Research Interests
Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, nineteenth-century Russian prose, the novel, eighteenth and nineteenth-century Russian intellectual history, the soldier and war in Russian culture.
Papers Presented at Scholarly Meetings and Symposia
1994
“Love and self-love in Dostoevsky.” University of Chicago Symposium on Love and Friendship, May 1994.
1995
“Dostoevsky’s Use of Tolstoy in The Idiot.” Ninth Dostoevsky Symposium, Gaming, Austria, August 1995.
“Tolstoy and Rousseau.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Washington, DC, October 1995.
1996
“Tolstoy and Carlyle.” Conference on Tolstoy and the Concept of Brotherhood, Ottawa, February 1996.
1997
“Childhood in Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Seattle, October 1997.
1998
“Love and self-love in Dostoevsky.” Plenary session, Tenth Dostoevsky Symposium at Columbia University, New York City, July 26-August 2, 1998.
“N. N. Strakhov, Tolstoi i Dostoevskii.” Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, September 29 – October 3, 1998.
1999
“N. N. Strakhov, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.” Conference, “The Brothers Karamazov,” Yale University, October 1999.
2000
“Platon i Tolstoi.” Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2000.
Discussant on panel “Literature and Philosophy.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Denver, Colorado, November 2000.
“Tolstoy and Plato.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies,. Denver, Colorado, November 2000.
Chair and Discussant on Tolstoy Society panel. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, December 2000.
2001
Discussant on panel “Remaking Russia: The Utopian Vision of Gorky, Tolstoy and Briusov.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Arlington, Virginia, November 2001.
2002
Discussant on panel “Tolstoy and Philosophy.” Harvard Tolstoy Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 2002. (Proceedings posted on the internet)
2003
“Tolstoy, Stern i Platon.” Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2003.
“Why Was Tolstoy Intimidated When He Read Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches?” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Toronto, November 2003.
Discussant on Tolstoy Society Panel. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, New York City, December 2003.
2004
“Revisiting Turgenev in The Devils.” International Dostoevsky Symposium. Geneva, Switzerland, September 1-5, 2004.
“Turgenev’s Frame Story ‘Andrei Kolosov’ and Dostoevsky’s Response to It.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, December 2004.
2005
“Vliianie I. S. Turgeneva i rasskaz L. N. Tolstogo “Utro pomeshchika” [The influence of I. S. Turgenev on Tolstoy’s story ‘The Morning of a Landowner’]. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2005.
“The Man with a Hat in Anna Karenina: Tolstoy and Strakhov.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Salt Lake City, November 2005.
2006
Discussant on panel “Dostoevsky’s Notes from the House of the Dead.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Washington, DC, November 2006.
“Desperation: The Influence of Tolstoy’s War Stories on Dostoevsky.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Washington, DC, November 2006.
2007
“Pochemu Levin chitaet Tindalia?” [Why does Levin Read Tyndall?] Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, August 2007.
Discussant on panel, “Violence in Literature.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Orleans, November, 2007.
Discussant on panel, “Tolstoy and Motherhood.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Orleans, November, 2007.
2008
Discussant on panel, “Tolstoy and Kant.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Orleans, November 22, 2008.
Why Does Tolstoy Read Tyndall?” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Orleans, November, 2008.
2009
Participant in Roundtable, “Donald Fanger’s Gorky’s Tolstoy and other Reminiscences” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, November, 2009.
Participant in Roundtable, “How to Teach The Brothers Karamazov,” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, November, 2009.
2010
Discussant on panel on research approaches of new faculty, Graduate Student Symposium, University of Toronto, March 8, 2010.
“Vymysel i real’nost’ u Tolstogo pri opisanii Borodinskogo srazheniia” [Fiction and Truth in Tolstoy’s Account of the Battle of Borodino]. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, August 2010.
“Fiction and Truth in Tolstoy’s Account of the Battle of Borodino,” talk at international conference “Tolstoy Live in Seoul,” Korea University, Seoul, Korea, October 1, 2010.
