In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic’s first days in March 2020, we compiled a list of virtual learning resources sent to us by academics around the world.
Podcasts
Archives of the KGB: This podcast from Current Time features stories found by Kiev journalist and historian Eduard Andryushchenko in the recently declassified Ukrainian KGB archives.
Bear Market Brief Podcast: This podcast, produced by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, “explores politics, economics, and their intersection in Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet space. Subscribe here.”
CEPA “The Power Vertical“: “Kremlin coverage for Kremlin watchers. The Power Vertical Podcast is a weekly program focusing on Russian affairs hosted by Brian Whitmore.” Older episodes can be found on the Radio Free Europe website.
CSIS “Russian Roulette”: “Hosted by CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program expert Jeffrey Mankoff, Russian Roulette takes a look at the politics, economics, and culture of Russia and Eurasia through both interviews and lively discussion with experts from CSIS and around the world.”
Global News Radio “Russia Rising”: “Russia Rising is an investigative series hosted by Jeff Semple, the former Europe Bureau Chief for Global News. It unravels the mystery behind Putin’s Russia.”
KennanX Podcast: This new podcast from the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in D.C. discusses “our never ending quest to understand Russia, Ukraine, and the surrounding region.” Recent episodes have discussed topics everywhere from Russian cuisine to nuclear insecurity.
“The Dashing Twenties”: This Russian-language podcast is all about how films (Soviet and beyond) of the 20s were shot, shown, and watched.
Meduza “The Naked Pravda”: “Meduza’s first English-language podcast, The Naked Pravda highlights how our top reporting intersects with the wider research and expertise that exists about Russia. The broader context of Meduza’s in-depth, original journalism isn’t always clear, which is where this show comes in. Here you’ll hear from the world’s community of Russia experts, activists, and reporters about the issues at the heart of Meduza’s stories.”
Meduza Podcasts: While the Naked Pravda (above) is Meduza‘s only English-language podcast, the online publication produces several Russian-language podcasts on topics such as film, literature, history, finance, and even motherhood. The publication also produces a weekly podcast called “Text of the Week” that expands upon the week’s most notable article using interviews with journalists and subjects.
MediaZona Podcasts: MediaZona is a Russian-language online news publication that focuses its reporting on the judicial, law enforcement, and penal system in Russia. Their podcasts (all in Russian) focus on topics such as the 2019 Moscow summer election protests and imagining a future without corruption in Russia.
“Proletcult”: This Russian-language podcast, produced by the Nekrasov Public Library in Moscow and “Togda,” an online visual culture archive described below, discusses the people, events, and everyday life of the 1920s and 30s. The author of the series, Ilya Starkov, is the editor of the Nekrasov library’s online section and an expert on early 20th century culture in Russia/the Soviet Union.
The Pushkin House Podcast: This podcast from the “UK’s oldest independent Russian cultural center” covers everything from Russian food writing to life in the Russian Arctic, to which English translation of War and Peace is the best. Many epidoes feature interviews with fa
Reconsidering Russia Podcast: “Reconsidering Russia and the Former Soviet Union (not be confused with Rethinking Russia) is an online publication dedicated to Russia and the post-Soviet space, maintained by Pietro A. Shakarian, a PhD Candidate in Russian History at The Ohio State University. Shakarian founded Reconsidering Russia in March 2014, while an MA student at the University of Michigan. It became a source of information and analyses on developments in the post-Soviet space for use by students, scholars, journalists, and interested readers. Entries have been featured on Johnson’s Russia List and have been cited in media as diverse as The John Batchelor Show, The Nation, The National Interest, The Wall Street Journal, and World Politics Review, as well as in various books and web sources.”
Sean’s Russia Blog Podcast: “The SRB Podcast’s mission is simple: to provide a space for the many, many interesting thinkers who do amazing work to express their views, discuss their work, and contribute to the larger public discussion on the region. The show also seeks to give the public access to the wonderful and growing body of research that rarely reaches a broad audience but is crucially important, especially as tensions with and in the region flare.”
The Slavic Connexion: “A fresh international chat show from the University of Texas at Austin meant to share research, ideas, and culture from the Slavic world and beyond in digestible episodes. Each week we feature faculty, students (both undergraduate and graduate), and speakers of note from other institutions and countries. The Slavic Connexion is a graduate student production of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies within the College of Liberal Arts at UT Austin… It’s not typical Texas.”
