CV
Education, positions, publications, awards, and service.
Professional Summary
Historian of U.S.–Russian relations, American foreign policy, the international dimensions of the American Civil War, and the politics of memory in contemporary Russia. Visiting Professor of History at The Ohio State University (2025–2026). ORCID 0000-0001-7144-2007 · Web of Science ResearcherID F-4725-2013. Op-eds, public lectures, and media appearances are listed on the Talks & Media page.
Current Position / Academic Appointments
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2025 - 2026 Columbus, Ohio, US
Visiting Professor of History
The Ohio State University
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2025 - 2025 Middlebury, Vermont, US
Professor of History
Middlebury College, Summer Russian Language School
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2025 - 2025 Wellesley, Massachusetts, US
International Scholar in Residence
Wellesley College
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2024 - 2024 Brunswick, Maine, US
Visiting Tallman Scholar in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Bowdoin College
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2024 - 2024 Wellesley, Massachusetts, US
Mary L. Cornille Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities
Wellesley College
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2015 - 2024 St. Petersburg, Russia
Professor
European University at St. Petersburg
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2015 - 2015 St. Petersburg, Russia
Professor
St. Petersburg State University, Smolny Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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2006 - 2015 Volgograd, Russia
Professor
Volgograd State University
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2012 - 2013 Washington, D.C., US
Visiting Scholar
George Washington University, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
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1995 - 2006 Volgograd, Russia
Associate Professor / Full Professor
Volgograd State University
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2004 - 2005 Moscow, Russia
Research Fellow, Center for North American Studies
Institute of Universal History, Russian Academy of Sciences
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2001 - 2002 Hanover, New Hampshire, US
Fulbright Visiting Scholar, History Department
Dartmouth College
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1994 - 1994 Moscow, Russia
Research Fellow
Moscow State University, Department of Modern and Contemporary History
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1991 - 1995 Volgograd, Russia
Assistant Professor
Volgograd State University
Education
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2011 - 2011 Moscow, Russia
Professor (academic rank)
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
History
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2005 - 2005 Moscow, Russia
Doktorskaya Dissertation (Habilitation, Full professorship)
Institute of Universal History, Russian Academy of Sciences
History
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1996 - 1996 Moscow, Russia
Kandidatskaya Dissertation (Ph.D. equivalent)
Institute of Universal History, Russian Academy of Sciences
History
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1986 - 1991 Volgograd, Russia
Diploma with Honors (MA level)
Volgograd State University
History
Current Research Projects
- On the publication stage — Echoes of the American Civil War Abroad: Perceptions, Identities, and Historical Memory, coedited with Victoria I. Zhuravleva (Bloomsbury, forthcoming September 2026).
- On the publication stage — Americans and All the Rest: Identity and Foreign Policy in U.S. History — English translation of the Prosvetitel-winning Russian original (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming June 2026).
- On the research stage — Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Russian History, co-edited with Vladimir Gel’man and Sari Autio-Sarasmo (both Helsinki University, Finland), under contract with Routledge.
- On the research stage — Russia and the American Civil War — book-length project.
Awards and Honors
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2024 Prosvetitel Award (Best non-fiction book in Russian, 2024)
Prosvetitel Foundation
For Americans and All the Rest: Origin and Meaning of the U.S. Foreign Policy (Alpina, 2024).
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2022 Politprosvet Award — Shortlist
Politprosvet Foundation
For Battle for the Past: How Politics Changes History (Alpina, 2022).
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2018 Prosvetitel Award — Longlist
Prosvetitel Foundation
For Frenemies (NLO, 2018).
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2017 Prosvetitel Award — Shortlist
Prosvetitel Foundation
For History, or the Past in Present (EU Press, 2017).
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2001 Fulbright Visiting Scholar
Fulbright Program
History Department, Dartmouth College.
Teaching in English
- Civil War and Reconstruction: Global Perspectives (BA) — The Ohio State University, Spring 2026.
- History of U.S.–Russian Relations (BA) — The Ohio State University, Spring 2026.
- Uses & Misuses of History: History, Memory, & Politics in Contemporary World (BA) — The Ohio State University, Autumn 2025.
- How Distant Friends Became Intimate Enemies: Russian–American Relations in Past and Present (BA) — Wellesley College, Spring 2025.
- Frenemies: History of Russian-American Relations (BA) — Bowdoin College, Fall 2024.
- History of US–Russian Relations from a Constructivist Perspective (MA, IMARES) — European University at St. Petersburg, 2015–2022.
- Historical Memory and Historical Politics (BA) — Smolny (SPbU–Bard), Spring 2015.
