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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.
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...
A Push for Digital History in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
My research examines German prisoners-of-war (POWs) in the USSR from 1941 to 1956. My dissertation, which I am currently transforming into a book manuscript, treats the reasons that Soviets held...
Grappling with German Tropes of WWII Captivity in Siberia
My mapping research showed that only 13 percent of all POW camps in the USSR were located in Siberia. Based on very rough figures for camp populations, it seems that...
Theater Review: Jonathan Leaf's "Pushkin," Now Playing at New York's Sheen Center
When I saw the Sheen Center's new Pushkin play (which runs until August 25), I came aware of both the reverence I should have felt were I Russian and the...
Civil Society in 19th-Century Russia
Susan Smith-Peter discusses the shaping of Russian provincial identity amidst the Great Reforms.
In Memory of Stephen Cohen
Earlier this year, our friend and colleague Stephen Cohen passed away. His contributions to the field of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies will be felt for years to come....
Getting One Thing Straight: “Postmodernists” Are Not the Problem
Discussions of Trump and Putin as “Postmodern politicians” come in many different forms and degrees of sophistication. My own modest contribution is intended only to dispel a bit of confusion...
Guns for Lenin: A New Jersey Love Story
A family stands in a field. The woman has flowers in her hair and a revolver in her hand. The man stands proudly with a rifle beside him, while their...
What do Scholars of Russia owe Ukraine?
As scholars of Russia, we need to undertake a searching moral inventory to see the ways in which we have taken the Russian state’s point of view as a default.
Rethinking “The Archives” in the Aftermath of Russia’s War in Ukraine, Part I
Just as Europe must plan for an energy future without Russian fossil fuels, the field of history and related fields must plan for a future without access to Russian archives.
Rethinking “The Archives” in the Aftermath of Russia’s War in Ukraine, Part II
Instead of giving funding for travel to archives in Russia, funding should be determined by the project itself. Scholars should be able to propose travel to a variety of places...
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...
Fall Reading Series: Sergei Gandlevsky's "Illegible," Part I
In contemporary Russian literary life, Gandlevsky’s stature as a poet is indisputably great; he is less well known as a prose writer, although his novels and essays have been critically...
Fall Reading Series: Sergei Gandlevsky's "Illegible," Part II
Sergey Gandlevsky has written that his very first childhood poem, written on the occasion of the transfer to another school of the “beautiful, stern” little girl he had a crush...
Fall Reading Series: Sergei Gandlevsky's "Illegible," Part III
Krivorotov tried to cause a jealous scene, but Anya would have none of it. “I have one jailer, my aunt, and that’s enough,” the young woman said to him. “If...
Zvyagintsev’s "Leviathan" and Debates on Authority, Agency and Authenticity
We argue that the film effectively generated political debates because it left viewers to grapple with a series of ambiguous positions, which merit attention at a moment when most observers...
The Joseph Brodsky Lab: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Digital Humanities
The most compelling potential uses of Digital Humanities involve estranging and destabilizing notions of canon and modes of reading.
Gender Trouble in The Double: Masculinity in Dostoevsky’s Novella and Ayoade’s Film
Right from the outset, Ayoade’s film establishes the presence of a masculine hierarchy.
Barriers to Entry: AIDS, Condoms and Rank Stupidity in Russia
Throw out your condoms and pick up your Bibles (but try not to confuse the two, or you’ll run afoul of Russian laws protecting the delicate feelings of religious believers):...