Films
Age of Delirium: This 2013 documentary by David Satter “tells the story of the fall of the USSR as lived and experienced by the Soviet people.” It profiles several normal individuals and communities as they navigate the Soviet Union’s collapse and the start of life in Russia in the 1990s.
Beslan. Remember.: This three-hour-long documentary released by journalist Yuri Dud features several interviews with eyewitnesses who survived the Beslan hostage crisis.
The Donetsk People’s Republic: This short documentary by VICE “follows the chaotic birth of the Donetsk People’s Republic as it tries to forge a path to independence and closer ties to Russia.”
Don’t Call Him Dimon: This 2017 investigative documentary produced by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny “tells the story of the corrupt empire of the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation and the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev. … Through his puppet “charity foundations” Dmitry Medvedev owns real estate around the country, controls giant lots of land in the most elite districts, enjoys yachts and apartments in pre-revolutionary mansions, and receives profit from the agricultural companies and vineyards both in Russia and abroad.”
Elena: This 2011 film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev follows Elena, a former nurse with a working class background, as she navigates class resentments between herself and her husband, Vladimir, a business tycoon, who has planned to leave his entire fortune to his daughter. The film, as with many of Zvyagintsev’s films, has been described as an apt depiction of modern-day life and struggle in Russia.
HIV in Russia: In this documentary journalist Yuri Dud discusses the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia that has been growing in the country since the 1990s. It features several interviews with HIV+ Russians from various communities and risk groups all across the country.
Inside Putin’s Russia: “PBS NewsHour special correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer Zach Fannin spent seven weeks in Russia, traveling to more than 12 cities as they provided viewers with a context for thinking about President Vladimir Putin’s global impact: How did this KGB veteran rise to power, and how has he shaped public opinion through appeals to nationalism and through manufacturing consent via “fake news”? What factors have turned Russia’s Islamic minority into prime recruits for ISIS? How has Putin disposed of his domestic enemies and deployed cyberwar against America? Not since the Cold War has a Russian leader cast such a shadow over world events or generated such intense concern within American politics.”
Khodorkovsky: This 2011 documentary directed by Cyril Tuschi follows the story behind Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s arrest and conviction, and subsequent transformation into a martyr for the cause of political freedom and rule of law in Russia.
Leviathan: This 2014 film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev follows the story of Kolya, a car mechanic, and his family in Pribrezhny, a working-class coastal town, as the town’s corrupt mayor attempts to expropriate the land on which their home is built. This film has been described as a fitting depiction of corruption and deterioration of rule of law in modern-day Russia.
Meeting Gorbachev: This 2018 documentary directed by Werner Herzog and Andre Singer follows the life of Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the USSR. It features three interviews between Herzog and Gorbachev himself.
My Perestroika: This 2010 documentary “follows five ordinary Russians living in extraordinary times — from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the collapse of the Soviet Union during their teenage years, to the constantly shifting political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Together, these childhood classmates paint a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of those raised behind the Iron Curtain.”
The Orange Chronicles: This 2005 film by Damian Kolodiy and Peter Zielyk follows the development of the Orange Revolution through a personal account of three months spent in the middle of uprising.
Putin’s Kiss: This 2012 documentary follows Russian youth activist Masha Drokova and her experiences in the Russian government-organized youth political action NGO Nashi.
Putin’s Revenge: This 2017 PBS Frontline production “tells the inside story of how Vladimir Putin came to see the US as an enemy — and why he decided to target an American election.”
Putin’s Russia | Empire: This 2012 documentary by Al Jazeera, released and produced at the start of Putin’s third term as Russian President, asks “if Russia can become a superpower once again.”
The Rise of Vladimir Putin: This documentary by Russian filmmaker Vitaly Manskiy “looks at the rise of Vladimir Putin using video material never shown before. The film begins its examination with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the year 2000.” The film’s collection of one-on-one interviews with Russian political leaders including Putin and Yeltsin provides an unparalleled inside look into political transitions in Russia in the early 2000s.
Russian Ark: “A unique and sumptuous cinematic experience. Sokurov’s extraordinary masterpiece is a unique journey through time and Russian history. Filmed entirely in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, this groundbreaking film recreates 300 years of history in a single, unedited, feature length take.”
