Book Talk: Dr. Ani Kokobobo's “Leo Tolstoy: The Power of Dissent”

Explore Leo Tolstoy: The Power of Dissent, published by Academic Studies Press on May 20, 2025, with Dr. Kokobobo, UL Dean of College of Liberal Arts, focusing on Tolstoy as a dissenter and the relevance of his voice in today’s world.

About the Author:
Dr. Kokobobo is Professor of Modern Languages and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has published over thirty-five articles and written or edited multiple books. Her public writings have appeared with Time Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Washington Post.

About Leo Tolstoy: The Power of Dissent:
The Tolstoy that emerges from this volume is a thinker who resists easy answers, explores contradictions, and seeks deeper reconciliation. This collection presents him as an open-ended conversation partner rather than a moral authority, grappling urgently with dilemmas of identity, human relationships, colonial violence, and integrity. The Tolstoy I have always sought—and hope is foregrounded here—is one whose meanings remain open, engaging in dialogue with both our present and an unknown future. From his time, he speaks to today’s most pressing issues. In an era of polarization and simplistic narratives, Tolstoy offers a methodology of dissent and independent thought. This is Tolstoy the dissenter, whose voice is extraordinarily valuable for our time.

Free for museum members, UL students, faculty and staff. General public entry with museum admission.