Elena V. Kravchenko

Elena V. Kravchenko is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Texas at Austin (2017), an MBA from West Virginia Wesleyan College (2005), and degrees from Duke University and the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on religion and material culture, diasporic religious practices, and the intersections of race, gender, and Orthodoxy in the U.S.

Dr. Kravchenko teaches core courses such as Thinking About Religion and Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion, as well as specialized courses like Religion in the Kitchen and Material Religion. She is a faculty affiliate with the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity.

Her work explores African-American Orthodox Christianity, materiality in religious practice, and the role of objects in shaping religious identity. Recent publications include studies on iconography, racial justice, and Orthodox communities in transnational contexts.

• Awards: Bruton Fellowship (2016), multiple UT Austin Graduate Fellowships
• Service: Faculty advisor for Theta Alpha Kappa, mentor for capstone projects, and AAR Mid-West Section Chair
• Languages: Native in Russian and Belarusian, proficient in Polish and German

Current projects include a book manuscript on Orthodox Christian women’s practices in the American South and an anthology on gender, race, and Orthodoxy.