Jadranka Skorin-Kapov (born as Jadranka Boljunčić in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in 1955) is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

in the College of Business, and with affiliated positions in the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Her background includes PhD degrees in

Operations Research Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...

, in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. S ...

, and in

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

. She serves as the Head of Management Area in the College of Business. She founded and currently directs the ''Center for Integration of Business Education & Humanities (CIBEH)''. Skorin-Kapov received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2016. In 2017 Skorin-Kapov received the Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

business and society program. In 2020 Skorin-Kapov was elected as the corresponding member of the ''Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts'' in the Department of Social Sciences. In 2022 Skorin-Kapov was appointed as the SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, State University of New York.

Biography

Jadranka Skorin-Kapov was born in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in 1955. In 1973 she moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and S ...

to study mathematics at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, graduating in 1977. While still an undergraduate student, in 1976 she married her classmate Darko Skorin-Kapov. Their daughters were born in 1979 and 1981. In 1984 the Skorin-Kapov's received doctoral fellowships from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...

, the Sauder School of Business, and the family moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. Jadranka Skorin-Kapov received her PhD in

in 1987, and after a year as a Visiting Professor at the

, she accepted a tenure track position at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

. At

, Skorin-Kapov got early tenure and promotion to

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

in 1993, followed by early promotion to

in 1998. While working as a full-time professor, Skorin-Kapov studied philosophy, receiving her PhD in

from

in 2007. In 2009 Skorin-Kapov enrolled in the PhD program in Art History and Criticism at

, and in 2014 received her third PhD, this one dealing with

Film Studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. F ...

Research and publications

Skorin-Kapov has about 70 refereed publications in

, and has received various grants and awards, including five

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

grants and a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

award. Her scholarship in operations research includes development of algorithms ( heuristic search and learning, and polynomial

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing c ...

for special cases) and applications of

discrete optimization Discrete optimization is a branch of optimization in applied mathematics and computer science. Scope As opposed to continuous optimization, some or all of the variables used in a discrete mathematical program are restricted to be discrete vari ...

to location and layout, telecommunications, scheduling, manufacturing design, and network design. Her research in optimization falls into four main clusters: exact solvability of nonlinear integer programs, heuristic solvability of the

quadratic assignment problem The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is one of the fundamental combinatorial optimization problems in the branch of optimization or operations research in mathematics, from the category of the facilities location problems first introduced by Koo ...

(QAP), heuristic solvability and sensitivity analysis for the Hub Location Problem (HLP), and optimization in optical networks design. Under her maiden name, in 1995 Skorin-Kapov published a collection of poetry in

Chakavian dialect Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...

(Čakavski) of

Croatian language Croatian (; ' ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, and other neighboring countries. It is the offic ...

, entitled ''Vajk z manon''. The foreword is written by Milan Rakovac. Skorin-Kapov's work in

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Prio ...

appeared in ''The Aesthetics of Desire and Surprise: Phenomenology and Speculation''. This book covers issues central to contemporary continental philosophy: desire, expectations, excess, rupture, transcendence, immanence, and surprise. The proposed term ''desire, , surprise'' captures the phenomenological- speculative character of the pair not yet and no longer. Skorin-Kapov draws non-obvious parallels between different thinkers, including Levinas, Žižek, Bataille, Blanchot, Foucault, Ricoeur,

Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...

Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest an ...

, Nancy, Lyotard, and Bachelard. She argues that the works of

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

, Schelling and Jaspers support the idea that the beginning of aesthetics is where knowledge ends. A review of the book appeared in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' April 13, 2016. Skorin-Kapov's subsequent book''The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics: Exceeding of Expectations, Ecstasy, Sublimity'' analyzes the common experiential ground for both aesthetics and ethics. As for understanding the aesthetic experience as the paradigmatic experience, Skorin-Kapov is informed by Dewey’s work on art as experience, Gadamer’s work on experience of art, and Jauss’s work on the aesthetics of reception and the horizon of expectations. Elements of

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

ian morality, Foucault’s ethics, and Kierkegaard’s work on interactions between aesthetics and ethics together help to characterize the relation between aesthetics and ethics. Considering surprise due to unexpectedness in comedy, Skorin-Kapov interprets philosophical views on the comedy and laughter (including

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

, Kierkegaard, Meredith, and

Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

), using the theatrical work of

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

as an example. A review of the book appeared in

The Review of Metaphysics ''The Review of Metaphysics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy. It was established by Paul Weiss and the first issue was published in September 1947. The journal's primary sponsor is and has been The Catholic University of America ...

, Vol. LXX, No. 4 (June 2017). Skorin-Kapov's work in film studies includes a book on the oeuvre of the film director, screenwriter, and producer

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Aron ...

, entitled ''Darren Aronofsky’s Films and the Fragility of Hope''. She deploys her background in philosophy and math to analyze Aronofsky's varied filmography, including '' π'' (1998), ''

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same ...

'' (2000), ''

The Fountain ''The Fountain'' is a 2006 American epic romantic drama film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Blending elements of fantasy, history, spirituality, and science fiction, the film consists of t ...

'' (2006), '' The Wrestler'' (2008), ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon cl ...

'' (2010), and ''

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...

'' (2014). Aronofsky is revealed to be a philosopher’s director, considering the themes of life and death, addiction and obsession, sacrifice, and the fragility of hope. Skorin-Kapov discusses his ability to visually present challenging intersections between not only art and philosophy, but also math, psychology, and art history. The book concludes with a transcript of a conversation between Skorin-Kapov and Aronofsky himself. A review of the book appeared in ''Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media''. Skorin-Kapov developed a course ''Business Ethics: Critical Thinking through Film.'' In 2017 this course won the Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute business and society program. In the interview entitled ''What Films Can Teach Us About Business Ethics'' and published in the Education section of The Aspen Institute Newsletter, Skorin-Kapov argues for the impact of humanistic elements in business education. In 2018 Skorin-Kapov's book ''Professional and Business Ethics through Film: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking'' was published by Palgrave Macmillan.Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka (2018), Professional and Business Ethics through Film: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking, Palgrave Macmillan, The book considers a number of real world cases and a number of films presenting ethical issues arising in professional and business settings.

References

External links

Official web page: Jadranka Skorin-Kapov

Center for Integration of Business Education & Humanities (CIBEH)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka 1955 births Living people Stony Brook University faculty UBC Sauder School of Business alumni Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb alumni People from Pula Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States American people of Croatian descent American non-fiction writers Levinas scholars American women non-fiction writers American women academics 21st-century American women