I was born in Russia (then still the Soviet Union), in the city of St. Petersburg (Leningrad). I don't remember wanting to be anybody specific when I grow up. But I do recall reading a lot, dreaming strange dreams, and being lonely. It was not a bad feeling. I was just waiting to discover myself. I wrote poems (in Russian) and enjoyed learning languages.
According to my calculations, I studied for twenty three years. First, eleven years of school. Then, five years in St. Petersburg State University. (Majoring in... I usually translate it as "cultural studies," but it was actually a mish-mash of humanities and social sciences: philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, linguistics, psychology. Probably something else.) Then, there were three more years in a "candidate of sciences" program (same field) - a Russian equivalent of a PhD degree.
At that point, there was a gap in my studies because I really did not know what to do next. In the university, I was taught to wonder about the human nature, society, and culture. Theories I learned were intriguing, but I was not sure how to put them together or apply to my own life. Then, just like that, I decided to go to the United States and get another PhD degree. I chose the field of communication and media studies purely by chance (long story), and this decision turned out to be serendipitous. That's how I ended up at Temple University, Philadelphia, where I studied for four more years.
When I came to the U.S., I thought I was going to study how dubbing of American TV shows and films in Russia influences the perception of the American culture among Russian audiences. (I even wrote a paper on this topic, but it never got to be published in a journal.) I soon discovered media literacy education thanks to Yonty Friesem and Renee Hobbs, and this became my main focus for a few years. More specifically, I wanted to explore how media representations of gender and sexuality can be taught about more effectively.
Then I realized that all the theories I learned back in Russia were still on my mind, and that I wanted to write something that would help me arrange different ideas I had about the human communication. I wanted to combine my interest in media and insights about society's imperfections that I gained from critical cultural studies with my passion for empathy. That is how, in the beginning of 2016, I started to write my first book...
According to my calculations, I studied for twenty three years. First, eleven years of school. Then, five years in St. Petersburg State University. (Majoring in... I usually translate it as "cultural studies," but it was actually a mish-mash of humanities and social sciences: philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, linguistics, psychology. Probably something else.) Then, there were three more years in a "candidate of sciences" program (same field) - a Russian equivalent of a PhD degree.
At that point, there was a gap in my studies because I really did not know what to do next. In the university, I was taught to wonder about the human nature, society, and culture. Theories I learned were intriguing, but I was not sure how to put them together or apply to my own life. Then, just like that, I decided to go to the United States and get another PhD degree. I chose the field of communication and media studies purely by chance (long story), and this decision turned out to be serendipitous. That's how I ended up at Temple University, Philadelphia, where I studied for four more years.
When I came to the U.S., I thought I was going to study how dubbing of American TV shows and films in Russia influences the perception of the American culture among Russian audiences. (I even wrote a paper on this topic, but it never got to be published in a journal.) I soon discovered media literacy education thanks to Yonty Friesem and Renee Hobbs, and this became my main focus for a few years. More specifically, I wanted to explore how media representations of gender and sexuality can be taught about more effectively.
Then I realized that all the theories I learned back in Russia were still on my mind, and that I wanted to write something that would help me arrange different ideas I had about the human communication. I wanted to combine my interest in media and insights about society's imperfections that I gained from critical cultural studies with my passion for empathy. That is how, in the beginning of 2016, I started to write my first book...