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Peter Holquist Discusses New Book Project, "By Right of War"
On Friday, May 9th Peter Holquist, Writer in Residence at the Jordan Center, led academic year’s final event. Holquist is Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and specializes...
A Transnational History of Alaska by Susan Smith-Peter
The decision to sell and buy Alaska was informed by different types of empire each country chose to pursue.
Castrates, the Specter of Pugachev, and Religious Persecution under Tsar Nicholas I
In 1843, the tsar and his senior advisers were greatly alarmed by reports from researchers in the Ministry of Internal Affairs who had been investigating religious minorities. According to these...
Excerpt From Colleen Lucey's "Love for Sale: Representing Prostitution in Imperial Russia," Part II
Hoodwinked by the establishment’s malicious and conniving madam, Aleksandra Pakhomovna, Luiza agrees to join the brothel.
Putin’s Y2024 Problem
There is no doubt that Putin has a succession plan – but he has not yet revealed what it is. During his June 2018 call-in program, Putin said in response...
Open Letter on the Termination of Russian Studies Faculty at Ohio University
Like you, we are wholeheartedly invested in the survival and recovery of higher education in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That recovery depends on the will of universities...
Talking with Scholarly Publishers (Historia Nova Prize Part II)
What advice would you give a young scholar when submitting a manuscript to your press?
Russian Government Reshuffle: Plus ça Change
Vladimir Putin’s surprise announcement during his annual presidential address on 15 January that the constitution will be rewritten, and the subsequent resignation of his government, caught everyone by surprise. Like...
Putin, Forever: The Russian President Remains as Inscrutable as Ever
Is Vladimir Putin a master manipulator? Or is he a genius of improvisation? Does he have a master strategy which governs his every move, carefully thought out in advance –...
Putin's Game of Thrones
The poisoning of Aleksei Navalny is a grim reminder that Russian politics seems to operate by its own set of rules.
Dueling for the Soul of Russia
It looks unlikely that Navalny will succeed in his quest to topple Putin in the near future. He will probably remain a prisoner, a modern-day equivalent of Alexandre Dumas’ “Man...
New York Public Library Appoints Full-Time Slavic Curator
On October 15, 2018, Bogdan Horbal became the full-time Slavic curator at the New York Public Library. He holds a Ph.D. in history from University of Wrocław in Poland and...
Margaret Samu on the reception of the female nude in Imperial Russia
What does the reception of the female nude tell us about Westernization, art criticism and taste in Imperial Russia?
Workers Against the Workers’ State, Part II
"Dear Comrades!" won a special jury prize at the Venice film festival in September 2020. A one-hour promotional video follows Konchalovsky and Vysotskaya as they cavort through luxury locations in...
Vladimir Putin: Pauper or Princeling?
If Vladimir Putin did indeed come from a family with ties to the Soviet nomenklatura, that would illuminate the role of personal connections in an allegedly egalitarian and meritocratic society....
Gothic Doubling and The Double, Gothically
Dostoevsky was well aware of the power of the gothic.
The Day of Family, Love and Fidelity: "Traditional Values" and Church-State Relations in Russia
“You have gay parades, and we have the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity."
History Matters
Amid the pandemic, Russia, China, and others find time to debate the timing of the beginning and end of World War II and other details of years long past.
Belarus on a Knife-Edge
Time will tell whether the Minsk protests have reached that magical tipping point.
Workers Against the Workers’ State, Part I
The artistic qualities of "Dear Comrades!", along with its superficial willingness to confront a tragic chapter of Russian history, have attracted glowing reviews from some Western critics and may win...