Ph.D. — University of Chicago, 1999
M.A. — Ohio State University, 1991
B.A. — Sofia University, 1987 

Interests and Research

Valentina Izmirlieva is a scholar of Balkan and Russian religious cultures with a strong background in critical theory and intellectual history. Two areas of specialization represent the scope of her teaching interests: the religious culture of the Orthodox Slavs with an emphasis on the medieval and early modern periods, and literary Modernism and Postmodernism with a focus on Vladimir Nabokov. Much of her research addresses cultural transfers among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the context of multi-religious empires. 

Courses

Fellowships and Grants

• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, 2012-2013
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Summer Mediterranean Institute, Barcelona, Spain, 2012
• Harriman Seed Grant, 2010-2011  
• National Council for East European and Eurasian Research — Title VIII National Research Competition Grant, 2009-2011
• Howard Foundation Fellowship in History, 2009-2010 
  
• Erasmus Institute Fellowship, Summer Faculty Seminar, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, 2003
• Junior Fellowship, Institute for Advanced Study of Religion, The University of Chicago,  1998-1999
  
• Whiting Dissertation Fellowship, 1991-1997.
• Century Fellowship, The University of Chicago, 1991-1995    
• Fulbright Scholarship, 1990-1995
  

Books

•      All the Names of the Lord: Lists, Mysticism, and Magic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

•      (co-ed. with Boris Gasparov) Translation and Tradition in Slavia Orthodoxa. Series Slavische Sprachgeschichte 5. Vienna, Austria: Lit Verlag, 2012. 

Articles

•  “The Title Hajji and the Ottoman Vocabulary of Pilgrimage,” Modern Greek Studies Yearbook  (forthcoming).

•  “Christian Hajjis—The Other Orthodox Pilgrims to Jerusalem,” Slavic Review (forthcoming).

•  “The 72 Names of The Lord: Translation, Transliteration and Religious Hybridization.” In Translation and Tradition in Slavia Orthodoxa, Valentina Izmirlieva and Boris Gasparov, eds. Vienna, Austria: 2012, 46-65 (in Russian).

•  “Typography and Magic on the Threshold of Modern Europe: Printed Amulets between the Apennines and the Balkans,” Starobulgarska literatura, 41/42 (2009): 453-65 (in Bulgarian).

•  “Orthodox Widows: The Burden and Power of Charisma.” In Women and the Orthodox Church: Past Roles, Future Paradigms. Ed. Justin Marc Lasser. The Sophia Institute. Studies of Orthodox Theology, vol. 1, New York: Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, 2009, 65-81.

•  “The Peculiar Codex Jerusalem 22: Tracing the Slavic Kabbalah.” In Jews and Slavs. Vol. 20. The Holy Land and the Manuscript Legacy of the Slavs. Jerusalem and Sofia: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center, 2008, 87-108.

•  “Nabokov and Casanova, or Lolita and Zaïre.” In Poetics. Self. Place: Essays in Honor of Lisa Crone. Eds. Nicole Boudreau, Sarah Krive, and Catherine O'Neil. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2007, 630-647.

•  “From Babel to Christ and Beyond: The Number 72 in Christian Political Symbolism.” Starobulgarska literatura, 35/36 (2006): 3-21.

•  “Augustine Divided: A Response to David Tracy.”  In Erotikon: Essays on Eros, Ancient and Modern. Eds. Shadi Bartsch and Thomas Bartscherer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, 107-112.

•  “The Aetiology of the Seventy-Two Diseases: Investigating a Byzantino-Slavic False Prayer." Byzantinoslavica,59/1 (1998): 181-195.

•  “Auf den Spuren einer hypothetischen hagiographischen Gattung im Werk des Evtimij von Turnovo.” In Gattungen und Genologie der slavisch-orthodoxen Literaturen des Mittelalters. Ed. Klaus - Dieter Seemann. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1992, 43-62.

•  (with Petko Ivanov) “The Saint of Sushitsa. Parts 1-3. Folk Vita— Folk Legends— Sainthood in Folk Context.” Bulgarski folklor, 16/3 (1990): 75-94; 17/1 (1991): 61-78; 17/2 (1991): 3-12 (in Bulgarian)

        Partial Polish translation in Ziemscy aniołowie niebiańscy ludzie: Anachoreci w bułgarskiej literaturze i kulturze. Ed. Georgi Minczew. Białzstok: Orthdruk, 2002, 121-32; 133-35.

Current Projects

The Christian Hajjis: Mobility and Status in the Ottoman Empire (monograph)

“The Gospel according to Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment” (article) for Companion to Literature and Religion (Routledge)

Women and Mobility in the Eastern Mediterranean

Eastern Christian Widows   

Affiliations

• Founding Director, “Culture, Religion, and Communication” Unit, Columbia University Global Health Research Center of Central Asia
• Member, Executive Committee, The Harriman Institute
• Member, Editorial Board, Starobulgarska Literatura