“Tolstoy’s Dogmatic Narrator in his Sevastopol Sketches,” talk at international symposium “Tolstoy in the Twenty First Century,” New School, New York City, October 14, 2010.
Chair, Roundtable on teaching War and Peace, ASEEES, November 19, 2010, Los Angeles.
“Fiction and Truth in Tolstoy’s Account of the Battle of Borodino,” talk presented at ASEEES, November 18, 2010, Los Angeles.
2011
“Alexander Suvorov as an Enlightenment Man,” talk presented at Helsinki-Tartu Conference, «Политика литературы и поэтика власти / Politics of Literature and Poetics of Power», August 25, 2011.
2012
Discussant on panel “Boundaries of Perception in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”” at ASEEES, November 15, 2012, New Orleans.
“Suvorov in War and Peace,” talk presented at ASEEES, November 15, 2012, New Orleans.
2013
“Tolstoy and Homer, Revisited,” talk presented at ASEEES, November 21, 2013, Boston.
Discussant on panel “Nikolenka’s Dream” at ASEEES, November 24, 2013, Boston.
2014
“Prochtenie L. N. Tolstym “Iliady” Gomera letom 1857 goda” [Tolstoy’s Reading of Homer’s Iliad in summer, 1857]. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2014.
2015
Discussant on panel “Nineteenth Century Russian Realism on Hegelian Ground” at AATSEEL in Vancouver, January 10, 2015.
Participant in Presidential Roundtable on John Burt Foster’s Transnational Tolstoy: Between the West and the World (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013) at AATSEEL in Vancouver, January 10, 2015.
Discussant on panel “The Author and his Audience: Rethinking Aspects of Tolstoy’s Biography,” ASEEES, November 22, 2015, Philadelphia.
“Homer in War and Peace and Hadji Murat” talk presented at ASEEES, November 21, 2015, Philadelphia.
2016
Discussant on panel “Dostoevsky and Addiction,” AATSEEL, January 8, 2016.
Participant in Roundtable “Tolstoy and the Fiction of History,” ASEEES, November 19, 2016, Washington, DC.
Discussant on panel “Translating Words, Translating Cultures: Classical Texts and Russian Authors,” ASEEES, November 20, 2016, Washington, DC.
2017
Discussant on panel “Commodified Inspiration: Writing for Hire in the 18th Century Russian Literature.” CAS, May 28, 2017, Toronto.
Discussant on panel “Ethics and Religion in Tolstoy: Navigating Self and Other.” ASEEES, November 10, 2017, Chicago.
2018
”Otvet L’va Nikolaevicha Tolstogo Isaie Berlinu.” [Lev Tolstoy’s Response to Isaiah Berlin] Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2018.
Discussant on panel “Tolstoy and the Novel,” AATSEEL, February 3, 2018.
”Psikhologicheskii realism v rasskaze ‘Bog pravdu vidit, da ne skoro skazhet’” [Psychological realism in the tale ‘God Sees the Truth, but Waits’]. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2018.
Chair on panel “Dostoevsky and Tolstoy Starting from their Psychology,” ASEEES, December 7, 2018, Boston.
2019
”Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does not Grow Old,” talk presented in Mimesis Stream at AATSEEL, February 9, 2019, New Orleans.
Panelist, panel on finding an academic job at CAS at Congress, 1019, Vancouver, June 2, 2019.
Chair and organizer, panel on Tolstoy’s War and Peace at CAS at Congress, 1019, Vancouver, June 2, 2019.
2020
Chair and presenter, roundtable entitled Russian Models of the Self in Community, ASEEES in Washington DC, held virtually, November 15, 2020.
Chair, panel entitled “Classical Reception as Rebellion in Soviet Russia,” ASEEES in Washington DC, held virtually, November 5, 2020.
