humanities
Sara Bédard-Goulet
PhD (Contemporary Literature)
Visiting Research Fellow in Environmental Humanities 0.5 p
Lossi 3-423
Research and supervision topics:
- environmental humanities and ecocriticism
- contemporary French-language literature
- research-creation
Eret Talviste
PhD (English Literature)
Research Fellow in Contemporary English Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- modern and contemporary literature
- transnational modernist studies
- feminist, posthuman, affect, and postcolonial theories, ecocriticism
- race and ethnicity, gender, class
- wonder and wander
- comparative literature between Estonia and Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or England
Ester Suur
MA (English Language and Literature)
Junior Research Fellow in English Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary literature
- English-language Japanese and Korean diaspora literature
- transcultural and postcolonial literatures
- diasporic identity in literature
Ave Palm
MA (Teacher of English)
Junior Research Fellow in English Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- early-20th-century English literature
- queer literature and history
- gender studies
- reception studies
Marilii Paalo
Academic Affairs Specialist
Denys Savchenko
MA (English Language and Literature)
Junior Research Fellow in English Language and Literature (employment contract suspended)
Research and supervision topics:
- applied linguistics
- corpus linguistics
- learner language
Janine Aloe
MSc
Junior Research Fellow in English Language and Literature (employment contract suspended)
Janika Päll
PhD (Classical Philology)
Head of Department, Professor of Classical Philology 0.8 p
Lossi 3-408
Research and supervision topics:
- ancient Greek and Latin language
- ancient literature
- the history of ancient rhetoric
- the tradition of antiquity from renaissance humanists to neohumanism
- neo-latin and humanist greek literature
- translating ancient literature
Maria-Kristiina Lotman
PhD (Classical Philology)
Associate Professor of Classical Philology 0.75 p
Research and supervision topics:
- metrics
- poetics
- translation of polycoded texts
Kadri Novikov
PhD (Classical Philology)
Lecturer in Classical Philology, Programme Director for Classical Studies
Lossi 3-407
Research and supervision topics:
- Ancient Greek novels
- studying narrative and rhetoric, rhetorical figures in ancient novels
- form of ancient names in earlier Estonian translations
Neeme Näripä
PhD (Classical Philology)
Lecturer in Latin and Ancient Greek
Lossi 3-407
Research and supervision topics:
- rhetorical theory (Hermogenes, stasis theory)
- Greek tragedy (Aeschylus' trilogy "Oresteia", mythic world, gender)
- Lucian ("True Stories", dialogues, sophistic speeches, mythic world, identity, dialect)
Ivo Volt
PhD (Classical Philology)
Lecturer in Classical Studies 0.5 p
Jaana Jurtšenkova
MA (Classical Philology)
Teacher of Latin 0.5 p
Kristin Klaus
MA (Classical Philology)
Teacher of Latin 0.5 p
Research and supervision topics:
- bible translation
- Septuagint (LXX) Greek
Anni Polding
MA (Classical Philology)
Junior Research Fellow in Classical Philology 0.5 p
Research and supervision topics:
- the pedagogical-philological seminar
- neo-humanism
- digitising old documents
- digital Latin
Beatrice Veidenberg
MA (Classical Philology)
Junior Research Fellow in Classical Philology 0.8 p
Research and supervision topics:
- ancient drama
- Aeschylus' tragedies
- poetic repetitions
- performance and ritual
- cognitive impact of theatre
Elica Mateo Krikk
Academic Affairs Specialist
Kaidi Hõbejõgi
PhD (Classical Philology)
Lecturer in Latin Language (employment contract suspended)
Research and supervision topics:
- Medieval Latin
- Neo Latin literature
- history of universities (esp. the early modern University of Tartu) and academic language use
- historical sociolinguistics and multilingual practices (incl. code-switching)
Tanel Lepsoo
PhD (French Language and Literature)
Head of Department, Associate Professor of French Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- French theatre
- French literature at the beginning of the 20th century
- cultural transfers
- issues of figuration and representation
Anu Treikelder
PhD (French Language and Literature)
Lecturer in French Language and Linguistics, Programme Director for Romance Studies, Programme Director for Teacher of Foreign Languages
Lossi 3-404
Research and supervision topics:
- comparative studies of French and Estonian
- semantics and pragmatics
- acquisition and didactics of French as a foreign language
Mari Kruse
PhD (Spanish Language and Literature)
Lecturer in Spanish Language and Linguistics, Programme Director for European Languages and Cultures
Research and supervision topics:
- acquiring additional foreign languages, especially that of Spanish by Estonians
- crosslinguistic transfer
- variation of Spanish, lexicology
- final papers in teacher training
Vincent Dautancourt
PhD
