Faculty & Staff
Svetlana Nikitina
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Coordinator of Interdisciplinary First Year Humanities
Faculty Listing
Office: Alden Memorial, 215
Phone: +1-508-831-5939
Fax: +1-508-831-5932
svetlana@wpi.edu
Educational Background
- M.A.-B.A., Moscow University, 1985
- Ph.D., Moscow University, 1989
- Ed.M., Harvard University, 1999
Research
My professional interests have three main points of focus: new forms of narrative emerging in our multi-media age; comparative literature; and interdisciplinary pedagogy.
New emerging forms of narrative interest me both in terms of their structure and the historical perspective. In my current research, I am trying to trace how stories evolved from the folk traditions to print culture to our current use of story in literature, film and games to provide a more participatory experience to readers.
My comparative literature background compels me in my teaching and research to draw broad parallels between English, French and Russian literatures as they raise important cultural questions about selfhood, environment, science, and social responsibility. My dissertation looked at Symbolist movements in French, English, and Russian poetry at the turn of the 20th century. Romantic and Realist movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries in European literatures have been my particular passion. I belong to the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.