- Introduction into Russian History (BA, U.S. Exchange students) — Volgograd State University, 1993–2010.
Teaching in Russian
- Russian–U.S. Relations throughout History and to the Present (MA in Russian) — The Ohio State University, Fall 2025.
- History of Russian–American Relations (MA) — Middlebury College Summer Language School, 2025.
- Battle for the Past: Use and Misuse of History (MA) — Middlebury College Summer Language School, 2025.
- History and Politics (MA, Political Science) — European University at St. Petersburg, 2015–2023.
- Introduction into American Studies (Political Science) — European University at St. Petersburg, 2015–2023.
- Volgograd State University, 1992–2014 — U.S. History (BA, American Studies, 1999–2014); History of Historical Knowledge (BA, History, 1993–2014); Modern History of Europe and America (1992–1999).
- Advised students’ MA (in Russian and English) and Kandidatskaya (PhD-equivalent) dissertations.
Administrative and Institutional Service
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2015 - 2022 St. Petersburg, Russia
Director, Program of Regional Cooperation
European University at St. Petersburg
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2016 - 2022 St. Petersburg, Russia
Academic Director, IMARES (International Master of Arts in Russian and Eurasian Studies)
European University at St. Petersburg
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2008 - 2015 Volgograd, Russia
Head, Center for North American Studies *Americana*
Volgograd State University
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2006 - 2015 Volgograd, Russia
Head, Department of International Relations and Area Studies
Volgograd State University
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2002 - 2003 Volgograd, Russia
Vice Rector for International Programs
Volgograd State University
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1995 - 1998 Volgograd, Russia
Deputy Dean, Department of History and Philosophy
Volgograd State University
Editorial Boards
- Americana (Volgograd State University) — Editor-in-Chief, vols. 10–16 (2008–2021); Deputy Chief Editor, vols. 1–9 (1997–2007).
- Amerikanskii Ezhegodnik (American Yearbook, Russian Academy of Sciences) — Editorial Board (2008–present).
- The Journal of Russian American Studies — Editorial Board (2017–present).
- REGION: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia — Editorial Board (2020–present).
- Filosofia: Journal of the Higher School of Economics — Editorial Board (2022–present).
- Vestnik Volgogradskogo Universiteta. Seria 4: Istoria. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenia — Editor-in-Chief (Sept 2015 – July 2024); member of Editorial Board (2009–present).
Conferences Organized
- Chair, Americans in Revolutionary Petrograd (International), St. Petersburg, October 2017.
- Chair, Russia and the American Civil War (All-Russian), Volgograd, October 2011.
- Co-chair (with Victoria I. Zhuravleva), Russian/Soviet Studies in the United States, American Studies in Russia: Mutual Representations (International), Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, February 2011.
- Chair, Concept of Human Security in Canada and Russia (International), 2009.
- Chair, Russia and Countries of the American Continent: The Experience of Historical Relationships (International), 2007.
- Chair, 10 Years of the Commonwealth of Independent States (International), Volgograd State University & Russian International Studies Association, September 2001.
- Chair, Annual Conference of the Kennan Institute Russian Alumni Association, 2001.
Professional Service
- Russian Society of the Historians of the U.S.A. — Council member (since 2012).
- PONARS Eurasia (Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia) — Member since 1999; Executive Committee 2003–2005.
- ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies) — Member since 2012.
- Vol’noe Istoricheskoe Obshchestvo (Free Historical Society) — Founding member; Council member (2014–2022; activities frozen in 2022).
- Kennan Institute Russian Alumni Association — Head of Council (2008–2015).
Public Commentary / Non-Academic Assessment
- 2017 – 2022 — Russian Foundation of Presidential Grants — NGO projects in public history (assessment).
- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013 — European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture — TEMPUS-III-Tacis, TEMPUS-IV, and Marie Curie programme academic expert (assessment of joint European university-cooperation projects).
- 1999 – 2001 — Lower Volga region, Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) — coordinator (grant evaluation and monitoring).
Academic Persecution and Current Status
- In March 2024, dismissed from the European University at St. Petersburg after publicly opposing Russia’s war against Ukraine and signing an anti-war petition. The dismissal was formally justified as “absenteeism,” despite an approved sabbatical to work at a U.S. institution. The Moscow Times, 5 March 2024.
- In January 2026, designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian Ministry of Justice. The status imposes severe legal and professional restrictions, including a ban on teaching and public educational activity, financial reporting requirements, and limitations on receiving income from intellectual work. RASA statement of support.
Languages
Russian : Native speaker
English : Fluent