Her research will look at the art of dissimulation in Ruthenian intellectual culture on the verge of the 16- 17th centuries. Ivanova plans to study the causes which brought the art of dissimulation to life in Ruthenia, analyze its peculiarities, and demonstrate its impact on the development of later philosophical and theological thought in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Particular attention will be directed to exploring the philosophical aspects of dissimulation in catechetical, homiletical, exegetical writings of Szymon Budny, Meletij Smotryckyj, Lavrentij Zyzanij and Kasjan Sakowicz. Also, Ivanova plans to demonstrate the continuity in the development of Slavic philosophical thought from the epoch of Byzantinism to the epoch of the Enlightenment.