Education

• Ph.D. Russian Literature 1997 (Department of Russian and Slavic Philology, University of Tartu, Estonia)
• M.A. Russian Literature 1992 (Department of Russian and Slavic Philology, University of Tartu, Estonia)
• B.A. Russian Philology 1986 (Department of Russian and Slavic Philology, University of Tartu, Estonia)

Academic positions

• Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta:
  • 2002-2004 Assistant Professor of Russian Language, Literature and Culture
• Department of Russian and Slavic Philology, Tartu University, Estonia:
  • 1997-2002 Associate Professor of Russian literature
  • 1992-1997 Research Associate
  • 1990-1992 Lecturer
  • 1987-1990 RA, Prof. Iu. Lotman Semiotics and History Laboratory
• Institute of World Cultures, Moscow State University, Russia:
  • 1993-2000 Senior Research Associate

Research & teaching interests

• History of Russian religious art (17^th and 18^th centuries);
• Official Culture of the Russian Empire in the 18^th Century;
• History of the Russian Imperial Calendar;
• Themes and Poetics of Russian Ode;
• Travel Literature and Urban Culture;
• Symbolic Geographies in Contemporary Russian Literature.

Presentations & conference participation

• An Iconostasis and its Audience. International Seminar in Semiotics: Text as a Dynamic Object. The Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, June 4-5, 2014.
• "Theses for the Semiotic Study of Cultures" and the Question of the Historical Approach to the Study of Art. Convegno Internazionale le Muse Fanno il Girotondo (Universita Ca’ Foscari Venezia, November 26-28, 2013.
• Ivan Zarudny and his Iconostases. Folklore Lunch, Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta, December 6, 2013.
• Ivan Zarudny and the Production of Religious Culture in Russia under Peter I. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Seminar Series, December 5, 2013.
• The Acts of Moscow Ecumenical Council (1667) and Russian Icon Painting (1667-1725). Russian National Myth in Transition. The 14th International Helsinki-Tartu Seminar (Tartu, Estonia, June 28-30, 1213).
• Ivan Zarudnyi's program for the Iconostasis of the Transfiguration Church in Tallinn. Churches of the Petrine Times. (The Petropavlovskaya Fortress, The State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, Saint-Petersburg, June 7-8, 2012.)
• Images and Inscriptions on Ivan Zarudnyi's Iconostasis from the Transfiguration Church in Tallinn. International Congress “Cultural Polyglotism.” To the 90th Anniversary of Yuri Lotman (Tartu, February 28–March 2, 2012.)
• Yuri Lotman’s Unwritten Article: Pushkin and Homosexuality. International Congress “Cultural Polyglotism.” To the 90th Anniversary of Yuri Lotman (Tallinn, February 25–27, 2012.)
• "Liturgy of the Lord": an Icon with a coat of Arms from St. Nicholas Church in Tallinn. Personalities from Peter the Great's Time-2011. (The State Hermitage Museum. Saint-Petersburg, November 22-23, 2011; in collaboration with Maria Smorzhevskihh-Smirnova.)
• Semiotocs of a Conquered City: Reval in 1710-1725. Urban Semiotics. The City as a Cultural-Historical Phenomenon. (Tallinn, Estonia, June 3-5, 2011.)
• Ivan Zarydnyi's Iconostasis in Transfiguration Church in Tallinn (1717-1719) (Guest Lecture Series at the Russian Academy of Art. (Moscow, May 25, 2011.)
• History depicted in the 17th-century Russian Icon-painting. (Studies Colloquium Series, MLCS, University of Alberta, March 30th, 2010).
• Metropolitan Peter of Moscow in the icon “The Tree of the Muscovite State” (Universal Concepts of Russian Culture, Voronezh University, November 26-29, 2009, Voronezh, Russia).
• “As I gave my Word”: Catherine Alexeevna on an Icon from St. Nicolas Church in Tallinn (in collaboration with Maria Smorzhevskihh-Smirnova, Borderline Phenomena of Culture, Tallinn University, June 4-7, 2009, Tallinn, Estonia).
• “For I am Ready to be Wounded”: Peter I on an Icon from St. Nicolas Church in Tallinn (in collaboration with Maria Smorzhevskihh-Smirnova, Lotman Seminar, University of Tartu, February 27–March 1, 2009, Tartu, Estonia).
• “Oranges as a Gift to the Citizens of Riga: Mocking Correspondence of Peter I in the Beginning of his Rule (The Nature of Message in Cultural Perspective: Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Riga, November 1-2, 2008, Riga, Latvia).
• “Coryat's Crudities” as a Travel Guide: the Prehistory of a genre (Travel Guide as a Semiotic Object, Tartu, Estonia, December 15-16, 2007).
• Masquerades of Catherine the Great (AAASS National Convention, November 15-18, 2007, New Orleans).
• Early Christmas-tide Entertainments of Peter I (Lotman Seminar, University of Tartu, February 26– March 1, 2007, Tartu, Estonia).
• “The Calendars are Never Right”: as Jacob Bruce, as Ivan Sytin (AAASS National Convention, November 16-19, 2006, Washington).
• The Calendar as a Cultural Phenomenon and Problems Conserving its Study (International Conference of Young Philologists, Tartu, Estonia, April 28-30, 2006, keynote speaker).
• G. Derzhavin: the Private Existence of a Statesman (VII. World Congress for Central and East European Studies, Berlin, Germany, July 25-30, 2005).
• "The Calendars are Never Right": Symbolic Language of Calendar in the 18th Century (Seminar, Symbolic Languages of Culture, Institute of World Cultures, Moscow State University, Russia, June 16, 2005.)
• A Prophecy in the Official Culture: Nostradamus on Elizabeth Petrovna (Lotman Seminar, Tartu, Estonia, February 26, 2005.)
• The Literature of Science and Enlightenment in Eighteenth - Century Russia (Round Table, participant, The 36th Annual AAASS National Convention, Boston, December 5, 2004.)
• Imperial Journey from Moscow to St. Petersburg in the Mid-Eighteenth Century (The 36th Annual AAASS National Convention, Boston, December 7, 2004.)
• Masks and Masquerades at the Court of Elizabeth Petrovna (Cultural Identities Workshop, Slavic Studies & Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies), December 16, 2004.)
• New and Old Festivals at the Court of Elizabeth Petrovna (Tynianov Readings, Rezekne, Latvia, August 8, 2004.)
• The Icon 'The Mother of God of Azov' (1700): Peter I between Two Wars (American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 35th Annual Conference, Toronto, November 20-23, 2003.)
• Early Soviet Calendar: between Bolsheviks' and Orthodox Values (Canadian Association of Slavists, 2003 Annual Meeting, Dalhousie University, Halifax; with Irina Fardin).
• The Capture of Baltic Lands in Official Ideology of Peter I (On the Crossroads of Cultures, Kaliningrad, 2003).
• Mazepa in Russian Official Ideology (1708-1725) (Mazepa and his Followers, Brescia, 2002.)
• The Accession to the Throne of Elisabeth Petrovna in Official Culture at the Beginning of her Reign (Lotman Congress, Tartu, 2002).
• "The Impossible made Possible" (Lotman Readings, Moscow, 2001).
• Russian Court Calendar in the Age of Peter the Great (Tynianov Readings, Rezekne, 2000).
• The Russian Imperial Calendar as Culturological Problem (VI World Congress for Central and East European Studies: Divergences, Convergences, Uncertainties; Tampere, Finland 2000) [with L. Kiseleva].
• "The Feast of the Peter the Great": Pushkin's perception of Lomonosov (1835) (Tartu-Helsinki seminar, Helsinki, 1999).
• Ethnic Edges of the Russian Empire in the 18th century (Spiritual Culture of the Russian Province, Elets, Russia, 1999).
• Lomonosov's Phraseology in "Poltava" (Second Pushkin Readings in Tartu, Tartu, 1998).
• "A Right to Write History": Lomonosov in Polemics with Muller (Tynianov Readings, Rezekne, 1998).

