From Internationalism to Postcolonialism: Literature and Cinema between the Second and Third World


“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.

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Panel on Russian-Ukrainian conflict urges constructive dialogue and a global perspective


On 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.

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Evgeny Finkel applies Tocqueville to the 1861 and 1905 Russian reforms


On May 6, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Evgeny Finkel, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, for a lecture titled “Tocqueville Warning: Reform and Rebellion in Imperial Russia.” During the event Finkel presented the findings of a joint project with Scott Gehlbach, Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, devoted to the seeming contradiction between reforms as a preservation mechanism for autocracies and the unrest that such reforms create in weak states.

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Philippa Hetherington explores anti-trafficking rhetoric in a Soviet and global context


On April 22, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Philippa Hetherington from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London for a session of the Spring 2016 Colloquium Series. The event, titled “Between Moscow, Geneva and Shanghai: the Traffic in Women of Russian Origin and the League of Nations’ Global Governmentalities, 1920-1937,” gave Hetherington the opportunity to discuss a paper devoted to the interaction between the League of Nations and the lives of Russian and Soviet female migrants in the interwar period. In many cases, this relationship led to anti-trafficking campaigns in order to rescue women of Russian origin engaged in prostitution in China.

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Music expert Michael Danilin presents the Russian rock bands of the 1980s


On February 12, 2016, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Michael (Misha) Danilin from the NYU Department of Russian and Slavic Studies to speak on the “Golden Age of Russian Rock.” Rossen Djagalov, Assistant Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NYU, introduced Danilin highlighting his eclecticism and versatility. Apart from being a professor of Russian language at NYU, Danilin is the lead singer of Interzona, the initiator of a number of music projects, and a music expert currently compiling a history of the Russian rock movement. The speaker began his presentation with a plea to the audience, inviting them to think about how to best define Russian rock, what makes it distinguishable from other rock music and other Russian genres, and how we can address Russian rock in the 21st century.

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Assistant Secretary Rose discusses arms control in US-Russia relations


On April 29, 2015, the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed the Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank A. Rose, for an informal conversation about US-Russia relations, with particular attention to arms control, missile defense and space security. As Director of the Jordan Center Yanni Kotsonis pointed out, many have awaited impatiently for this event because issues of strategic stability are clearly very much back on the table in the strained relations between the two countries.

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By Misunderstanding Crimea, the West Is Pushing Russia Further Away


On the recent anniversary of the Russian annexation of Crimea, residents of the peninsula came out on the streets to celebrate waving flags, cheering and clapping. There was music and dancing. The Night Wolves, a biker gang known for having close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, joined all the way from Moscow.

Crimea escaped civil war, but for some it remains a battleground.

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Jordan Center hosts North East Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Conference


Image by Ilaria Parogni

On March 21, 2015, the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia hosted the 36th Annual Meeting of the North East Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Conference. Roughly fifty participants came together to present and participate in lively discussions of the day. The conference consisted of nine panels touching on subjects varying from the psychological in Russian art and life, symbolic geography, Soviet film, Polish politics, émigré culture, to post-Communist culture and politics.

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Professor Lounsbery is among the keynote speakers at University of Virginia


Anne Lounsbery by Ilaria Parogni

On March 26, Professor Anne Lounsbery, chair of the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University, will be addressing the audience of “Centrifugal Forces: Reading Russia’s Regional Identities and Initiatives,” a three-day conference held at the University of Virginia. Lounsbery will speak on the perceived “symbolic geography” of Russia’s provinces.

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Why the international community shouldn’t ignore the Crimean Tatars


Early in 2014 the Russian annexation of Crimea caused international uproar. Subsequently, things went quiet. Today, the media are paying attention again, as they reveal how local Russian authorities are targeting the Crimean Tatars, one of the peninsula’s main ethnic minority groups, through actions aimed at restricting their autonomy. In a display of hypocrisy and shortsightedness, Western leaders remain silent.

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The media game: Putting on the Cold War goggles


As the tension between Russia and the West turns into a deeper rift in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, many have been tempted to declare the beginning of a new Cold War. The English-language media – both Western and Russian – has taken the approach a step further. Flicking through the pages of newspapers or scrolling down a webpage, the tendency towards interpreting current events as a permanent confrontation between Russia and the West is evident: Journalists have put on their Cold War goggles and seem set on keeping them on.

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