Lecturer in French Language and Culture
Lossi 3-403
Research and supervision topics:
- French and Estonian society
- French journalism
- relations between France and Estonia
- teaching of French as a foreign language
Klaarika Kaldjärv
PhD (Spanish Language and Literature)
Lecturer in Spanish Literature and Translation Studies
Research and supervision topics:
- translation studies
- literary translation
- translations from Spanish into Estonian
- literature in Spanish
Marri Amon
PhD (General Linguistics)
Lecturer in French Language and Translation Studies 0.5 p
Lossi 3-403
Research and supervision topics:
- comparative studies of Estonian and French
- relations between written and oral language
- grammaticalization
Annika Mikkel
PhD (Classical Philology)
Lecturer in Italian and Latin Language
Lossi 3-407
Research and supervision topics:
- prosody of Italian language
- prose rhythm
- Italian language and literature
Inés Daniela Navarro Di Meo
mag (Spanish Language and Literature)
Visiting Lecturer in Spanish Language and Literature
Virginia Rapún Mombiela
PhD (Spanish Language and Literature)
Lecturer in Spanish Language and Linguistics
Lossi 3-420
Marge Käsper
PhD (French Language and Literature)
Lecturer in French Language and Linguistics 0.8 p
Lossi 3-403
Research and supervision topics:
- discourse analysis
- phonetics
- lexicology
- corpus linguistics
- metaphors
Tiina Zobel
Teacher of French
Lossi 3-404
Kairi Güsson
MA (Culture management)
Teacher of Spanish
Reet Alas
PhD (French Language and Literature)
Teacher of French Language
Lossi 3-419
Anette Tammiste
MA (French teacher)
Junior Research Fellow in French Language and Literature
Lossi 3
Research and supervision topics:
- plurilingualism
- plurilingual and pluricultural competence
- foreign language acquisition and didactics
- mediation
- French language and literature
Ehte Puhang
MA (Semiotics and Culture Studies)
Junior Research Fellow in Spanish Language and Literature 0.5 p
Research and supervision topics:
- translation history and translation studies
- translating from Spanish to Estonian
- literature in Spanish
- sociology of literature
Elica Mateo Krikk
Academic Affairs Specialist 0.5 p
Marju Adams
Academic Affairs Specialist
Reet Bender
PhD (German Language and Literature)
Head of Department, Professor of German Studies, Programme Director for German Language and Literature
Merje Miliste
PhD (German Language and Literature)
Lecturer in German Language and Linguistics
Lossi 3-314
Research and supervision topics:
- applied linguistics
- language aqusition
- plurilingualism
- positive approaches to foreign language teaching
Daniel Kulesza
MA
Visiting Lecturer in German Language and Literature
Lossi 3-312
Research and supervision topics:
- didactics and methodology of German as a foreign language
- creative writing
- cultural studies
- intercultural communication
Hella Liira
MA (German Language and Literature)
Junior Lecturer in German Language
Lossi 3-314
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary German literature
- 19th- and 20th-century German literature
- creative writing
- history of translation
Katrin Saar
MA
Teacher of German Language
Lossi 3-312
Research and supervision topics:
- German language and its teaching
- willingness to communicate
- fictional identity
Lili Kängsepp-Puun
MA (Teacher of Estonian as a Foreign Language)
Teacher of German 0.5 p
Kadi Kähär-Peterson
PhD (History)
Research Fellow in Baltic German Culture 0.8 p
Research and supervision topics:
- Baltic German and Estonian culture and history
- History of European, Estonian, and Baltic German political thought
Heidi Rajamäe-Volmer
Junior Research Fellow in German Language and Literature 0.5 p
Milvi Kaber
Academic Affairs Specialist 0.5 p
Greta Kuus
MA (Teacher of German Language)
Teacher of German (employment contract suspended)
Tatjana Stepaništševa
PhD (Russian Literature)
Head of Department, Lecturer in Russian Literature, Programme Director for Russian and Slavonic Philology, Programme Director
Lossi 3-219
Research and supervision topics:
- poetics of Russian literature
- history of Russian literature of the 19th century
- Russian women writers
- guidebooks in cultural contexts
Ekaterina Velmezova
PhD
Visiting Professor of Slavic Studies 0.2 p
Lossi 3-221
Research and supervision topics:
- history and epistemology of linguistic ideas in Eastern and Central Europe
- linguistic text analysis
- translation studies
- slavic ethnolinguistics
- linguistics and semiotics
Roman Leibov
PhD (Russian Literature)
Associate Professor of Russian Literature
Lossi 3-219
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary Russian literature
- 19th–20th century Russian literature
- literary canon
- soviet song
- literature on the Internet
Anastasiia Ryko
cand
Associate Professor of Russian Language
Lossi 3-225
Irina Abisogomjan
PhD (Slavonic Philology)
Lecturer in Czech Language 0.5 p
Lossi 3-224
Research and supervision topics:
- Czech language and culture
