Education
B.A. (magna cum laude), Cornell University (1969)
M.A., Harvard University (1971)
Ph.D., Harvard University (1979)
Employment
Visiting Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto, 1994-96
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, June, 1997-2001
Associate Professor, University of Toronto, February, 2001 -2003
Professor, University of Toronto, July, 2003 –
University Courses Taught—Undergraduate Level
SLA240H (New Form for New Ideas, 1820-1860)
SLA317H (Tolstoy)
SLA433H (Novel Study – Anna Karenina)
HUM199Y, Section L0381 (Careers in Russian Literature)
SLA423H (Novel Study- War and Peace)
SLA252H (Russian Short Fiction)
SLA463H (Russian Realism)
HUM199H, Section L0382 (Russia at War)
SLA423H (Novel Study – War and Peace)
JSH300H (Narrative and History)
University Courses Taught—Graduate Level
SLA 1241H (Narrative and History)
SLA1238H (Dostoevsky)
SLA1240H (Tolstoy)
SLA 1228 (Russian Realism)
Administrative Positions
Member, Search Committee for nineteenth-century literature position, 2007-08
Member, PTR committee, May 15, 2007 (5 hours)
Member, Cognate Discipline, Tenure Committee for Cannon Schmitt, English Department, 2007
Member, Library Advisory Committee, 2006-
Member, Academic Board, 2006-2009
Member, Tenure Committee for Taras Koznasky, 2005-6
Member, Search Committee for Russian Language Coordinator, 2005-6
Member, Search Committee for nineteenth-century literature position
Department Liaison, CERES
Organizer and Chair, CREES [CERES] Faculty Seminars, 2001-
Department Representative on CREES Executive, 2002-
Department Representative to General Council, 2001-2003
Member, PTR Committee, 2005-2021
Member, Chair Search, 2002
Member, Job Search Committee, History Department, 2000-2002
Member, Job Search Committee, Slavic Languages and Literatures, 2000-2001, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2007-2008
Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2006-2007
Member, 19th Century Literature Hiring Committee, 2008-09
Member at Large, Canadian Association of Slavists, 2009-2010
Acting Chair, Department of Slavic Studies, Spring, 2008
Member, Promotion Committee, Librarian, Kelly Library, 2009
Member, Promotion Committee to Sessional Lecturer II position for Artur Plackiewicz
Member, Promotion Committee to Senior Lecturer, Julia Mikhailova, 2010-11
Graduate Dean Representative, three tenure promotions, winter term, 2011
Member, GEC, 2010
Co-chair, Humanities Chairs Group, 2013-2015
Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, 2011-2021
Chair, Tenure Committee for Tatiana Smolyarova, 2016-17
Member, Search Committee for Estonian Chair, 2016-17
Member, Search Committee for Chair of French, 2016-17
Member-at-large, Executive, Canadian Association of Slavists, 2017-
Member, Board of Editors, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 2019-
Member, First Year Foundations Council, 2020-21
Member, Promotion Committee to Associate Professor, Non-Tenure position for Simone Casini, Department of Language Studies, UTM, 2021 (5 hours)
Member, Committee on First Year Experience, 2021-22
*Member, Third Year Review Committee for Zdenko Mandusic, Slavic Department, fall 2022
*Member, Promotion Committee for Anu Muhonen, fall 2022
Community Service
Member, Gifted Program Review Committee, Toronto Board of Education, 1995- 96.
Parent Representative, Management Board, University of Toronto Schools, 1997- 2000.
Volunteer, Out of the Cold Program (for the homeless), 1997-2003.
Member, Curriculum Committee, Downtown Jewish Day School, 1998-2006.
Professional Affiliations and Activities
Fellow, Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES), University of Toronto
Member, Canadian Association of Slavists (CAS)
Member, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS, now ASEEES)
Member, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL)
Member, North American Dostoevsky Society (NADS)
Visiting Fellow, Harvard Russian Research Center, 1982-83
Faculty Advisor, Colloquium Featuring Professor Caryl Emerson of Princeton University, 1998
Contributing Editor, Books in Canada, 1995-1998
External Member, Slavic Research Group, University of Ottawa, 1998-
Initiator and Author of Rethinking Russian Ideas, a joint agreement of cooperation, signed 2000, between the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa.
