Faculty Profile
Alyssa DeBlasio
Professor of Russian; John B. Parsons Chair in the Liberal Arts & Sciences (2010)
Contact Information
Bosler Hall
717-245-1766
Bio
Prof. DeBlasio’s research and teaching fall primarily along the intersections of philosophy, literature, and cinema, with a focus on late Soviet intellectual history. She is editor of Brill’s book series in Contemporary Russian Philosophy and author of two monographs, The End of Russian Philosophy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and The Filmmaker’s Philosopher: Merab Mamardashvili and Russian Cinema (Edinburgh University Press, 2019; Russian trans.: Academic Studies Press, 2020). Together with Izolda Savenkova, she published the textbook Про-движение: Advanced Russian Through Film and Media (Georgetown University Press, 2023). With Mikhail Epstein, she edits Filosofia: An Encyclopedia of Russian Thought, the only scholarly electronic resource in English dedicated to contemporary Russian philosophy. Her work has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Philosophical Society, Fulbright-Hays, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Dept. of State. At Dickinson she also contributes to the Philosophy Department and the Film Studies Program. Together with Claire Seiler, DeBlasio is co-director of “Beyond the New Normal: Disability, Literature, and Reimagining Social Justice,” a °µÍø½ûÇø initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation.
Education
- M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2006
- Ph.D., 2010
Awards
- Dickinson Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2019-20
2026-2027 Academic Year
Fall 2026
RUSS 101 Elementary Russian
An intensive study of the fundamentals of Russian grammar, with an emphasis on the development of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding skills. Short stories and songs will supplement the text.
RUSS 223 19th C Russian Lit in Translat
An introduction to major literary movements and developments in 19th century Russian literature. Readings may include works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Chekhov, as well as important theoretical and cultural texts from and about the period. No knowledge of Russian necessary.Conducted in English. Offered every other year.
RUSS 333 Adv Sem in Russ Cult & Lit
Authentic Russian texts in different genres and disciplines present specific sets of challenges, including specialized vocabulary, narrative conventions, and idiosyncratic grammar. This course prepares students for reading, analyzing, and discussing challenging, authentic Russian texts in a variety of disciplines and genres, with an emphasis on close reading and cultural context. The course is taught in Russian and includes a variety of texts or focus on one literary text. May include courses taken in Russia. Prerequisite: 231, 232 or equivalent.
Spring 2027
RUSS 202 Intermediate Russian II
Emphasis on the development of reading, speaking, and writing skills. Reading of simple texts to acquaint the student with a variety of styles of the Russian language, concentration on some of the more difficult problems in the Russian grammar, translation, written composition, vocabulary building, and intonation. Prerequisite: 201 or equivalent.
FMST 210 Russian Film of the Putin Era
Cross-listed with RUSS 241-01. For Lenin, cinema was "the most important art"; for Stalin, it was "the greatest medium of mass motivation." Since Vladimir Putin's inauguration as leader of the Russian Federation in 2000, film has held an equally important role. We will track and analyze major themes in Russian cinema since 1991, including the rise of the Russian blockbuster, popular culture under Putin, festival films, and the intersections of politics and film art. No prior knowledge of Russian culture required.
RUSS 241 Russian Film of the Putin Era
Cross-listed with FMST 210-04.
RUSS 335 Popular Culture and New Media
This course will examine one or several elements and/or genres in Russian popular culture, including folk tales, detective novels, anecdotes, film, television, music, the Internet, and new media. Students will practice close reading and analysis of authentic texts through the study of analytic genres specific to these fields in Russia and the US.
Prerequisite: 231, 232 or equivalent.