Bio


I began studying Russia in college, when I completed an honors thesis on Dmitrii Pisarev and the radical intelligentsia of the 1860s. In graduate school at Harvard, I discovered a passion for earlier Russian history studying, studying the sixteenth century with the brilliant Edward L. Keenan and Omeljan Pritsak. I've was honored to start my scholarly career at Stanford in 1982 and have continued there ever since; my work has addressed issues of politics and society, contributing to discussions on the nature of autocracy and practices of law and governance.

Academic Appointments


  • Professor, History

Administrative Appointments


  • William H. Bonsall Professor in History, Stanford University (2004 - Present)
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of History, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Director, Graduate Studies, Dept. of History (2006 - 2007)
  • Director, Graduate Teaching, Dept. of History (2006 - 2013)
  • Professor, Dept. of History, Stanford University (1996 - 1996)
  • Associate Professor, Dept. of History, Stanford University (1989 - 1989)
  • Assistant Professor, Dept. of History, Stanford University (1982 - 1982)

Honors & Awards


  • Frances Richardson Keller-Sierra Prize for "Crime and Punishment", Western Association for Women Historians (2013)
  • Heldt Prize, Honorable Mention for "Crime and Punishment", Association of Women in Slavic Studies (2013)
  • Fellow, Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford (2011-12)
  • Kahn-Van Slyke Award, Graduate Mentoring, Dept. of History (2007)
  • Faculty Research Fellow, Stanford Institute for International Studies (2003-4)
  • Sabbatical Fellowship, American Philosophical Society (2003-4)
  • Walter J. Gores Award, Excellence in Teaching for 2002 (2002)
  • Faculty Research, Stanford Humanities Center (1998-99, 2007-8, 2015-16)
  • Fellowship, Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (1998 (deferred), 1986, 1876-77)
  • Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1994-95)
  • Summer Stipend Awards, National Endowment for Humanities Summer Stipend (1993)
  • Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities Independent Study and Research (1986)
  • Dean's Award, Distinguished Teaching, Stanford University (1984-85)
  • Fellowships for research travel to Russia, International Research and Exchanges Board (1976-77, 1986, 1995)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Resident Fellow, Norcliffe Dorm, Stanford University (2016 - 2021)
  • Committee on Residential Learning, member, VPUE (2017 - 2019)
  • University Prize Committee, (Gores, Dinkelspiel, Cuthbertson), Registrar’s Office (2002 - 2003)
  • Member, Thinking Matters Governance Board, VPUE (2013 - 2018)
  • Resident Fellow, West Lagunita Dorm, Stanford University (2012 - 2016)
  • University Prize Committee, (Gores, Dinkelspiel, Cuthbertson), Registrar’s Office (2009 - 2011)
  • Member, Academic Standing Review Board, VPUE (2009 - 2013)
  • Executive Committee, National Council for East European and Eurasian Research (NCEEER) (2006 - 2012)
  • Member at Large, Board of Directors, American Assoc. for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (1995 - 1997)
  • Chair, Visiting Committee for Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (1993 - 1993)
  • Chair, Visiting Committee for Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (1998 - 1998)
  • Chair, Visiting Committee for Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (2002 - 2002)

Professional Education


  • A.B., Middlebury College, History and Russian Language and Literature
  • A.M., Harvard University, History
  • Ph.D., Harvard University, History

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


October 2018: In 2017 I published a synthetic history -- "The Russian empire 1450-1801" (Oxford). I am working on images of Russia in early modern Europe, generally by eyewitness travelers but also in the scurrilous penny press. I'm exploring how the tropes of engraving culture shaped images, how knowledge of Russia was disseminated and what image of Russia literate Europeans received. Then I'll return to the law -- Catherine II's 1772 judicial reforms on the local level across the Empire.

Projects


  • Catherinian legal reforms in the provinces

    Location

    Russia

  • Images of Russia in early modern European print discourse.

    Analyzes the imagery about Russia in eyewitness travel accounts by Herberstein, Olearius, Palmquist and Meyerberg, as well as images of Ivan IV and Russians in the penny press and cartography; explores how knowledge of Russia (in text and illustration) was disseminated in early modern Europe through publication and translations of their works.