Organizer, Celebration at the University of Toronto of the 150th Anniversary of Tolstoy’s Birth, 2003 (concert, lecture by Vladimir I. Tolstoy, Director of the Tolstoy Estate Museum ‘Iasnaia Poliana’, and exhibit at Robarts Library entitled “Tolstoy and the Arts”)
*North American Organizer of Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Summer, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018
*Reader of conference paper proposals for the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, 1999-
*Board of Editors, Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), 1999-
Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal, 1997-2005. See also tolstoystudies.org
Ontario Graduate Scholarships Selection Committee, 2002-2005
President, North American Tolstoy Society, 2005-
Executive Board, Canadian Association of Slavists (CAS), 2006-2007
Curator, Tolstoy and the Arts, a Virtual Exhibit now available at tolstoystudies.org, mounted 2007
External Reviewer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Virginia, March 31-April 2, 2008.
Advisor, Graduate Student Jackman Symposium on Narrative and Ethics, September 19-21, 2008, with follow-up workshops.
External Reviewer, tenure case, University of Michigan, 2008.
External Reviewer, tenure case, Brandeis University, summer 2009
External Reviewer, tenure case, Ohio State University, summer 2009
External Reviewer, promotion to full professor, Clemson University, summer 2009
Member at Large, Canadian Association of Slavists, 2009-10
Referee, Book Manuscript, Harriman Institute, Columbia University, 2009.
Internal Reviewer, promotion to full professor, University of Toronto, fall 2010
Co-organizer, with Colonel Rick McPeak, Head of Modern Languages at USMA West Point, of a conference entitled War and Peace across the Disciplines, West Point, April 8-11, 2010. The presenters are the participants in the collection of the same name mentioned above to be published by Cornell University Press.
Referee, Book Manuscript (approx. 400 pp.), University of Toronto Press, May 2010.
External Reviewer, tenure case, New School, summer 2010.
Evaluation of book project for Continuum Press, April 2011.
Evaluation of book manuscript for Northwestern University Press, April 2011.
Evaluation of book project for Cambridge University Press, April 2011.
Evaluation of manuscript for Journal of the History of Ideas, October, 2011 and revaluated March, 2012.
Coffee [for graduate students] with Leading Scholars. AATSEEL, January 7. 2012.
Advisor, Graduate Student Colloquium in Department, April 16-17, 2012.
Co-Organizer, Foreign Participants. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 11-15, 2012.
Evaluation of book project for Cambridge University Press, December 2012.
Evaluation of manuscript for Russian Literature, January 9, 2013.
Evaluation of book manuscript for Northwestern University Press, July 2013.
Evaluation of article manuscript for Partial Answers. August 2013.
Evaluation of article manuscript for Russian Review. September 2013.
External Reviewer, renewal of senior lecturer, Princeton University, December 2013.
Evaluations of paper proposals for AATSEEL, 2015. May 21, 2014.
External reviewer for promotion to full professor, U of Nebraska, June. 2014.
External reviewer for tenure promotion, U of California at Davis, July, 2014.
External reviewer for promotion to full professor, Stetson University, July, 2014.
Co-Organizer, Foreign Participants. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 11-15, 2014.
Coffee with A Leading Scholar event at AATSEEL in Vancouver, January 10, 2015.
Evaluations of paper proposals for AATSEEL, 2016. April 5 and August 6, 2015.
Blurb for Elizabeth Cheresh Allen, Before They Were Titans: Essays on the Early Works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2015). 20 hours.
Member of inaugural jury for Canadian Association of Slavists book prize. Summer, 2015. 40 hours.
Blurb for Gary Hamburg, Russia’s Path Toward Enlightenment (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016). 30 hours (included reading book).
Evaluation of a manuscript for Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), December, 2015. 8 hours.
Letter of reference solicited by Princeton Dean in regards to hiring at the senior level in the Slavic Department there, January, 2015. 4 hours.
External reviewer for promotion to docent, Helsinki University, January 2016. 12 hours.
Advisor, Graduate Student Colloquium in Department, April 15-16, 2016. 4 hours.
Co-Organizer, Foreign Participants. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 11-15, 2016.
Evaluation of a manuscript for Russian Literature, May, 2016. 4 hours.
Evaluation of book manuscript for Northwestern Press. May, 2016. 20 hrs.
Evaluations of panel proposals for AATSEEL, 2017. May 25, July 24 2016. 2 hours.
Reviewed correspondence between Russian and English version of MOA between Munk School and Higher School of Economics in Moscow May 26, 2016. 2 hours.
External reader for tenure review at Yale University. August-October 30 hours.