- history of the Czech language
- comparative linguistics
- contacts between Slavic languages and other languages
- history of Slavic philology at the University of Tartu
- learning and teaching Russian in Estonian schools
Elizaveta Sosnovtseva
cand
Lecturer in Russian Language
Lossi 3-225
Research and supervision topics:
- grammar of modern Russian
- contemporary Russian syntax
- micro-diachronical liguistic studies
- bilingualism and heritage speakers' speech
- history of the Russian language
Marcin Raiman
mag (Polish Philology)
Visiting Lecturer in Polish Language and Literature 0.6 p
Research and supervision topics:
- teaching Polish as a foreign language
- language policy
- comparative grammar of Polish and other languages
Maria Borovikova
PhD (Russian Literature)
Lecturer in Russian Literature 0.5 p
Lossi 3-220
Mihhail Orehhov
MA (Teacher of Russian Language and Literature)
Teacher of Russian Language
Lossi 3-222
Research and supervision topics:
- methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language
- visualisation of grammar
Natalija Joonas
MA (Russian Language)
Teacher of Russian Language
Lossi 3-222
Research and supervision topics:
- learning and teaching Russian as a foreign language
Olga Fraiman
MA (Russian Literature)
Teacher of Russian
Lossi 3-222
Janeli Nõlvand
MA (Teacher of Russian Language and Literature)
Teacher of Russian Language
Lossi 3-222
Research and supervision topics:
- learning and teaching Russian as a foreign language (general language and professional language)
Natasha Alexandra Kadlec
MA (Russian and Slavonic Philology)
Visiting Research Fellow
Anna Murashova
MA (Philology)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- contemporary Russian literature
Aliona Kuts
MA (Russian and Slavonic Philology)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- Russian and Slavic philology
- memory studies
- history of the early 19th-century press
- war propaganda
- Russian Empire in the 19th century
Ekaterina Konakova
MA (Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- representations of collective and family memory in contemporary Russian autobiographical prose
Olga Roginskaya
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Oksana Kuts
MA (Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Research and supervision topics:
- linguistics
- Baltic and Slavonic languages and literatures
- history of science
Anna Troitskaia
MA (Art History and Theory)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Lossi 3
Research and supervision topics:
- travel guide as an ideological text
Evgeny Zavadskiy
mag (Literary Creation)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature
Jelisaveta-Kaarina Kostandi
cand (Philology)
Specialist of Russian 0.1 p
Research and supervision topics:
- pragmatics of language
- language of the Russian diaspora
- language and culture of the Old Believers of Estonia
Valentina Štšadneva
PhD (Russian Language)
Specialist 0.1 p
Irina Külmoja
cand (Philology)
Project Manager 0.1 p
Lossi 3-224
Research and supervision topics:
- language and culture of Old Believers of Estonia
- Russian-Estonian contrastive grammar
- functional grammar of Russian
- language of Russian diaspora
Viivika Voodla
Academic Affairs Specialist
Roman Voitehhovitš
PhD (Russian Literature)
Lecturer in Russian Literature (employment contract suspended)
Liudmila Nikolaeva
MA (Primary School Teacher in Multilingual School)
Junior Research Fellow in Russian Language and Literature (employment contract suspended) 0.5 p
Antonina Kostina
MA (Norwegian Language and Literature)
Head of Department, Teacher of Norwegian Language, Programme Director
Lossi 3-316
Research and supervision topics:
- Norwegian language, literature and culture
Kristel Zilmer
PhD (Nordic Philology)
Visiting Professor
Eva Liina Asu-Garcia
PhD (Phonetics)
Associate Professor of Swedish Language 0.2 p
Lossi 3-307
Research and supervision topics:
- experimental phonetics
- Estonian prosody (intonation, stress, quantity)
- multimodal prosody
- phonetic features of Estonian Swedish dialects
- L2 accent and language attitudes
Kristina Mullamaa
PhD (English Language and Literature)
Lecturer in English and Swedish Language
Lossi 3-317
Kristina Tolinsson Ting
PhD (European Studies)
Visiting Lecturer in Swedish Language and Literature
Lossi 3-317
Research and supervision topics:
- teaching Swedish as a foreign language
- social history
- welfare and social policies
- migration studies
Vestein Langseth Lauritsen
MSc (Nordic Studies)
Visiting Lecturer in Norwegian Language and Literature
Lossi 3
Mie Mortensen
MPhil (Russian Language and Literature)
Visiting Lecturer in Danish Language and Literature
Lossi 3-318
Research and supervision topics:
- Danish literature
- translation studies (Scandinavian, Russian, English)
- cultural studies
- comparative literature and literary theory
Maiu Elken
MA (Nordic Philology)
Teacher of Swedish 0.5 p
Lossi 3-316
Viivika Voodla
Academic Affairs Specialist
Terje Loogus
Dr. phil.