Spinning Boris: The 2003 American comedy starring Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, and Liev Schreiber is based on the true story of three American political consultants who were hired by Russian elites to work on Boris Yeltsin’s successful reelection campaign in 1996 during which his approval ratings were down to single digits.
War and Peace: This 431 minute long adaptation of the classic Tolstoy novel, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and released in 1965, is available for free online in its entirety.
Widow of the Revolution: The Story of Anna Larina: “Anna Larina was the young bride of Nikolai Bukharin, one of the top leaders in the early years of the Russian Revolution. This documentary is based on her memorable autobiography, “This I Cannot Forget,” which she wrote late in life, after being imprisoned for almost twenty years in the Russian Gulag. Larina recounts her life story, which is interwoven with extraordinary archival film and interviews.” Produced by our very own Professor Stephen Cohen!
Winter Go Away: This documentary follows the winter protests that took place during Putin’s 2012 presidential campaign. It was made by Russian documentary film and theatre students and profiles several important opposition figures.
Film Databases
Russianfilmhub.com: This website holds a database of links to dozens if not hundreds of Soviet/Russian films from every decade since the 1900s.
Mosfilm: This extremely prolific Russian/Soviet production company’s website features an extensive archive of its work, all available to watch for free online.
Moskino Studio: Moskino Studio’s website features an “at home” section where viewers can access dozens of films, old and new, organized in to categories such as “shot in Moscow“, “the metro on film“, “the strength of nature“, and much more.
CTB Film Studio: CTB Film Studio’s YouTube channel features dozens of Soviet and Russian films and television series, all available for free.
Sakha Movie: The website provides access to dozens of Yakut films for free online. English subtitles are not available for most films.
Artdoc.Media: “Artdoc.media is an archive of documentary films made in countries of the former USSR since the early 2000s. The catalogue is arranged according to the classic principle of film libraries: it contains a detailed database, descriptions, photos, trailers, screenings, thematic selections and retrospectives. For the most part, our collection contains films produced without state funds, which therefore have not been retained in archives. Many studios that produced these films no longer exist. Thus, Artdoc.media is the only collection where many of these films are preserved for viewers and for the future.”
Video/Television Series
The Ambassadorial Series: This “one-of-a-kind docuseries,” produced by the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, features “in-depth interviews with eight of the living former U.S. ambassadors to Russia and the Soviet Union. In eight hour-long videos, the ambassadors recall their experiences in strikingly personal terms. They share private photos, insights from high-stakes negotiations, and reflections on the challenges and dangers they sometimes faced. The ambassadors discuss a range of geopolitical issues from their decades of experience, including the Soviet Union’s breakup, the 1991 attempted coup, President Yeltsin’s 1993 standoff, the early years of President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s response to 9/11, and the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. The ambassadors also discuss nuclear, cyber, and economic cooperation, the impact of sanctions, and how social media and other technology changed their ability to communicate with the Russian people.”
The Bridge: Connecting Past and Present Through Archival Research on Russia: This video lecture series was produced jointly by the National Security Archive at George Washington University and the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. “The goal of the Bridge is to illuminate archival sources and disseminate information about collections that are available for use by students and young experts in the field. Research based on original source material is of paramount importance to moving the field of Russian Studies forward. Some highlights of this project include how to access critical archives such as RGANI, GARF, and the Foreign Ministry archives; how to access archival material in regional archives that may be off-limits in Moscow; and how to access a variety of archival material online from the comfort of your own home or office.”
Generation Gulag: This series of nine short documentary films from online publication Codastory “uncovers the impact of Russia’s campaign to rewrite the history of Gulag survivors. The series features interviews and animated illustrations of the survivors’ memories, offering an accessible medium for understanding the dangers of recent campaigns to make history books fit new political narratives.”
Putin, Russia, and the West: This BBC Two series follows “how the great Soviet superpower, crushed and humiliated, has been resurrected in the form of Vladimir Putin’s new Russia.”
“HOLIVAR. The History of the Russian Internet“: This 2019 documentary series explores the history of the Russian internet, or RuNet, as it is often referred to, from its American hippie-fueled origins (yes, that’s right!) to today. The series was created by journalist Andrei Loshak for Russian publication Настоящее Время (“Current Time”). The series consists of eight episodes, each episode running around 40 minutes. The series is all in Russian with English subtitles.