2022
*Discussant in panel, “Ways of Ending Anna Karenina,” ASEEES, Chicago, November 13, 2022. In person
*Roundtable Member, “Reading Kathryn Feuer’s ‘Tolstoy and the Genesis of ‘War and Peace,’ 1965-2022,” ASEEES, Chicago, November 13, 2022. In person
Invited Lectures
1994
“Dostoevsky’s Idiot.” Reed College, April 1994.
1999
“Politics and Nineteenth Century Literature, with Special Emphasis on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.” John M. Olin Series of Lectures on National Cultures. University of Chicago, April 14, 1999.
2000
“Politics and Nineteenth Century Literature, with Special Emphasis on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.” St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, March 31, 2000.
“Inverse Idealism: Narrative Strategies in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.” Yale University, October 4, 2000.
2002
“Inverse Idealism: Narrative Strategies in Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy” for the Philosophy and Literature Colloquium; and “Tolstoy’s Anti-Philosophical Philosophy” for the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Kansas, March 25, 2002.
“Tolstoy’s Anti-Philosophical Philosophy.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, November 1, 2002.
“Did Dostoevsky or Tolstoy Believe in Miracles?” Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, November 4, 2002.
“The World of Children in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.” Mt. Holyoke College, November 14, 2002.
2004
“The World of Children in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.” St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, Minnesota, January 19, 2004.
2006
“Strakhov’s World as a Whole: A Missing Link between Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.” Plenary talk at Slavic Forum in Honor of Anna Lisa Crone. University of Chicago, April 9, 2006.
2007
“‘Romanticheskaia nauka’ v Rossii i na zapade.” Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkinskii dom), St. Petersburg, July 3, 2007.
2008
Workshop for Graduate Students on Tolstoy’s Sevastopol Sketches, Stanford University, May 15-17, 2008.
2009
Lecture, “Leo Tolstoy: Pacifist, Patriot, and Molodets,” University of Southern California, March 5, 2009.
2011
Lecture, “Death of Ivan Ilych,” University of Ottawa, March 10, 2011.
Keynote Speaker, “Tolstoy Today,” International Workshop “Leo Tolstoy: After the Centennial.” Hebrew University, Jerusalem. October 24-26, 2011.
2012
Lecture, “The Awful Poetry of War: the Battle of Borodino in War and Peace.” Stetson University, Feb. 22, 2012.
Workshop on Sevastopol Sketches,” Stetson University, Feb. 21, 2012.
2013
Lecture, “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old.” McGill University, February 13, 2013.
Lecture, “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old.” University of Texas at Austin, February 28, 2013.
Lecture, “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old.” USMA at West Point, April 9, 2013.
Lecture, “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old.” Brandeis University, April 11, 2013.
2014
Lecture, “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing Does Not Grow Old.” Kazakh Al-Farabi University, Almaty, Kazahstan, week of June 2nd, 2014. 50 minutes.
Lecture, “The Influence of The Iliad on Tolstoy’s The Cossacks.” Kazakh Al-Farabi University, Almaty, Kazahstan, week of June 2nd, 2014. 50 minutes.
2018
“Why Tolstoy’s War-Writing Does not Grow Old.” A 60 minute talk presented at Tuebingen University, November 6, 2018, Tuebingen, Germany, 2018.
2021
Lecture, “Politics in Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.” A 45 minute talk presented in the UofT Senior College Program. October, 2021.
2022
Lecture/class on War and Peace for students in a fourth-year seminar at Holy Cross. May 6, 2022. 2.5 hours. 10 hour prep.
Invited Conferences Attended and Upcoming
1994
University of Chicago Symposium on love and friendship, May, 1994.
1995
International Dostoevsky Symposium. Gaming, Austria, August 1995.
1996
International Conference on Tolstoy and the Concept of Brotherhood. Ottawa, February 1996.
1998
Liberty Fund Conference on The Tragedy and Comedy of Life in The Brothers Karamazov. Toronto, March 12-15, 1998.
International Dostoevsky Symposium. New York City, July 26-Augist 2, 1998.
