Faculty Profile
Alyssa DeBlasio
(she/her/hers)Associate Professor of Russian; John B. Parsons Chair in the Liberal Arts & Sciences (2010)
Contact Information
Bosler Hall Room 115
717-245-1766
http://filosofia.dickinson.edu/
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 Dickinson College initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation.
Education
- M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2006
- Ph.D., 2010
Awards
- Dickinson Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2019-20
2023-2024 Academic Year
Fall 2023
RUSS 102 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.Prerequisite: 101 or the equivalent
RUSS 201 Intermediate Russian
Advanced grammar review incorporating controlled reading and composition. Emphasis on speaking competence continued through oral reports and conversational topics. Prerequisite: 102 or the equivalent. This course fulfills the language graduation requirement.
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.
INTD 500 Spanish for Children
Spring 2024
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.
RUSS 248 Russian Culture & the Environ
Russia is the largest country in the world. It contains some of our largest supplies of natural resources, including the most voluminous freshwater lake and the most square miles of forest. Russia and the Soviet Union have also been home to devastating environmental catastrophes, such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It is thus fitting that the theme of the environment—both natural and man-made—have played a pivotal role in the Russian cultural imagination of the past two centuries. This course will look at how Russian and Soviet culture from the nineteenth century to the present engage with the theme of the environment over a variety of genres, including literature, film, journalism, and art. No knowledge of Russian is required. Taught in English. Offered every three years.
