Adjunct professor, received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic
Studies from Stanford University, in the field of Russian and
German literature, with an emphasis on the dialog between Russian
and German authors in the 20th century. He has been teaching
courses in Russian and German language and literature since Spring
2012. He earned his B.A. at the University of Regensburg, Germany,
majoring in Slavic and English literatures, with a particular focus
on literary theory.
Ilja's research interests include Slavic, German and
East European literary dialog, and the phenomenological school in
philosophy. In particular, he is interested in the philosophical
and artistic representations of consciousness, the question of
perception, and the ambiguous role of art as both a way to preserve
cultural memory and to continually create its own unique
worlds.