Jehanne Gheith
Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature

Jehanne Gheith is an Associate Professor of Russian Culture at Duke University and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for Duke Hospice, who has a private psychotherapy practice in Aging, Illness, and Wellness Transitions with a specialization in Pet Loss. At Duke, she led the International Comparative Studies Program for nine years, together with Marcy Litle, reshaping and building this interdisciplinary major. She has also chaired the Slavic Department. In both her academic and clinical work, Professor Gheith is interested in the intersection of narrative and loss; more recently, she has included the human-animal bond in this work. She regularly leads community conversations and workshops on making aging and crisis medical situations a richer experience than is often the case. In all of these areas, Professor Gheith's focus is on the intersection of story and loss and the richness that can come from exploring these connections in depth and in multiple dimensions. She is currently working on a book about the connections between her clinical work and her research in Russian literature. On September 30, she has organized and will present in an interactive workshop at Duke: "Poems, Prose, and Panels: the Work of the Humanities in End of Life Care." Gheith is committed to the modes of liberal arts and the humanities in the practical world.

Current Research Interests

As a scholar of Russian literature and as a clinician (grief counselor), I am always interested in how narrative and illness, mortality, grief work together. 

I am currently working on a book project about how my clinical interests and my deep engagement with Russian literature intersect.

I am also getting a certificate in Veterinary Social Work so that I can better explore the human animal relationship. This is central to work in Russian literature (it's a long story--but aren't most Russian novels?), and to my clinical work as well.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Contact Information

  • 321C Languages Bldg, 133 Franklin Center, Durham, NC 27708
  • Box 90259, Durham, NC 27708-0259

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