This week’s interview is with Dr. Ilya Dines who is working at the Law Library for several months as a contractor describing the medieval and early modern manuscripts in the Law Library’s Rare Books Collection.
Describe your background.
I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. My parents, like many parents of that time, urged me in the direction of a conventional career. Following their advice, I spent some time studying computers, which in fact has been useful to me since then, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I wanted something different for myself. At the age of 20, I decided to leave Russia and move to Israel, where I had an opportunity to attend the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I stayed there a long time. Ultimately I earned a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in classics and medieval history, all the while without having a concrete idea about where it would lead.
What is your academic/professional history?