Katia Dianina is an associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Virginia.  She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2002.  She is the author of numerous articles on Russian museum studies, cultural identity, and popular journalism.  Her first book, When Art Makes News: Writing Culture and Identity in Imperial Russia (2013), was awarded the AATSEEL prize for the Best Book in Literary and Cultural Studies.  She is currently working on a new monograph devoted to the restoration of imperial heritage in post-Soviet Russia.