Denis Saltykov is a PhD candidate in Film at the University of Pittsburgh; he also studied Sociology in the graduate school of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow). His current research interests are sociological theories of cinema, film genre studies, and politics of contemporary popular culture. His publications have appeared in Studies in the Fantastic, KinoKultura, New Literary Observer, Sociology of Power, Iskusstvo Kino, and Russian popular websites such as Kino-Teatr and Knife.Media. His research focuses on the ways in which recent Russian cinema is adopting Western models of horror and action films. He also researches neoliberal influence on culture as exemplified in contemporary cult film and media.
Education & Training
- MA, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, 2020
- MA, Philosophy, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow), 2015
- MA, Information Management, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, 2012
- BA (Licentiate), Cybernetics and Economic Informatics, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, 2010
Courses Taught
University of Pittsburgh
- ENGFLM 0540 / FMST 0170: World Film History. Self-standing, web-based course. Summer 2020
- RUSS 0090: Russian Fairy Tales. Team-taught course. Spring 2020
- RUSS 0090: Russian Fairy Tales. Team-taught course. Fall 2019
National Research University Higher School of Economics
- Horror Screenwriting (Arka Film School). Self-standing course. Fall 2017
- Film Analysis (The Meaningful World School). Self-standing course. 2014–2015
- History of Visual Art (School of Cultural Studies). Team-taught course. Fall 2014
- Semiotics (School of Cultural Studies). Team-taught course. Spring 2014
Representative Publications
“Privatized Violence in the New Russian Cinema” in Nancy Condee, Alexander Prokhorov, and Elena Prokhorova, eds. Cinemasaurus: Russian film in contemporary context. Academic Studies Press, 2020. 117–133.
“The Living Dead in Post-Soviet Cultural Consumption” in Studies in the Fantastic, 7(1), 2019, 89–104.
Abramov, Roman, Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova, and Denis Saltykov. “Gendered Identities Among Medical Professionals in Post-Socialist Russian Cinema” in Yulia Gradskova and Ildikó Asztalos Morell, eds. Gendering Postsocialism: Old Legacies and New Hierarchies. New York: Routledge, 2018. 231-244.
Research Interests
- Contemporary Russian Cinema
- Film and New Media Audiences
- Popular Culture and Neoliberalism
- Cult and Horror Film
Representative Conference Presentations
“Director Versus Interpretation: Symbolic Capital in Russian Auteur Cinema,” at ASEEES, November, 2019.
“‘Screen Reality’ Aesthetics and Politics: Russian Screens in the New Media Projects of Timur Bekmambetov and Oleg Mavromatti,” at Structures and Voices: Storytelling in Post-Digital Times NECS 2019 Conference, June, 2019.
“The Russian Avant-garde as Otherness: Revolutionary Artists and the Khanty Tribe in Aleksey Fedorchenko’s Angels of Revolution,” at 1916, Cinema and Revolution International Conference, May, 2016.