Galina Krasskova

 

Galina Krasskova.

 

Education:

B.A. Religious Studies – Empire State College 2007
M.A. Religious Studies - New York University, 2009
M.A. Medieval Studies - Fordham University, 2019

Biography:

Galina Krasskova is a doctoral candidate in the department of Theology program at Fordham University. A professional ballet dancer before moving into academia, she specializes in late antique and early medieval Christianity.  Her research explores the intersection of pain, devotion, masculinity, and the early Christian body. Her MA thesis, titled “Less is More: Eunuchism, Self-Castration, Spiritual Castration, and Mystical Marriage from Tertullian to Cassian,” offers a history of the cultural poetics of the eunuch in the early Church. It examines the response of early Church fathers to the idea of castration for spiritual purposes and the ways in which sexual renunciation was privileged within early Christian cultures. 

A photo of Galina Krasskova, a doctoral student in the late antique and early medieval track in the Theology Department at Fordham University, with a snake around her neck

 

Galina holds an MA in Religious Studies from New York University and an MA in Medieval Studies from Fordham University. She has an extensive background in Classics and has taught Latin for over ten years. She has also published widely on religious topics in the popular press, most recently in the bi-annual journal “Walking the Worlds” and the second edition of her book on contemporary Norse polytheism: A Modern Guide to Heathenry. When not studying or writing, Galina is an artist who has shown internationally. She also studies classical guitar. Her current portfolio may be viewed here: https://krasskova.art and her blog, in which she writes on topics of religious interest may be found here: https://krasskova.wordpress.com.

Galina's publications include the following.

Academic

  • “Eunuchs for the Sake of Heaven: Castrati and the Suffering Body of Christ,” The Journal of Baroque Studies 2, no. 2 (2018).
  • Contemporary Paganisms and the Psychology of Ordeal,” Springer Verlag Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, ed. David A. Leeming.

Book reviews (more than listed)

  • Book review of The Variae: The Complete Translation translated by Shane Bjornlie, AAR Reading Religion website: https://readingreligion.org/books/variae.
  • Book review of Eunuchs and Castrati: Disability and Normativity in Early Modern Europe by K. Crawford, The Journal of Baroque Studies, No. 4, Vol. 2.
  • Book review of Being Viking: Heathenism in Contemporary America by Jefferson Calico, in Pomegranate: A Journal of Contemporary Pagan Studies 20, No. 2 (2019).

Presentations

  • Chaired “Manichaeism in Egypt and Syria: Christian Teachers Respond,” 48th Annual International Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Conference, Villanova, PA, Oct. 27-29, 2003.
  • Presented: “Demons in the Desert: Early Christian Monastics, Fighting Demons, & Making Virtue Visible,” 48th Annual International Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Conference, Villanova, PA, Oct. 27-29, 2023.
  •  Presented: “John Cassian and Mystical Castration,” 22nd Annual Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies, Harvard University, March 16-18, 2023.
  • Presented: “Bearing the Cross of Virtue: John Cassian and ‘Mystical Castration,’” 47th Annual International Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Conference, Villanova, PA, Oct. 21-23.
  • Chaired “Syriac and Other Languages,” Eighth Dorushe Graduate Student Conference on Syriac Studies, Fordham University, NYC, June 10, 2022.
  • Chaired “Ovidian Paratexts,” 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI May 12, 2022.
  • Chaired “Rethinking Theology of the Central and Later Middle Ages,” 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI May 10, 2022.
  • Presented: “Love and Longing for God: Agency and Eroticism in Mechthild of Magdeburg’s Flowing Light of the Godhead.” 46th Annual International Patristics, Medieval, Renaissance Conference, Villanova, PA Oct. 15-17.
  • Chaired “Medieval Commentaries on Ovid,” 56th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI May 11, 2021.
  • Presented: “Soul on Fire: The Theology of Prayer in the Work of John Cassian.” 45th Annual International Patristics, Medieval, Renaissance Conference, Villanova, PA Oct. 16-18.
  • Presented: “Ravens in the Mead-hall: Pre-Christian Elements in the Heliand.” Theology Graduate Student Association Conference, Vengeance is Mine: Christianity, Violence, Peace, Fordham University, Bronx, NY April 2-3. 
  • Invited Panel Respondent (with Drs. Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee) to the Indian Philosophy Association’s Author Meets Critics Panel on Dr. Edward Butler’s Polytheism and Indology: Lessons from The Nay Science, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division 116th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2020.
  • Presented: “Ravens in the Mead-hall: Rewriting Faith in the Wake of Charlemagne and the Saxon Wars.” 44th Annual International Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
  • Chaired “Poetics of Vision: Art, Poetry, Prose” panel, 44th Annual International Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
  • Presented: “Eunuchs for the Sake of Heaven: Castrati, Male Beauty, and the Suffering Body of Christ.” 43rd Annual International Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
  • Chaired “Patristic Theology” panel, 43rd Annual International Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
  • Presented: “Feasting with the Dead: Pagan Sensibilities in Christian Practice.” 53rd International Congress of Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. 
  • Presented: “Liturgy of Bones: The Spatial Relevance of Saints’ Relics in the Pilgrimage Narrative of Felix Fabri.” 42nd Annual International Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference. Villanova, PA.
  • Presented :“Race, Gender, and Gender Transgression in Contemporary Asatru and Heathenry.” Fordham University: Seventh Annual Fordham Theology Graduate Student Association Conference on Religion and Racial & Ethnic Justice. New York, NY.

Academic awards

  • The Fellowship in Jewish Studies, Fall 2019 to Present