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Transnational Cinematic Contact Zone: a discussion with Masha Salazkina
Masha Salazkina, Associate Professor of Film and Research Chair of Transnational Arts and Culture from Concordia University in Montreal, spoke to guests of the Jordan Center on Friday regarding her...
Stories Not About Putin, or Masha Gessen Bikes to the Kremlin
Authoritarian Fun Fact: when the political culture and mechanisms of power all revolve around one man (sexist language intended), the accidental consequences of that man's actions can be both disheartening...
Punitive Patriarchy: “A Holiday Fairytale”
Motherhood is tangled up in a complex nexus of Russianness, physical suffering, emotional authenticity and nature.
December 1989: An Immigrant Story
One could find bards at every immigrant gathering singing The Tales of What Could Go Wrong At the Interview.
The Snowball Effect: An Immigrant Story
When I tell my story of immigration, which story do I tell?
Teaching The Master and Margarita: A Pedagogical Field Note
If I had to choose a book to bring on a desert island, I wouldn’t choose this one.
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.
Pussy Riot vs. Ksenia Sobchak, Round Two
So why did she conduct an interview with Pussy Riot that was god-awful enough to make it onto Buzzfeed?
Re-Imagining Women at War: Kantemir Balagov’s "Beanpole" (2019)
Inspired by Svetlana Alexievich’s "The Unwomanly Face of War" (1985), an oral history of women who served in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War, Kantemir Balagov’s arresting 2019...
A Punk Prayer: a screening and discussion of Evgeny Mitta's "Act and Punishment"
Evgeny Mitta powerfully narrates the rise and global evolution of Pussy Riot.
Exhibit Review: "Russian Revolution: A Contested Legacy (1917-2017)"
This fall, the International Print Center New York commemorates the centennial of the Russian Revolution with the exhibit "Russian Revolution: A Contested Legacy" (1917-2017). Curator Masha Chlenova combines historical, early-Soviet,...
Ksenia Sobchak, puzzled by sexism
Is it possible to be disappointed in Ksenia Sobchak?
Чаадаев и пустота (Chaadaev and Void)
What is modern Russia really like?
Penile Servitude and the Police State
Sunday before last, on the drizzly police holiday, Petersburg performance artist Petr Pavlensky (b. 1984) sat stark naked in Moscow's sacred center and nailed his scrotum to the cold cobblestones...
Fake Putin, Real Pussy Riot, Fake Obama, Real Diplomacy
Watching Fake Putin go around being a charming bully is funny (as they say, because it's true.) Watching the US President ignore gay rights protesters in the face of a...
Is Donald Trump carrying Putin’s baby?
The real problem with the constant Trump/Putin comparisons is that they are profoundly unfair… to Putin.
American Fascism: Lessons from Russia
Putin is not a fascist, in part because he does not need to be. Trump ran a consistently fascist campaign.
Lenin Lives: An Exhibition at the Van Every Gallery, Davidson College
Artists and politicians alike recognized the symbolic significance of Lenin’s public image.
Boys Just Want to Have Fun: Just How Queer are the "Satisfaction" Videos?
The Satisfaction supporters are definitely fighting for something, but it is not LGBT rights
Spring Reading Series: Andrei Egunov-Nikolev's "Beyond Tula," Part III
Darya Fyodorovna came in and asked whether to serve them dinner, but the co-op operator was loping dreamily around the room. A porcelain Easter egg was hanging in the corner...