“The Unknown Russia”: This series from Current Time, is all about the places and people in Russia that often go overlooked. New episodes are regularly posted on topics ranging from air pollution in Krasnoyarsk to the inhabitants of the Russian Tundra. The series is all in Russian with English subtitles.
Podstrochnik: “A child of the 1920s, Lilianna Lungina was a Russian Jew born to privilege, spending her childhood in Germany, France, and Palestine. But after her parents moved to the USSR when she was thirteen, Lungina became witness to many of the era’s greatest upheavals. Exiled during World War II, dragged to KGB headquarters to report on her cosmopolitan friends, and subjected to her new country’s ruthless, systematic anti-Semitism, Lungina nonetheless carved out a remarkable career as a translator who introduced hundreds of thousands of Soviet readers to Knut Hamsun, August Strindberg, and, most famously, Astrid Lindgren. In the process, she found herself at the very center of Soviet cultural life, meeting and befriending Pasternak, Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn, and many other major figures of the era’s literature. Oleg Dorman’s brilliant film, which became a sensation when finally released over 4 nights on Russian television in 2009, fully captures her extraordinary life ― at once heartfelt and unsentimental ― is an unparalleled tribute to a lost world.” The series is all in Russian with English subtitles.
“Russia. Ural. Rock n’ Roll.“: This series, available on YouTube, was created by RTV-Ural to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Sverdlovsk Rock Club. It explores the history and development of the club, and “was filmed in the Urals, for the Urals.” The series is all in Russian, with subtitles available through YouTube closed captioning.
YouTube Channels
Alexei Navalny: Lawyer, activist, and political opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s YouTube channel features a wide array of videos including the Anti-Corruption Foundation’s videoblog series, Navalny’s personal videoblog, documentaries on large scale corruption among high-up Russian political leaders, and more.
Yuri Dud “вДудь”: Yuri Dud is a Russian journalist and video-blogger who got his start at Izvestia and later moved into sports reporting. Since 2017 he has been producing short videos and documentaries on his YouTube channel in which he interviews prominent journalists, businessmen, politicians, actors, bloggers, filmmakers, and more about topics ranging from HIV and the Gulag to Soccer and Russian music.
The Harvard University Davis Center: The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University has a large archive of recorded lectures and discussions on topics ranging from Russian literature and culture to Central Asian politics.
Current Time: Current Time, a media project affiliated with RFE/RL, “covers events and issues of concern to people in the former Soviet Union” that are often bypassed by the mainstream media. Their YouTube channel is home to hundreds of videos, including series that we’ve highlighted above as well as nightly news updates and more.
Recorded Talks/Lectures
Professor Jesse Driscoll, “Ukraine’s Civil War”: “Dr. Jesse Driscoll, an associate professor of political science and chair of the Global Leadership Institute at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California–San Diego, spoke about “Ukraine’s Civil War” at the Mershon Center on September 14, 2017.”
Professor James White, “Witches, Saints and Tsars: Orthodoxy in the Russian Empire”: This course playlist features a full semester of lectures. James White is a Research Fellow in Church History at the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Tartu.
Professor James White, “Orthodoxy in the Baltic”: “Dr James M. White lectures on Russian Orthodoxy in the Baltic provinces (modern Latvia and Estonia). Beginning with Peter the Great’s conquest during the Great Northern War, the lecture covers mass conversions, russification, the emergence of novel forms of religiosity, and the occupation of Orthodox parishes during the First World War.”
Professor Joshua Tucker, “Communism’s Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes”: Dr. Joshua Tucker, Director of the Jordan Center, spoke on his most recent book Communism’s Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes at the 2018 NESEEES conference in New York.
Social Histories of the Russian Revolution: This series of lectures held at Birkbeck, University of London, was organized to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution, and covers everything from urban communes in 1920s Russia to Ukrainian peasant insurgencies in the revolutionary period to the experience of female revolutionaries.
Multimedia Projects
1917: Free History: 1917. Free History. is a project created by Yandex Publishing and Pushkin House that teaches viewers about the year 1917 through the words and experiences of those that were there to witness it. It displays primary sources (“letters, memoirs, diaries and other documents of the period”) in the form of a social media timeline to take viewers day by day through the year of the Russian Revolution.
“Generation P”: This series of articles and videos from the Moscow Times presents “the stories of 18 teenagers who have lived a lifetime under Vladimir Putin.”
