Bojanowska’s book examines a travelogue by Ivan Goncharov, better known as the author of the novel Oblomov, using his eyewitness account as a window onto imperial history of the 19th century and Russia’s perceptions of and relations with its own colonial subjects.
Continue reading...A World of Empires: The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada
Aron OuzilevskiFilm Editing as Women’s Work: Esfir Shub, Elizaveta Svilova, and the Culture of Soviet Montage
Aron OuzilevskiProfessor Kaganovsky’s study focuses on the contributions of the two early Soviet female directors: Esfir Shub and Elizaveta Svilova, “in order to make visible what has largely remained invisible – film editing as women’s work”
Continue reading...On Avant-Garde Post: Radical Poetics After the Soviet Union
Aron OuzilevskiThe new Russian avant-garde poetic cohort’s blend of a socialist past with global egalitarian ideas challenges both the discourses of the Russian authorities and the major opposition .
Continue reading...Soviet Legacies and Regime Support in Post-Soviet Societies: Housing, Nationalism, and Ideology in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan
Aron OuzilevskiThe study analyzes variation in public support for incumbent governments in four post-Soviet countries: Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine.
Continue reading...Khlebnikov, Tatlin, and the Utopian Geopoetics of the Russian Avant-garde (Event Recap)
Aron OuzilevskiProfessor Harsha Ram’s paper primarily focuses on the poetics, the literary theory, and the politics surrounding the Russian Revolution, and how the particular “convergence of literature and politics can help rethink the problem of world literature.” Focal to Ram’s research are poet Velimir Khlebnikov and artist Vladimir Tatlin, whose unconventional work presented a utopia imbued with a new vision of geopolitics.
Continue reading...The Story of Aleksei Balabanov’s Unfinished Film The American and Its Potential Afterlife
Aron OuzilevskiTwo tragedies coupled with a failed attempt at completing the film “The American”, broke the “rhythms and networks of meanings” that flowed through the Aleksei Balabanov’s earlier films.
Continue reading...Geography of Anti-Corruption Protests in Russia
Aron OuzilevskiMeet 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...From Triumph to Crisis: Neoliberal Economic Reform in Postcommunist Countries
Aron OuzilevskiProfessors Hilary Appel and Mitchell A. Orenstein discuss a new approach to examining post-communist Eastern European economic policies offered in their book “From Triumph to Crisis: Neoliberal Economic Reform in Postcommunist Countries”.
Continue reading...Who is to blame for US-Russia tensions?
Ben DaltonCall it a new cold war or a “hot peace,” US-Russia relations are terrible, yet within recent memory the two countries still cooperated on a range of issues. To answer which side is to blame for current tensions, Stephen Cohen debated Michael McFaul at Columbia University.
Continue reading...Where does Putin’s support come from?
Ben Dalton“Collective euphoria” may explain the surge in support for Putin that followed Russia’s annexation of Crimea, said Graeme Robertson.
Continue reading...Putin’s Last Term?
Ben DaltonSurprising no one, Vladimir Putin secured his fourth and possibly final presidential term in an election last March. A panel of scholars discussed what the next six years of Putin could mean for Russia and the world.
Continue reading...Post-Soviet Political Theater
Ben DaltonJessica Pisano spent 15 years learning why everyday Russians and Ukrainians choose to participate in “theatrical” elections. She found coercion, but also individual agency.
Continue reading...Do anti-corruption campaigns work? David Szakonyi presents evidence from Russia.
Ben DaltonResearch from Russia suggests that financial disclosure requirements may dissuade corrupt incumbents from seeking re-election.
Continue reading...Beyond Putin: Report from A Masculinities Workshop
Katherine DunleavyA clear theme emerging from the papers and the following discussion was that of authenticity: what does it mean to be a “real” man in different cultural contexts?
Continue reading...Scholars, journalists discuss kompromat in today’s setting
Natasha BluthCecilia Banke and Flemming Hansen on the use of history in shaping identity
Nigar HacizadeResearchers from the Danish Institute for International Studies explore Russian identity under Putin, and the role of politics of memory in European-Russian relations.
Continue reading...Maria Galmarini-Kabala on “defective children” and the state that treated them
Nigar HacizadeHistorian Maria Galmarini-Kabala puts her lens on a 1920s children’s sanatorium in search of “norms, discourses and historiographical frames” of the period’s pedagogy.
Continue reading...Kompromat: What it is, and what it means for US-Russia relations
Natasha BluthFeaturing:
Keith Darden, Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University
Miriam Elder, World Editor, BuzzFeed News
Katy E. Pearce, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Washington
Our panelists will address the history of Kompromat in both the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet successor states, the role it is currently playing in Russian politics, the ways in which in technological changes have impacted Kompromat, as well as the the potential effects of Kompromat on US-Russian relations.
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