Other scholarly activity

• Research grants (University of Alberta):
• 2014 – SSHRC: Ivan Zarudny and the production of religious culture in Russia under Peter I.
• 2010 - Support for the Advancement of Scholarship (SAS) Research Fund, University of Alberta: Fencing off the Orthodox Space: Peter I in Revel in 1710-1725.
• 2007 – Digital Humanities Research Studio, Research Development Fund, University of Alberta: Russian Popular Culture in the 18th Century.
• 2007 – Community Service Learning Innovative Teaching: We are what we Celebrate.
• 2004-2008 – SSHRC: The Official Russian Calendar In 1725-1796: Between Orthodox and Imperial Values.
• 2003 – SSHRC 4A Project Grant: The Official Russian Calendar in 1742-1762: between Orthodox and Imperial Values.
• Research grants (University of Tartu):
• 1999-2001 - Estonian Foundation for Sciences, research grant: Multicultural Reflection of the Problem of "Citizenship" in the Russian Empire.
• 2000 - American Council of Learned Societies, publications grant: Peter I – the Architect of Russian History, book, published in 2001.
• 1999-2000 - American Council of Learned Societies, Short-term Grant for Humanities Leadership: Subjective Factor in Official Ideology: Historian as a Subject of Russian Empire, its Servant and Ideologist (1689-1796).

Ongoing research projects

• The Calendars are Never Right: History of the Russian Official Calendar, 1725-1796;
• Taking off a Mask: The History of the Masquerades in Russia in the 18th Century;
• Russian Orthodox Revel: Russian Religious Art in the Lutheran City of Revel (1710-1725).