Vadim Shkolnikov is a scholar of Russian and comparative literature, with a strong interest in philosophy and critical theory.  He has published journal articles on Hegel’s influence in Russia; Belinsky and the early development of Russian realism; as well as Dostoevsky and the rise of revolutionary terrorism.  These topics come together in the monograph on which he is working— “Beautiful Souls and Terrorists: On the Russian Intelligentsia, Hegel, and the Invention of Conscientious Violence.”  His current research and teaching interests also include Slavoj Žižek’s psychoanalytic approaches to interpreting cinema, popular culture, and social reality.