Vasilina Orlova (Василина Орлова)

Vasilina Orlova (Василина Орлова) is a writer, sociocultural anthropologist, ethnographer, and psychotherapist based in New York City. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology, a Russian advanced degree in philosophy, and an M.A. in clinical mental health counseling.

Her scholarship explores affect, infrastructure, Soviet nostalgia, and Russian colonialism. She developed the concept of “cheerful nonchalance” as an ordinary infrastructure and has published in Slavic Review, Sibirica, and the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.

Orlova is currently writing Decolonizing Russia: Toward the Meaning and Origins of Russian Colonialism, with chapters published by “the first émigré journal” Wschody in Russian. She is also the author of several books of prose and poetry in Russian and two English-language poetry collections.

She currently practices psychotherapy in New York, drawing on EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, and solution-focused brief therapy.

Contact: vassilina@gmail.com