- PhD (Summa Cum Laude) in Slavic Languages and Literatures (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2002)
- PhD (ABD) in Slavic Languages and Literatures with concentration in Film Studies (University of Southern California, 2001–2004)
Profile:
My areas of specialization are contemporary Russian literature and film, Eastern European cinema, the visual arts, and digital humanities. In my scholarly works, I often examine the visual poetics of the text, anything from book covers to children’s animation and celebrity Instagram stories. In addition to experimenting in the field of digital humanities, I have published books on Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, and Osip Mandel’stam. I am also the founding editor of the Nabokov Online Journal
Various field practices inform and stimulate my broader artistic and academic interests: I particularly enjoy street photography and have produced several documentary films. The Roman Elegy of Joseph Brodsky (2020, 60 min.) examines the poet’s creative life in Rome. Nabokov’s Magic Lantern (2021, 60 min.), featuring archival footage and interviews, offers an iconoclastic look at the writer’s canonical biography. My forthcoming documentary will be devoted to a Russian poet and Anna Akhmatova’s literary secretary Anatoly Naiman.
Current Projects:
In my current research I analyze the aesthetics, design, and paratextual motifs of the opening and closing title sequences of Russian movies.
My monograph in progress is based on the unpublished drawings of Joseph Brodsky and it explores the Nobel Prize laureate’s unknown legacy as a graphic artist.
My debut work of fiction in Russian, The Zeppelin Stamp. A Storyboard Novel (2022), was recently published by Perlov Design Gallery. It blends art, photography and narrative.
Finally, I compiled and edited an anthology of contemporary Russian poetry written in direct response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (2022).
Courses Taught:
- Eastern European Cinema: War, Love, and Revolutions
- Vladimir Nabokov
- Putin’s Russia Before and After the War in Ukraine
- Akhmatova's Orphans
- How iRead the Eye-Books: Film Adaptations of World Literature
- Dreamers and Bandits in Russian Cinema
- Andrei Tarkovsky: A Cinematic Legacy
- The Worlds of Storytelling: Digital, Textual, Cinematic
Authored Books:
Edited Volumes:
A Blue Brick. Festschrift in Honour of John E. Bowlt on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday [Синий кирпич. Сборник в честь 80-летия Джона Э. Боулта] Frankfurt am Main: Esterum, 2023
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[The Doomsday Poetry. Chronicles] St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbakh, 2022. | |
Shades of Laura: Vladimir Nabokov’s Last Novel The Original of Laura | |
Lolita: The Story of a Cover Girl – Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel in Art and Design Co-edited with John Bertram New York: Print, 2013 | |
Лолита — история девушки с обложки: Роман Владимира Набокова в книжной графике и дизайне Санкт-Петербург: Крига, 2019. | |
Anatomy of a Short Story. Nabokov’s Puzzles, Codes, “Signs and Symbols” New York: Continuum, 2012.
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The Goalkeeper: The Nabokov Almanac Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010. | |
Империя N. Набоков и наследники [Empire N. Nabokov and his Heirs] Co-edited with Evgeniy Soshkin Moscow: New Literary Observer, 2006. | |
Шиповник. Сборник к 60-летию Романа Тименчика [Eglintine. Festschrift in Honor of Professor Roman Timenchik’s 60th Birthday]. Co-edited with Alexander Ospovat and Yuri Tsivian Moscow: Vodolei Publishers, 2005. |