Nadieszda Kizenko

Nadieszda Kizenko researches and teaches Russian history, with a focus on religion and culture. She explores the history of Orthodox Christianity, saints’ lives as a historical source, political liturgy, lived religion, women’s written confessions, and depictions of religion in film. Her books include the prize-winning A Prodigal Saint: Father John of Kronstadt and the Russian People (Penn State University Press, 2000) (published in Russian as Святой Нашего Времени: о. Иоанн Кронштадтский и русский народ (Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2006), Good for the Souls: A History of Confession in the Russian Empire (Oxford University Press, 2021), the co-edited Orthodoxy in Two Manifestations? The Conflict in Ukraine as Expression of a Fault Line in World Orthodoxy (Peter Lang, 2022) and the co-edited Religion and the Russian Revolution: Conflicts, Encounters, Transformations (Indiana University Press, 2026).

Professor Kizenko's courses and seminars cover Russian history, East European history, religion and film, and European history in general. Recent dissertations supervised by Professor Kizenko include:  “Science and Culture on the Soviet Screen: Russian and Member Republic Biographical Films during the Early Cold War, 1946-1953,” “Promiscuous Pioneers of Morality: The Code of Ethics of a Secret Service Functionary in Communist Poland as Set by Law and Practice, 1944—1989,” "Sacrifice in the Name of Sacred Duty: The Representation of the Decembrist Wives in Russian Culture, 1825-Present," and "Striving for Salvation: Margaret Anna Cusack, Sainthood, Religious Foundations and Revolution in Ireland, 1830-1922.”