Head of Department, Associate Professor of Translation Studies 0.2 p
Research and supervision topics:
- culture and translation
- culture-specific translation problems
- sociology of translation
Luc van Doorslaer
PhD
Professor of Translation Studies
Lossi 3-305
Research and supervision topics:
- research on sociology of translation
- city translation
- news translation
Marika Borovikova
Junior Lecturer in Translation, Programme Director for Translation Studies
Research and supervision topics:
- legal translation
- sworn translator's role and activities
- machine translation post-editing
Irmak Mertens
PhD (Semiotics and Culture Studies)
Research Fellow in Translation Studies 0.35 p
Liisi Kraak
MA (Translation)
Junior Research Fellow in Translation Studies
Research and supervision topics:
- translation studies
Milvi Kaber
Academic Affairs Specialist
Sirje Kupp-Sazonov
PhD (Russian Language)
Lecturer in Russian Language and Translation Studies (employment contract suspended)
Research and supervision topics:
- the role of grammar in translation
- Russian-Estonian contrastive grammar
- Russian-Estonian translation
- Estonian translations of The Master and Margarita
- Ivan the Terrible’s letters
Tiina Kattel
MA (Comparative Literature)
Head of Department
Eri Miyano
MA (Japanese Language and Culture)
Teacher of Japanese Language
Lossi 3-410
Research and supervision topics:
- Japanese as a foreign language
- learning and teaching Japanese as a foreign language
Mart Tšernjuk
MA (History)
Teacher of Chinese Language 0.8 p
Lossi 3-410
Research and supervision topics:
- classical Chinese thought and philosophy
- Chinese language, culture and history
- Taiwanese politics and history
Tiina Kattel
MA (Comparative Literature)
Head of Department, Teacher of Estonian and Lithuanian
Ilze Talberga
PhD (Estonian Language)
Lecturer in Latvian and Estonian Language
Lossi 3-410
Research and supervision topics:
- comparative grammar of Latvian and Estonian (e.g. verb prefixes, aspect, diminutives)
- translation theory and practice (translation of fiction, poetry, children’s literature, and handbooks)
- language learning and teaching
- intercultural communication and cultural relations (Latvian–Estonian cultural contacts, national stereotypes)
- bilingualism and identity (the Latvian–Estonian linguistic space)
Piret Toomet
MA (Estonian Language)
Teacher of Estonian Language
Lossi 3-411
Katrin Jänese
Teacher of Estonian
Lossi 3-411
Gerli Lokk
MA (Teacher of Estonian Language and Literature)
Teacher of Estonian
Lossi 3-411
Monika Urb
MA (Teacher of Estonian as a Foreign Language)
Teacher of Estonian
Lossi 3-411
Linda Palts
Teacher of Estonian
Lossi 3-411
Tatjana Kodas
Teacher of Estonian
Lossi 3-411
Sille Midt
MA (Teacher of Estonian as a Foreign Language)
Teacher of Estonian
Sälly Salusoo
MA (Teacher of Estonian Language and Literature)
Teacher of Estonian 0.5 p
Lossi 3-411
