Valentina Izmirlieva is director of the Harriman Institute and professor of Slavic languages and literatures at Columbia University. She is a scholar of Balkan and Russian religious cultures with a strong background in critical theory and intellectual history. Much of her research addresses cultural exchanges among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the context of multi-ethnic, multi-religious empires and their successor states. She explores religious coexistence beyond the dominant paradigms of “conflict studies” and “clash of civilizations.” Prof. Izmirlieva’s first book, All the Names of the Lord: Lists, Mysticism, and Magic (University of Chicago, 2008), examines traces of the Kabbalah in Christian texts across medieval and early modern Europe. A later book project has focused on Christian-Muslim cultural exchange in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. She founded and leads Black Sea Networks, a global initiative to investigate the Black Sea as a hub of cultural, political, and historical interest.
Valentina Izmirlieva
Advisory Board
Director, Harriman Institute; Professor of Slavic languages and literatures at Columbia University