Frank Sciacca
Associate Professor of German and Russian Languages and Literatures (Russian) Emeritus
Franklin Sciacca has lectured extensively on Russian Orthodox iconography and East Slavic folklore. He has contributed articles to Slavic Review, Nabokov Almanac, Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, and Journal of the Slavic, East European and Eurasian Folklore Association. Sciacca's ongoing research interests include the history of Pochayiv Monastery and the ritual function of textiles in Ukrainian folkways. He has been a faculty member at Hamilton since 1984 and earned a doctorate and master's from Columbia University.
Recent Courses Taught
Food For Thought
Devils and Deities in Russian Literature
Vampires and Myths
20th-Century Russian Art and Literature
Readings in 19th-Century Russian Literature
Readings in 20th-Century Russian Literature
First Term Russian
Second Term Russian
Third Term Russian
Fourth Term Russian
Selected Publications and Exhibitions
- “Ukrainian Rushnyky: Binding Amulets and Magical Talismans in the Modern Period,” Folklorica The Journal of the Slavic, East European and Eurasian Folklore Association, Vol. XVII, 2013, 1-36.
- “The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World” (co-authored with Naomi Guttman), Wrapped & Stuffed Foods. Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012 (Prospect Books, 2013).
- “Time Capsules and Cornerstones: 200 Years of Collective Memory at Hamilton,” co-curator (with Susanna White), a bicentennial celebration exhibition, Emerson Gallery, fall 2011.
- “Learning to Look: Hamilton's Cabinets, Galleries and Museums Past, Present and Future,” co-curator (with Susanna White), a bicentennial celebration exhibition, Emerson Gallery, fall 2011.
- “Sacrificing the Maiden('s)Head: Decoding Nabokov’s Burlesque of Sex and Violence in Invitation to a Beheading,” in Yuri Leving (ed.), The Goalkeeper. The Nabokov Almanac (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010), pp. 28-47.
- “The Icon as an Image that Embodies the Word of God” (a review of the exhibition of Ukrainian icons at MOBIA, “The Glory of Ukraine”) interview-article appeared in Nova Gazeta, No. 33 (90), August 26, 2010, pp. cover and 6-7.
- Translation editor, The Kharkiv School of Landscape Painting (Kyiv: Rodovid Press, 2009).
- “Takin’ it to the Beets: Hamilton College Grows a Historical Cultural Revolution,” The Snail. Slow Food USA Magazine (Issue 7, fall 2008).
- Translation editor, Hanna Shabatura: Paintings (Kyiv: Rodovid Press, 2004).
- Translation editor, Ukrainian Icons 13th - 18th Centuries from Private Collections (Kyiv: Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage/Rodovid Press, 2003).
College Service
- Acting chair, Program in Russian Studies, 2009
- Committee on Academic Policy, 2006-08
- Alumni Council, 2007-09
- Bicentennial Committee: Exhibitions Subcommittee (chair); member of the Academics Subcommittee
- Chair, Program in Russian Studies, 1984-2003
- Chair, Department of German and Russian, 1990-93
- Acting chair, Department of German and Russian, 1994-96, 1999-2000, 2002-03
- Representative of the Consortium Exchange with the USSR, 1988-94
- Faculty advisor to Russian Club, 1984-present
- Sustainability Group, 2008-present
- Environmental Studies Committee, 2008-present
- Instructional Technology Advisory Group, 2006-present
Professional Affiliations
- American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
- American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies
- Slow Food USA
- National Slavic Honor Society (Dobro Slovo)
- National Foreign Language Honor Society (Phi Sigma Iota)
- North American Researchers in Medieval Hagiography
- Friends of Mount Athos Society
- Slow Food USA: co-leader of Slow Food Mohawk Valley 2005-10
Appointed to the Faculty
1984Educational Background
Ph.D., Columbia University
M.A., Columbia University
B.A., Columbia College