Re-evaluation of book manuscript for University of Toronto Press. September, 2016. 20 hrs.
Evaluation of a manuscript for Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), March, 2017. 8 hours.
Re-evaluation of book manuscript for Northwestern Press. April, 2017. 12 hours.
Re-evaluation of a manuscript for Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), March, 2017. 2 hours.
Evaluations of panel proposals for AATSEEL, 2018. May 29, 2017. 1 hour.
External reader for tenure review at University of Kansas. June, 2017. 15 hours.
Evaluation of book manuscript for Northwestern Press. June, 2017. 20 hrs.
Evaluation of a manuscript for Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), August, 2017. 8 hrs.
Internal External Reviewer for PhD defense (Francesca Silano in History), September 29, 2017. 20 hours.
External reviewer for tenure promotion, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, December, 2017. 10 hours.
Evaluation of a manuscript for University of Ottawa Press, February, 2018. 20 hrs.
Blurb for Jeff love, The Black Circle: A Life of Alexandre Kojève (NYC: Columbia University Press, 2018). April, 2018. 20 hours (included reading book).
Evaluation of book proposal for Oxford UP. May, 2018. 5 hours.
Blurb for Carol Apollonio and Radislav Lapushin, eds. Chekhov’s Letters: Biography, Context, Poetics. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018). June, 2018. 10 hours.
External reviewer for tenure promotion, Boston University, June, 2018. 12 hours.
Member of jury for best article by faculty in SEEJ (Slavic and East European Journal), volume 60, and by grad student in SEEJ, vols. 59-61, July, 2018. 6 hours.
Evaluation of article manuscript for Russian Review. September, 2018. 4 hours.
Evaluation of SSHRC Insight Grant Application. February, 2019. 5 hours.
Evaluation of two articles for a refereed volume to be published by New Literary Observer Press (Moscow). March, 2019. 10 hours.
Evaluation of Fulbright application from Russian scholar, May, 2019. 10 hours
External reviewer for job hire with tenure, University of Pittsburgh, June, 2019. 20 hours.
Member, PhD committee of A. A. Tuliakova, Higher School of Economics, Moscow. Dissertation defended October 25, 2019. 30 hours.
Referee for a Fellowship application to the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies. November23, 2019. 3 hours.
Evaluations of paper proposals for AATSEEL, 2020. 2 hours.
Evaluation of manuscript for Slavic and East European Review, February, 2020. 4 hours.
Blurb for Chloe Kitzinger. Mimetic Lives: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Character in the Novel. Forthcoming in fall, 2021, with Northwestern University Press. 15 hours.
Referee for PhD Candidate, Cecilia Dilworth, U of Stockholm, September 29, 2020. 20 hours.
Podcast Interview with Stephen Blackwood, President, Ralston College, on Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych, August 13, 2020. 90 minutes. See https://www.ralston.ac/.
Participant, Steering group and possible Symposium for “Enemy Encounters in the Long Nineteenth Century,” led by Holly Furneaux of Cardiff University. 12 hours.
Evaluation of manuscript for Slavonic and East European Review, April, 2021. 6 hours.
Review for Oxford of final Zorin manuscript. May, 2021. 20 hours.
Board of Editors, Canadian Slavonic Papers.
Evaluation of manuscript for Slavic and East European Journal, May, 2021. 6 hours.
Evaluation of a book manuscript for Brill. August, 2021. 20 hours.
External reviewer, tenure case, Carnegie Mellon University, August, 2021. 15 hours.
Blurb for Predrag Cicovacki, God, Man, and Tolstoy. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) August, 2021. 20 hours.
External Review of the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Vienna. Sent September 10, 2021. 20 hours.
Review of Grant Proposal to Israel Science Foundation. Sent March 14, 2022. 10 hours.
Blurb for Inessa Medzhibovskaya, Tolstoy as Philosopher, Essential Short Writings. An Anthology. (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2022) June, 2022. 10 hours.
Blurb for Tatyana Gershkovich, Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov and the Problem of Other Minds (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2023) June, 2022. 20 hours.
External reviewer, tenure case, Rutgers University. Sent July 6, 2022. 15 hours.
Outside examiner, final version of PhD dissertation by Cecilia Dilworth, University of Stockholm. 10 hours.
Review of two manuscripts for Tolstoy Studies Journal. August-September, 2022. 8 hours.
Evaluation of a book manuscript for Academic Studies Press. September, 2022. 20 hours.