Dr. Benjamin Jens received his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His main area of research is 19th-century Russian literature – especially the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky – with a focus on the relationship between literature, discourse, and Eastern Orthodoxy. He also has research interests in Eastern European cinema, science fiction, and cultural ties between the Western Balkans and Russia.  Dr. Jens is also the director of the Arizona in Russia study abroad program in Moscow, Russia.

Select Publications

"Oral History in the Russian Language Curriculum: A Transformative Experience." Chapter co-authored with Benjamin Rifkin and Colleen Lucey and accepted for publication in The Art of Teaching Russian, eds. Evgeny Dengub, Irina Dubinina, and Jason Merrill.

“Silence and Confession in The Brothers Karamazov.” Russian Review, vol. 75, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51–66.

Courses Taught:

RSSS150B1 – Eastern European Cinema in a Social Context

RSSS275 – The Balkans: Identity in Crisis

RSSS304 – History of Soviet and Post-Soviet Film

RSSS310 – Red Stars, Cosmonauts, and Robots: Soviet and East European Science Fiction

RSSS315 – Werewolves and Vampires: Slavic Folklore in our Culture

RSSS325 – Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age

RSSS340 – The Pen and the Sword: Russian Writers and Autocracy (1825-1905)

RSSS350 – The Soviet Experiment