    Location

    Stanford, CA

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • English Trade and Adventure to Russia in the Early Modern Era: The Muscovy Company, 1603-1649 (Book Review) ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Kollmann, N. S. 2021
  • God, Tsar, and People: The Political Culture of Early Modern Russia (Book Review) RUSSIAN REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Kollmann, N. S. 2021; 80 (2): 326–27
  • Crime and Punishment in the Russian Empire CAMBRIDGE WORLD HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, VOL III: 1500-1800 CE Kollmann, N. S., Antony, R., Carroll, S., Pennock, C. D. 2020: 331-349
  • The Litsevoi Svod as Graphic Novel Narrativity in Iconographic Style KRITIKA-EXPLORATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN HISTORY Kollmann, N. S. 2018; 19 (1): 53–82
  • A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649 (Book Review) RUSSIAN REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Kollmann, N. S. 2018; 77 (4): 656–58
  • Russia and Courtly Europe: Ritual and the Culture of Diplomacy, 1648-1725 (Book Review) SLAVIC REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Kollmann, N. 2018; 77 (2): 520–22
  • The Complexity of History Russia and Steven Pinker's Thesis HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS-REFLEXIONS HISTORIQUES Kollmann, N. 2018; 44 (1): 41–53
  • The Russian- Swedish border (1617-1700). Formation. Functioning. Heritage. Historical essays (Book Review) AB IMPERIO-STUDIES OF NEW IMPERIAL HISTORY AND NATIONALISM IN THE POST-SOVIET SPACE Book Review Authored by: Kollmann, N. S. 2018: 241–43
  • Representing Legitimacy in Early Modern Russia RUSSIAN REVIEW Kollmann, N. S. 2017; 76 (1): 7-21

    View details for DOI 10.1111/russ.12116

    View details for Web of Science ID 000396375200001

  • A Deeper Early Modern A Response to Paul Bush kovitch KRITIKA-EXPLORATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN HISTORY Kollmann, N. S. 2015; 16 (2): 317-329
  • Etiquette for Peter's time: The 'Honorable Mirror' for youth RUSSIAN HISTORY-HISTOIRE RUSSE Kollmann, N. S. 2008; 35 (1-2): 63-83
  • The quality of mercy in early modern legal practice KRITIKA-EXPLORATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN HISTORY Kollmann, N. S. 2006; 7 (1): 5-22
  • Und 17. Jahrhundert aus der Perspektive seiner Regionen Forschungen zur osteuropäïschen Geschichte edited by Kappeler, A. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. 2004: 252–268
  • Convergence, Expansion, and Experimentation: Current Trends in Muscovite History-Writing After the Fall. Essays in Russian and Soviet Historiography Kollmann, N. S. 2004: 9-22
  • Associate Editor, Europe. 1450 to 1789 Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World edited by Dewald, J. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 2004
  • Romancing the Sources Adventures in Historical Research Kollmann, N. S. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. 2003: 153–64
  • Gender and the Problem of Muscovite Particularities Muscovy edited by Szvak, G. Budapest. 2003: 34–41
  • Lynchings and Legality in Early Modern Russia Forschungen zur osteuropäïschen Geschichte Kollmann, N. S. 2002; 56: 1801-6
  • Convergence, expansion, and experimentation: Current trends in Muscovite history-writing KRITIKA-EXPLORATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND EURASIAN HISTORY Kollmann, N. S. 2001; 2 (2): 233-240
  • By Honor Bound State and Society in Early Modern Russia Y, I. N. Cornell University Press. 1999
  • Problema chesti zhenshchin v Moskovskoi Rusi [The Problem of Women's Honor in Muscovite Russia], Sotsial'naia istoriia Kollmann, N. S. 1999: 205-16
  • The extremes of patriarchy: Spousal abuse and murder in early modern Russia RUSSIAN HISTORY-HISTOIRE RUSSE Kollmann, N. S. 1998; 25 (1-2): 133-140
  • Rhetoric of the Medieval Slavic World Essays presented to Edward L. Keenan on his Sixtieth Birthday edited by Pliguzov, A., Ostrowski, D., Rowland, D. Harvard Ukrainian Studies. 1997; 19
  • Religion and Culture in Early Modern Russia and Ukraine edited by Baron, S. H. DeKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois Univ. Press. 1997
  • Major Problems in Early Modern Russian History edited by Kollmann, N. S. New York: Garland Publishing. 1992
  • Collateral Succession in Kievan Rus' Harvard Ukrainian Studies Kollmann, N. S. 1990; 14 (3/4): 377-87
  • WAS THERE HONOR IN KIEV RUS JAHRBUCHER FUR GESCHICHTE OSTEUROPAS Kollmann, N. S. 1988; 36 (4): 481-492
  • THE GRAND-PRINCE IN MUSCOVITE POLITICS - THE PROBLEM OF GENRE IN SOURCES ON IVAN MINORITY RUSSIAN HISTORY-HISTOIRE RUSSE Kollmann, N. S. 1987; 14 (1-4): 293-313
  • RITUAL AND SOCIAL DRAMA AT THE MUSCOVITE COURT SLAVIC REVIEW Kollmann, N. S. 1986; 45 (3): 486-502
  • CONSENSUS POLITICS + MUSCOVY - THE DYNASTIC CRISIS OF THE 1490S RECONSIDERED RUSSIAN REVIEW Kollmann, N. S. 1986; 45 (3): 235-267
  • THE SECLUSION OF ELITE MUSCOVITE WOMEN RUSSIAN HISTORY-HISTOIRE RUSSE Kollmann, N. S. 1983; 10: 170-187