-2015 St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia. MA in Intercultural Education.
-2011 European University at St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia. MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies.
-2008 Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts. BA in Russian Studies. Summa Cum Laude.

Michael previously worked at Bard College as the Director of Bard Programs at Smolny. He has vast experience in furthering international education in the post-Soviet space.

- 2020 Teacher of the Year at Smolny
- 2008 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholarship at Kalmyk State University
- 2008 Phi Beta Kappa

- International Education
- Liberal Arts in non-traditional environments
- Self-esteem of university students
- Developmental theories

- Gudkov M., Freese M. "Tennessee Williams' Debut on the Soviet Stage: "Orpheus Descending" at the Mossovet Theatre and the Karl Marx Saratov Drama Theatre (1961)." Rossica. Literary Contacts & Connections, no. 2, 2022, pp.147-190. (in Russian)

- Freese M., Gudkov M. "The First Major Soviet Production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." The Tennessee Williams Annual Review, no. 21, 2022, pp.36-70.

- Belyaeva, Elena, and Michael Freese. “Institutional strategies to increase EMI quantity and quality in Russian higher education institutions: comparative analysis.” Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, vol. 9, no. 2, 2021, pp. 149-168.

- Freese, Michael and Ludmila Shramko. “Dialectical Notebook as a Means of ESL Teaching and 21st Century Skills.” Herzen’s Readings: Foreign Languages, 2020, pp. 646-649.

- Freese, Michael and Ludmila Shramko. “Peculiarities of ESL Teaching Remotely in Liberal Arts Environment.” Shatilovsky Readings, 2020, pp. 404-408.

- Shramko, Ludmila and Michael Freese. “The Principles of ESL Course Design in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Educational Environment.” In: Anikina Z. (ed.) Integrating Engineering Education and Humanities for Global Intercultural Perspectives. IEEHGIP 2020. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 131, pp. 449-456.

-Freese, Michael and Evgeniya Khramova. “Infinite Communication in the Educational Space of Modern Russia.” The Kazan Socially-Humanitarian Bulletin, vol. 36, no. 1, 2019, pp. 53-57. (in Russian)

-Ilyushin, L., A. Azbel and Michael Freese. “Preparation of Russian Schoolchildren for Liberal Arts Model of Education.” Kazan Pedagogical Journal, no. 1, 2019, pp. 129-136. (in Russian)