Sean Griffin

Sean Griffin is an interdisciplinary scholar of Russia and Ukraine. His research focuses on the history of the Orthodox Church and its role in the sacralization of political power: from the liturgy and chronicles of medieval Kyiv, to the wartime propaganda of Putin's Russia.

Griffin’s first book, The Liturgical Past in Byzantium and Early Rus, was published with Cambridge University Press. It was the winner of two international book awards: the W. Bruce Lincoln Book Prize and the Ecclesiastical History Society Book Prize. His newest book, The Sacred Reign of Vladimir Putin: Religion, Memory, War , will be published with Cornell University Press.

At Notre Dame, Griffin teaches interdisciplinary courses on the religion, culture, history, and politics of Eastern Europe. He also enjoys leading courses in the Russian language program. His interest in these subjects was inspired by his own, unexpected conversion to the Orthodox Church as a young college student, searching for the meaning of life in the mountains of southern California.