“Russia Z”: This year long special report consisting of articles, photoseries, and videos from the Calvert Journal sets out to “bring to life the creativity of young Russia in all its radical variety.”
“The Last Summer“: This Russian-language site provides a portal to pre-World War Two Moscow, Leningrad, Paris, and the south of France. It combines real diary entries from Zinaida Gippius, Yelena Bulgakova, Vera Bunina, and other diarists with photographs, films, and other archival material from the time period.
Virtual Cultural Institutions
The Bolshoi Theatre: The Bolshoi Theatre will be broadcasting its “Golden Collection” — six of its most popular opera and ballet performances — on its official YouTube channel weekly from March 27th to April 10th. In addition, the Bolshoi’s YouTube channel features a permanent archive of over 400 videos including clips from performances, interviews with performers, and more!
Hermitage Museum: The expansive State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has a “virtual visit” feature on its website, which allows the viewer to take a virtual tour of any of the museum’s permanent or temporary exhibitions. In addition, Apple recently released a 5+ hour long virtual tour through 45 of the museum’s galleries (shot on the iPhone 11…).
The Museums of Moscow Online: The City of Moscow’s website now houses a collection of selected pieces from nearly 40 museums across the city. The museums range in subject matter from folk art to cosmonautics. Note that this website is entirely in Russian.
Tretyakov Gallery: The Tretyakov Gallery has launched a series of online concerts, films, excursions, and lectures with the hashtag #ТретьяковкаДома, which can be found here on the Gallery’s website. In addition, the Gallery’s YouTube channelfeatures over 400 videos, including films, lectures, and curated walks through permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts: The Pushkin Museum in Moscow has made its permanent collections and exhibitions accessible for (VR-compatible) online touring.
Zaryadye Hall: Moscow’s newest concert hall has an extensive archive of taped concerts and performances on its YouTube channel. In addition, many musicians who had been scheduled to perform at the venue have uploaded performances from their homes, also on the hall’s YouTube.
The Vakhtangov Theatre: This Moscow theatre, named after Yevgeny Vakhtangov, houses an archive of many of its most popular performances on its website, including the critically acclaimed Anna Karenina.
The Moscow Art Theatre: This famous Russian cultural institution has taken an innovative approach to staying alive through quarantine. Every day at 3 pm Moscow time, one of their actors will read a verse by a contemporary poet live on Facebook. All videos are subsequently uploaded to their Facebook page and available at any time.
The Kremlin Museums: The Kremlin Museums website houses a treasure trove of information and resources, including photo tours, an online collection that includes exhibits in every museum (7,114 exhibits in total!), virtual guided tours, and even a children’s section. Their YouTube channel is home to an extensive archive of videos including a series on restoration within the museums, full length virtual lectures – “Virtual University“, videos where curators explain specific pieces from the collections, and a series specifically focused on the story of Boris Godunov.
The Moscow Philharmonic: This Moscow cultural staple has launched a series of “armchair concerts,” broadcasted live from an empty Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. All viewers need to do is register on this Moscow Philharmonic site (free), and they will be able to access all live broadcasts as well as previous recordings.
The Polytechnic Museum: The Moscow Polytechnic Museum, one of the oldest science museums in the world, hosted a 12 hour poetry reading marathon on April 3, 2020, the entirety of which is available on their YouTube channel (with timestamps for each participant’s appearance in the video description). The description reads, “Polytech was always a center of poetry readings and battles. Many famous writers and poets performed at the museum, including Vladimir Mayakovsky, Marina Tsvetaeva, Sergei Esenin, Anna Akhmatova, and more.” While you’re there, check out their videoseries “Polytech.Science.Art” (a series of online performances and lectures at the intersection of art and science), “Children’s University” (a series of lectures from famous modern academics and specialists for children 8-11), and more.
The Garage Museum “in Self-Isolation”: Since Moscow’s Garage Museum was forced to close on March 14th, the museum staff have been compiling an online presence meant to “determine the new functions of the museum as a point of intersection for various relationships, intellectual contexts, and unique voices.” The site features recordings of live performances once held in the museum, readings of texts that once accompanied exhibitions, interviews with artists, playlists made by museum staff, digital artwork, and more.
The Museum of the Central Studio of Documentary Films: This “online museum”is dedicated to the history of this specific studio (the Central Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner Documentary Film Studio) as well as Soviet documentary cinema more broadly. This section of the website provides a very useful overview of regional documentary film and newsreel studios in the former USSR, most of which no longer exist.
