Dr. Ruth Priscilla Kirstein, MD, PhD

Ruth Priscilla Kirstein’s work focuses on the intersection between science, entertainment and athletics. She holds a Medical Doctor (MD) and a PhD in Medical History and Ethics from the University of Freiburg (est. 1457). Her doctoral dissertation investigates the making of the neuropsychiatrist Alfred Erich Hoche (1865-1943), who has been accused of having laid the intellectual groundwork for German euthanasia during World War II.

From prestigious venues to impromptu performances, Dr. Kirstein has moved, informed and connected audiences in America, Europe and the Middle East as an expert, host, actor-fencer-dancer, director and visual artist.

Her work has been supported by, among others, The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), The Peter J. Sharp Foundation, The Peter Norton Family Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation, United Technologies, and Baskin Robbins.

Dr. Kirstein's report on the implementation of the U.S. Department’s of Agriculture (USDA) SNAP (food stamp) Online Purchasing Pilot during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed unreported disparities disposed to affect millions and outlined new strategies to increase the program’s viability and inclusiveness.

She conceived, directed, created designs for and performed in the opera-ballet A More Perfect Union about the 1787 American Constitutional Convention and its impact on today’s situation. A More Perfect Union premiered at New York City Opera’s VOX and Friends and at the International Diaghilev Festival in Perm, Russia.

Miniature Espagnole, signature piece of her Mediterranean fencing-dance theater work about the sublimation of violence, premiered at Salle Gaveau in Paris in collaboration with Christina Pluhar’s L’Arpeggiata musical ensemble. Once more with l’Arpeggiata, she staged Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, the first extant opera, at the Poissy Theatre near Paris, and performed in it as well.

Dr. Kirstein is the Founder and Executive Director of the New York City-based Middle East Film Initiative (MEFI), the first U.S. organization advocating for media and entertainment professionals who are of Middle Eastern descent or are working on topics of importance to U.S. Middle Eastern communities.

For Boston Ballet, she designed and launched the Taking Steps outreach program, now a major staple of Boston Ballet’s educational programs, reaching nearly 200 inner-city middle school girls each year. As a fencing coach, she not only laid the groundwork for successful competitive pursuits, but also used sword fighting techniques to teach academics and address neurological as well as developmental challenges.

At the German Mission to the United Nations, she moderated the medical symposium Rethinking Trauma as a Global Challenge.

Her fine art and scientific designs in pathology, anatomy, embryology, neurology and biology, were featured in solo exhibitions at the Franco-German TV network Arte and the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

Dr. Kirstein's work is included in the collections of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Centre National de la Danse in Paris and the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PetrouchkaNYC

Sub-Specialties

MEDICAL ETHICS

• Long-term physical effects of physical and psychological trauma
• Impact of Electronic Health Records (EHR) on patient care and communication
• Rationing and denial of medical care in the U.S. and Germany

SOCIAL JUSTICE

• Informal labor practices
• Food access
• Affordable housing practices

MEDIA DIVERSITY

• U.S. media and entertainment professionals who are of Middle Eastern descent or are working on topics of importance to U.S. Middle Eastern communities
• On-camera representations of women and minorities
• Sexual harassment in the workplace

FENCING

• Historic relationship between fencing and dance
• Physical and intellectual empowerment through fencing
• Sublimation of violence

GERMAN/U.S. HISTORY & PRESENT

• Relationship between right-wing thinkers and Jewish populations
• Cultural context of right-wing thought in Germany and the U.S.
• Anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish and anti-refugee violence in Germany