Amanda Ewington received her BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Soviet Studies and her MA and PhD from the University of Chicago in Slavic Languages & Literatures. She is chair of Russian Studies at Davidson College, offering courses in Russian literature, Russian History, Translation Studies, Enlightenment Studies, and advanced Russian language. Her research focuses on the 18th century, especially Franco-Russian cultural ties and the establishment of a modern Russian literature in the wake of the Petrine reforms.