“Is the post- in postcolonial the post- in post-Soviet?” asked David C. Moore in 2001, prompting a reexamination of the dynamics between the Russian metropole and its Eurasian peripheries. But to deploy the postcolonial optic here is to presuppose the passing of an era of global ideological and cultural entanglements, primarily unfolding between the Second and the Third Worlds before the end of the Cold War. In his book talk on March 6th, 2020, Professor Rossen Djagalov revisited the history of Soviet Union’s cultural engagements with the literature, films, and cultures from a region now known as the Global South. His new monograph, From Internationalism to Postcolonialism: Literature and Cinema between the Second and Third World (McGill-Queens, 2020), reconstructs the Soviet Third-Worldist literary formation as that which bridges between the interwar-era internationalism and the present-day (post-Soviet) postcolonial studies. Rossen Djagalov is an Assistant Professor of Russian Slavic Studies at New York University, who focuses on socialist culture globally and, more specifically, on the linkages between cultural producers and audiences in the USSR and abroad. The talk was introduced by Yannis Kotsonis, Professor of History & Russian & Slavic Studies at New York University.
Continue reading...Meet the Empire: The Epic Journey of Grand Prince Alexander Nikolaevich in 1837: A Colloquium Discussion With Paul Werth
Aron OuzilevskiA colloquium talk on how the Russian Empire subtly stepped into the modern age in the year 1837.
Continue reading...3 Questions: Russian intellectual history as a practice and project (Historia Nova Interviews)
Nancy CondeeWhat kinds of intellectual projects would be most beneficial for our shared fields?
Continue reading...Tatiana Saburova and Ben Eklof on Charushin and the lives of Russian populist intellectuals
Nigar HacizadeNikolai Charushin and his generation of populists insisted that every step of their revolutionary lives should be guided by ethical principles.
Continue reading...Populist Lives in Revolutionary Russia: Nikolai Charushin, Family and Friends
Heather JansonA conversation with author Michael David-Fox on Soviet modernity
Nigar HacizadeMichael David Fox speaks on his recent book, Crossing Borders: Modernity, Ideology, and Culture in Russia and the Soviet Union.
Continue reading...Panel on Russian-Ukrainian conflict urges constructive dialogue and a global perspective
Natasha BluthOn May 4, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and the NYU Russian Club held a panel discussion entitled “Beyond Political Games,” dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict from the historic and cultural point of view. Panelists included Yanni Kotsonis, Director of the Jordan Center, Lucan Way, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. The panel was introduced by Rossen Djagalov, Assistant Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NYU. “In my experience, [this is a topic] that doesn’t really encourage meaningful dialogue for the most part, which is precisely why it’s important,” Djagalov said.
Continue reading...The Emergence of Republicanism in Russia (18th – early 19th c.): from Historical Writings and Literature to Politics
Ilaria ParogniSoviet Cold War Imagination
Ilaria ParogniYanni Kotsonis shares the value of babushka stories at NESEEES
Natasha BluthOn April 2, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia hosted the 37th Annual Meeting of the North East Slavic, East European and Eurasian Conference (NESEEES, a regional conference of ASEEES). Panel discussions were held throughout the day, with scholars at the junior and senior level, as well as graduate and undergraduate students, to present their work. After being introduced by the Executive Director of NESEEES Susan Smith-Peter, NESEEES President and Jordan Center Director Yanni Kotsonis provided the keynote address, entitled “Babushka and the Sewing Machine, and Other Instructive Fails during My Travels in Russia.”
Continue reading...Edward Cohn explores “prophylactic policing” in the Soviet Baltics
Kathryn DavidOn April 1, 2015, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Edward Cohn for a colloquium on “A Soviet Theory of Broken Windows: Policing and the KGB’s Struggle With the Baltic States.” Cohn, Associate Professor of History and chair of the Russian, Central, and Eastern European Studies concentration at Grinnell College, was introduced by Arturas Rozenas, Assistant Professor of Politics at NYU. The presentation and discussion focused on a paper that will become part of a larger research project on Soviet strategies of policing in the Baltics.
Alfred J. Rieber approaches Soviet history through Stalin and the nationality question
Natasha BluthOn March 28, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and the NYU Department of History welcomed Alfred J. Rieber from Central European University for a lecture on his recent book, “Stalin and the Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia.” The event was introduced by Jordan Center Director Yanni Kotsonis and was followed with comments by Stephen Kotkin from Princeton University.
A Soviet Theory of Broken Windows: Prophylactic Policing and the KGB’s Struggle with Dissent in the Baltic States
Ilaria ParogniStalin and the Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia
Ilaria ParogniRobert Crews revisits Afghan history in a global context
Ilaria ParogniOn Wednesday, March 9, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Robert Crews, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University for a book talk devoted to his recent book, Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation. The event focused on Afghan encounters with Russia, the USSR, and Central Asia and explored Afghanistan’s engagement with the global circulation of modern politics.
Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation, A Discussion with Robert D. Crews
Natasha BluthTatiana Artemyeva speaks on concepts of Russian moral philosophy in the Enlightenment
Natasha BluthOn February 22, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Tatiana Artemyeva, a professor in the Department of Theory and History of Culture at the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, for a lecture on “Concepts of Russian Moral Philosophy in the Enlightenment.” Artemyeva, who is also a leading researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences, was introduced by Ilya Kliger, Associate Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NYU.
Sergei Antonov presents a history of counterfeiting in Imperial Russia
Natasha BluthOn February 5, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Sergei Antonov for a colloquium on “Criminal Capitalism in Imperial Russia: Counterfeiters, Merchants, and Gendarmes.” Antonov, an Affiliated Scholar in the History Department at Queens College, CUNY, was introduced by Anne O’Donnell, Assistant Professor of History, Russian & Slavic Studies at NYU. The discussion focused on a paper that will serve as a portion of Antonov’s forthcoming book on the history of personal credit in Imperial Russia, seeking to establish larger connections between criminality, law and capitalism in 19th-century Russia.
Soviet historian Sheila Fitzpatrick speaks on collective leadership after Stalin’s death
Natasha BluthOn November 23, 2015, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed historian Sheila Fitzpatrick, Professor at the University of Sydney and Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of the University of Chicago. Fitzpatrick, who has worked since the 1970s in the Soviet field, presented her research on “The Team Without Stalin: ‘Collective Leadership’ 1953-7.” Introducing the speaker, Jordan Center Director Yanni Kotsonis praised Fitzpatrick’s comprehensive scholarship. “No one else has mastered the Soviet field as Sheila Fitzpatrick,” Kotsonis said. She “singlehandedly transformed the way we did Soviet history because first of all, she treated it as history, and second of all, she […] put forth the proposition—which was very controversial in the middle of the Cold War—that the Soviet Union was a country” that was comparable to other countries.
Alessandro Stanziani explores the history of Russian economy in a global perspective
Natasha BluthThe NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and the Department of History welcomed economic historian Alessandro Stanziani, Professor at École des hautes études en sciences sociales and Research Director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. During his two discussions, Stanziani positioned the 18th and 19th-century Russian economy in a comparative analysis with Western Europe and Asia, focusing on the interplay between labor, coercion and freedom in different parts of the world.