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, September 29-October 3,1998 (North American Organizer).
1999
Conference on The Brothers Karamazov. Yale University, October 1-3, 1999.
2000
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2000 (North American Organizer).
2002
Conference on The Unexamined Tolstoy. Harvard University, April 19-20, 2002.
2003
Liberty Fund Conference on The Moral and Political Significance of Art. San Antonio, Texas. January 30-February 2, 2003.
Conferences on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Tula, and Moscow, Russia, August 28-September 6, 2003 (North American Organizer).
2004
International Dostoevsky Symposium. Geneva, September 2004.
2005
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 22-26. 2005 (North American Organizer).
2006
Liberty Fund Conference on Liberty, Responsibility and Science. Toronto, October 12-15, 2006.
2007
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 12-16, 2007 (North American Organizer).
2010
The Passion of Argument – Seminar In Memory of Professor Richard Stites, Helsinki, Finland, August 1-2, 2010.
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 10-14, 2010 (Co- Organizer, Foreign Participants).
The International Tolstoy Conference, Seoul 2010″Tolstoy, Live in Seoul”(서울에서 만나는 톨스토이), Seoul, Korea, October 1-2, 2010. “Fiction and Truth in Tolstoy’s Account of the Battle of Borodino”).
Tolstoy in the 21st Century. The New School, New York City, New York City, October 14-16, 2010 (“Tolstoy’s Dogmatic Narrator in his Sevastopol Sketches”).
2011
Joint Russian Literature conference, Helsinki and Tartu Universities, Helsinki, August 27, 2011. (“Alexander Suvorov as an Enlightenment Man”).
International Workshop “Leo Tolstoy: After the Centennial.” Hebrew University, Jerusalem. October 24-26, 2011. (“Denis Davydov and War and Peace”).
Keynote Address (“Tolstoy Studies Today”), International Workshop “Leo Tolstoy: After the Centennial.” Hebrew University, Jerusalem. October 24-26, 2011.
2012
Workshop, “Russia’s First Total War: The Wars Against Napoleon in Historical and Cultural Perspective, University of Pennsylvania, April 20-22, 2012. (“Denis Davydov’s Truth in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace”).
Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature. Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 11-15, 2012 (Co- Organizer, Foreign Participants). (Суворов в «Войне и мире» [Suvorov in War and Peace]).
Conference “Cultures of War: From the French Revolution to the Russian Revolution.” New York University, November 30-December 1, 2012. Participant in Roundtable: “How Do We Talk about Warfare?”
2013
Colloquium “The Ethics of the Warrior.” Boston College, April 12, 2013. One of three speakers.
Department Seminar. “Why Tolstoy’s War Writing does not Grow Old.” September 30, 2013.
2014
Conference on Dostoevsky, “Achilles in Crime and Punishment.” Brown University, March 16, 2014.
2015
Graduate Conference on “Philosophy and Literature: In Search of Lost Synergy” at Princeton University, October 16-17, 2015. Discussant.
2016
Ответ Льва Никилаевича Толстого Исайе Берлину [Tolstoy’s Response to Isaiah Berlin]. Conference on Tolstoy and World Literature, Iasnaia Poliana, Russia, August 2016.
2017
“What is the Good According to Tolstoy, and How Good Can I Be?” A 40 minute talk presented at “Tolstoy and Spirituality,” an international conference, April 21-22, 2017 at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, and partially also at the Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, MA. 40 minute paper. Proceedings published.
2020
Keynote address (“Politics in Tolstoy and Dostoevsky”) at Conference at Uppsala University, Sweden entitled “Havoc and Healing: Insights into Human Action in Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.” Originally scheduled for March 26-27, 2020, now held due to COVID 19, October 12-13, 2020. 45minute paper.
2021
Chair, panel entitled Contested and Shifting Allegiances, at Conference at University of Cardiff entitled War from the Other Side, held virtually, July 20, 2021.