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Vladislav Todorov

Education

Ph.D. in Russian Studies from The University of Pennsylvania (1996);
Ph.D. in Aesthetics from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1987);
M.A. from the Theater and Film Academy, Sofia (1982).

Teaching History at Penn

Terrorism: Russian Origins – 21c. Methods.
Terrorism and the Media
Dostoevsky and the Human Condition.
Russian Short Story
History of Russian and East European Film
Russian History in Film
Film and Art in the Russian Revolution
Ethnic Conflict in Film

Publications

Books

Chaotic Pendulum : Inquiries in Terrorism and Governmentality, Sofia : Space Culture, 2005, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Bulgaria and Open Society Institute, Sofia.

Short Paradox for the Theater and Other Figures of Life. Sofia: Sofia UP, 1997

Red Square , Black Square : Organon for Revolutionary Imagination. Albany: SUNY Press, 1995

The Adam Complex: Essays in Politics and Culture. Sofia: Ivan Vazov, 1991

Articles and Essays

“Revolucionarna zdruzitev znanosti I umetnosti” Likovne Besede 71/72 (2005): 9-36, Ljubljana

“Terror and Governance” Occasional Papers, Center for Policy Studies, CEU (October, 2004) http://www.ceu.hu/cps/res/res_antiamer_papers

" Bulgaria аafter the Elections: Reform Process Underway." East European Studies Newsletter, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, January 1998.

"Introduction to the Political Aesthetics of Communism." Post-Theory, Games, and Discursive Resistance: The Bulgarian Case. Ed. Alexander Kiossev. Albany: State U of New York P, 1995. 65-94.

"The Birth of the Mummy from the Spirit of Ideology." College Literature 1 (1994): 102-119.

"Introduction to the Philosophy of the Ruins." The Yale Journal of Criticism 1 (1993): 249-257.

"Adam: Der Namengeber." Neue Literatur 2 (1993): 12-14

"A konspiracio kis organonja." A Mutanans Egzotikuma: Bolgar Posztmodern Esszek. Budapest: 2000-Orpheus, 1993. 151-162

"Rouge/Noir." L'infini 33, Paris (1991): 133-142

"Obraz kak deianie." Silentium 1 (1991) St. Petersburg

"Ino-skazanie bez inogo." Consciousness in Socio-Cultural Dimension. Moscow: Academy of Sciences, 1990.

"Ruda/Cerna." Konzerva 2 (1990) Prague

Creative Work

“The Somersault” Chelsea 76 (2004) extract from a novel

“The Four Luxemburgs: From the Diary of a Traveler” Postmodern Culture v.3 n.2 (January, 1993)

In Bulgarian

“ Liberty or Death: Neo-conservatism and the Muslim Brotherhood” Kultura February 18 (2005)

“The US Elections,” 24 Hours, November 11 (2004)

“Terrorism: Method and Counter-method.” Kultura October 29 (2004)

“The Bloody Thursday: St. Nedelya Cathedral Terror Attack.” Kultura October 8 (2004)

“Of the Small Government and the Strong Governance,” Kapital 16 (2004)

“Martyrdom and Pyrotechnics: Engineering the Human Bomb” Christianity and Culture, April (2004)

“The Enemy and the Pendulum Effect” Kapital, 20 (2003)

“The Disarmed Messiah: An Essay on the Intellectual” Kultura February 21 (2003)

"Terror and Terrorism." Medii i Mitove. G. Lozanov and O. Spasov Eds. Sofia University Press, 2000. 250-259

"NATO: the Bulgarian Quest and its Apostles." Kultura September 25 (1998)

"The State as Magnum Opus." Democratic Review Winter 8/9 (1996): 206-232.

"Of the Police." Kultura October 4 (1996)

"Ideology and Paranoia: A Critique of the Hologram Society." Kritika i humanism 3 (1992)

"Post-conspiratorial Society." Debati 1 (1991)

"The Dangerous Intellect." Kultura 14-15 (1991)

"The Factory of Ruins: Of the Monumental Space of Communism." Eco-Politika 9 (1990)

"Pragmatics of the Post-communist Openness." Kultura 39 (1990)

" Bulgaria: Features of the Transition." Kultura 30 (1990)

" Lenin’s Mummy and the Solidification of Power." Kultura 17 (1990)

"Disciplining Communal Bodies." Kultura 1 (1990)

"Red/Black: Poetics of the Conspiratorial Space." Glas 1-2 (1990)"The Political Aesthetics of Communism." Izbor 1 (1990)

"Tragic Articulations of Life." Problemi na Izkustvoto 4 (1989)

Research Projects

Over a period of fifteen years Vladislav Todorov has worked on various research projects in the fields of politics, culture, and literature, which were supported by institutions such as:

Central European University, Center for Policy Studies: Terrorism and Governance Open Society Institute, Sofia: Bulgarian National Security Strategy and the New Threats

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington: the Balkan Risk Factor and NATO Expansion.

Open Society Institute Research Support Scheme: Terrorism in XIX c. Russia and its influence on the Balkans.

Central European University Research Grant, Prague: a project on the exclusive status of writing in the authoritarian state.

Central European University Research Grant, Budapest: a project on the prophetic visions of Kafka and Platonov. Naumann Foundation Research Grant: the Post-communist institution building.

Institut fuer die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna: the Political aesthetics of public space.

Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Department of Politics: Political modernism and the modernization theories in the Soviet Russia.

Collaborative work

The Cold War, initiator and coordinator of the University of Pennsylvania interdepartmental project involving film series, readings of samizdat work, ectures, stage readings, exhibitions, and a conference, sponsored by the Department of Slavic Languages, Department of Germanic Languages, The Kelly Writers House, Arthur Ross Gallery, Cinema Studies Program, Theater Arts Program.

US-Bulgarian Task Force, CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies,) Washington, DC.

The Grey Zone, research project on NATO expansion funded by the General Marshal Fund, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Hudson Institute.

Comparative History of the Literatures of East Central Europe, a volume of Rethinking Literary History Comparatively. Editorial Committee: L. Hutcheon, M. Valdes, D. Kadir.

Western Images of the Eastern Changes, research group “Periphery,” Sofia.

Courses Taught

fall 2011

ENGL 100.401 Introduction to Literature  

fall 2010

ENGL 100.401 Introduction to Literature  

fall 2009

ENGL 100.401 Introduction to Literature  

fall 2008

fall 2007

fall 2006