How NATO Destabilizes Europe


As NATO has expanded since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow’s sphere of influence has shrunk. The result is an environment that contributes to Russia’s sense that it is insecure and “surrounded by enemies.” NATO and US actions in the wake of the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine have confirmed Russian fears, increasing the likelihood of open conflict. Meanwhile, the rise of authoritarianism, especially in Poland, Hungary, and Turkey, has created fractions within the alliance that Russia can and will exploit. Against this background, NATO’s behavior appears to incite Russian retaliation even as its structure prevents the alliance from addressing the threat potential Russian aggression poses to NATO member states.

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Thesis Profile: The Eurovision Song Contest and Russia’s Place in the Fantasy of European Unity


Why should we care about Eurovision, a spectacle of glitter and camp that thumbs its nose at political protest? In order to argue for the significance of the contest, my thesis, “Bedazzling Russianness in Three Minutes: Eurovision and the Russian Cultural Narrative Abroad,” analyzes Russia’s presence in Eurovision as a country whose recent political developments have severely damaged its reputation in Europe.

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Twitterature in the Dostoevsky Classroom


My adventure with Twitterature began three years ago, when I began to work with the North American Dostoevsky Society as their social media curator. I began a twitter account for the society, and it quickly took off. Throughout 2015 we had some success with contests that aimed to engage our followers and encourage them to join an online conversation about Dostoevsky. There was a humor contest, a hoodie design competition, a quote competition— and all of these events were great, boosted membership, and really helped us create a kind of community, but there was one issue.

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The Incels and the Injured: Dostoevsky Against Toxic Masculinities


No shortage of contemporary horrors were prophesied by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works: The Brothers Karamazov presages totalitarianism; Demons—terrorism; Diary of a Writer, the author’s ongoing, raw, dialogic polemic—Twitter. Although the author’s shorter, less ambitious texts are rarely accorded such powers of prognostication, few of his writings seem more urgent than the modest novella The Eternal Husband, which presents an object lesson in the toxicity of modern masculinity and homosocial desire.

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Messy Things Betwixt and Between


“Because I have practiced law, I have seen what can potentially hobble a lawyer: namely, her insistence that things be tidy and fall within set parameters of unyielding doctrines. In fact, fledgling law students tend to apotheosize the legal system and expect it to bestow order and absolute certainty. Golyadkin, as law professor, tends to jolt these soon-to-be lawyers out of this stultifying mindset.  But what is that nexus between Dostoevsky’s The Double and Wills and Trusts?”

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