Nicole Svobodny

Dr. Nicole Svobodny is a Teaching Professor of Global Studies and Russian Literature at Washington University, where she coordinates the Eurasian Studies concentration and serves as Study Abroad Advisor. She holds a PhD from Columbia University and teaches courses exploring Russian literature through comparative frameworks, often examining intersections of identity, law, and artistic media.

Her research investigates interconnections between bodily movement and verbal expression, particularly in modernist contexts. Awarded an NEH Summer Stipend in 2019, her archival work informs publications analyzing how kinetic intelligence informs textual creation. Recent scholarship examines Nijinsky's multimodal creative processes through dance notation, drawing, and diary fragments.

Her monograph 'Nijinsky’s Feeling Mind' argues that the dancer's 1919 project constitutes a profound meditation on embodiment, silence, and reader-writer dynamics. Publications demonstrate consistent focus on migration narratives, border studies, and Russian-Western cultural exchanges.