Professor  Mara Kozelsky

Crimea during the Crimean War 

This book builds upon arguments advanced in Christianizing Crimea about the role of religion in the Crimean War with new research into Russian policy, migrations and the experience of local populations at the site of conflict. “Casualties of Conflict” (Slavic Review, 2008) represents a product of this research, as does “Russian Population Policy during the Crimean War,” an article in preparation for publication, first presented at SCSS in Spring 2010.

Russia’s First  Preacher

Another ongoing project includes an intellectual biography of Archbishop Innokentii Borisov. Beyond his work in the Christianizing of Crimea, where he also distinguished himself with pan-Orthodox patriotism and sermons during the war, Innokentii was one of the foremost Russian Orthodox theologians of the 19th century. He established a new field of homiletics and infused Russian Orthodoxy with modern Christian preoccupations. Currently, I am writing about his Last Days in the Earthly Life of Jesus Christ, the first Russian Orthodox Life of Jesus, banned during his lifetime but circulated widely in Russia and Ukraine today. Last Days also became the foundation for Innokentii’s path-breaking sermons.