Featured
Alexander Etkind’s Russia’s “Oily Grip of Power” and the Hyper-Extractive State
On Wednesday, May 7th Alexander Etkind, Professor of History at European University Institute- Florence, joined the Jordan Center for a lecture and panel discussion of his new critical theory, which...
Meet the Empire: The Epic Journey of Grand Prince Alexander Nikolaevich in 1837: A Colloquium Discussion With Paul Werth
A colloquium talk on how the Russian Empire subtly stepped into the modern age in the year 1837.
"Social divisions among the barely literate in the Soviet Union of 1939-40: an exercise in historical sociolinguistics”, a talk by Alexander Nakhimovsky
A historical sociolinguistic study of social groups in early 20th century Russia reveals particular social dialects among peasants.
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...
Alexis in America: The Grand Tour of a Russian Grand Duke, 1871-1872
The story of the Grand Duke’s trip is more than just a tale of forbidden love, political intrigue and colorful characters. It also touches upon important developments and events in...
From the Paris Committee to “Polish Carbonarism”: Conspiracy Mythology and the Political Imagination in Russia in the Age of Revolution
The idea of conspiracy by secret societies became a pivotal official myth in the Russian Empire from the 1770s on, shaping governmental discourse, diplomatic relations, ideology, and security policy.
A Soviet Imprimatur on Imperial Smut: Politizdat’s "Luka Mudishchev" as Parody of the Soviet Book
On January 11, 1970, the British émigré newspaper Wiadomości reported on the publication of a new Russian book, a pocket-sized volume that had been a London bestseller during late 1969....
Our Pushkin?
Pushkinists know that today is a holiday. The first graduating class of the Tsarkoe Selo Lyceum annually celebrated the anniversary of their first day of school by gathering, drinking, and...
What About Tomorrow? An Oral History of Russian Punk from the Soviet Era to Pussy Riot
Punk arrived in Soviet Russia in 1978, spreading slowly at first through black market vinyl records and soon exploding into state-controlled performance halls, where authorities found the raucous youth movement...
Upcoming Columbia Event
In Search of Empire: the 400th Anniversary of the House of Romanov February 14th-16th 2013 Co-sponsored by the Bakhmeteff Archive, the Harriman Institute, the Department of Slavic Languages at Columbia...
Crimea and the Jewish Problem
When the words “Russia” “Ukraine” and “Jews” appear in the same English-language sentence, I prepare for the worst.
Russia is Attacking Western Liberal Democracies
Russia is engaging in an orchestrated, strategic campaign whose purpose is to erode liberal democracy in Europe and the United States.
Exhibition Review: "Russia — My History" at Moscow's VDNKh
Moscow: at the newly renovated VDNKh (Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy), a multimedia, multi-city mega-exhibition called “Russia – my history” is open to visitors at Pavilion No....
How the Soviet Experience Shapes Crime and Punishment in Russia Today
Russia has been justifiably called a Mafia-state. Yet for two centuries it had been making steady progress toward the rule of law and a predictable, impartial, accessible, and fair criminal...
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.
Representations of Race in Russian Art of the “Long” Nineteenth Century
The past three decades have witnessed the steady rise of scholarly interest in depictions of ethnically and racially diverse subjects in European art. Lavishly illustrated, multi-volume publications, such as the...
Reimagining Imperial Russia in “Russia: My History” Parks
"Russia My History" and other, similar history parks are a remarkable testament to the state of historical memory in Russia today. These expensive and intricately crafted productions make clear the...
Event Recap: The State of US-Russia Relations One Year into the Biden Administration
On November 29th, 2021, the Jordan Center and the Columbia University Harriman Institute hosted experts for a panel on “The State of US-Russia Relations One Year into the Biden Administration.”...
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...
Are Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn Kindred Souls?
The similarities readers have already uncovered between Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn's respective world-views pave the way toward further scholarship that would analyze the nineteenth-century author's continuing legacy in the work of...