The Museum of Film: This Museum of Film, located in Moscow’s VDNK, has created a “virtual museum” on its website where users can browse through information (including primary source material) on famous films and filmmakers, as well as several “special projects” such as “The Price of the Cadre,” which showcases hours of footage of World War Two veterans.
Gosfilmofond’s “No Mute Cinema” Project: Gosfilmofond, the largest Russian film archive in Russia, has launched a project called “No Mute Cinema”, which streams the best Russian silent films for free on the Gosfilmofond website. Each film is hosted by a film scholar, an accompanied by background information.
Online Educational Platforms
Arzamas: This Russian-language resource “is dedicated to the history of culture.” The project uses a variety of platforms including online courses, an online magazine, special projects, educational programs, podcasts, and live events to share information about literature, art, history, and all aspects of the humanities (Russian and non-Russian).
Chapaev.Media: This Russian-language website contains dozens of resources including articles, studies, videos, and other educational documents meant to familiarize users with the history of Russian cinema. The site also provides access to several educational courses, as well as a database of informational texts and archival documents. Its editorial board is made up of some of the top film scholars working in Russia.
Gorky.media: This Russian-language resource is focused on “new media about books and reading.” The platform publishes “news, book reviews, essays, interviews with writers, translators, scientists, publishers and readers, thematic book reviews, articles about publishing, excerpts from books being prepared for publication, fragments of classics that are still relevant today, and articles about the history of reading as well as how people read today.” Gorky.media also houses a database of modern Russian literary journals.
Polka: This Russian-language resource is dedicated to expanding our knowledge of the Russian literary canon. It features a wealth of information on over 100 classic Russian books, with one featured book per day. Viewers can browse books based on genre, style, period, and other characteristics, and hear from Russian literature experts on all aspects of each work. The resource also provides links to free, full online versions of each book (in Russian).
Playing Soviet: Playing Soviet: The Visual Languages of Early Soviet Children’s Books (1917-1953) is “an interactive database of children’s book illustrations draws the little-known and rarely-seen Soviet children’s books from the Cotsen Collection at Princeton’s Firestone Library. The featured illustrations have been selected and annotated by a diverse group of scholars and students of Russian and Soviet culture. The site’s customizable data visualizations, still under construction, will map relationships among artists, image types, color, style, and publication information.”
Archives
Alexander V. Shiryaev website (by KinoKultura): “This project, created by online journal KinoKultura, is a very informative resource on pioneering animation and other films by Alexander Shiryaev (1967-1941) rediscovered in 1995 and premiered internationally at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy, in October 2008. Shiryaev was a leading character dancer and ballet master at the Imperial Ballet Theatre (Mariinsky Theatre) in St. Petersburg. The website contains a full filmography of his known films, including home movies, staged comedies, trick films, dance films, puppet animation, paper films, his later films that he made at Leningrad Choreographic Institute in the 1920s, as well as three German films on 17.5mm he purchased for his collection.”
Goskatalog: This visual database run by the Russian Ministry of Culture features thousands of photographs of objects in Russian museum collections. Categories include art, archaeology, rare books, photographs and negatives, history of technology, natural science and miscellaneous paraphernalia. The website is in Russian.
Libreria: The Libraria digital archive is an archive of Ukrainian historical periodicals. These periodicals include materials from the 19th and 20th centuries in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Yiddish. This digital archive is usually only accessed with a subscription but now is free and open-access.
Prozhito: “Prozhito is a searchable digital corpus of Russian- and Ukrainian-language diaries. The ultimate goal of Prozhito is to create a digital gateway to understanding diaries with DH tools and methods. Prozhito started in April 2015 with 100 diaries containing 30,000 entries. Over the years the project has expanded and today Prozhito gives users access to over 3,000 diaries with over 300,000 daily entries.” The website is in Russian.
RAAN – Russian Art Archive: This joint project, spearheaded by Moscow’s Garage Museum, is a database of archival collections of contemporary (post-World War II) Russian art. The site also features a collection of recent reviews, announcements, interviews, and other publications on the subject.
Socialism on Film: “This database includes about 2,000 digitized documentaries, newsreels, educational and promotional/advertising films from the ETV-Plato Films collection assembled by the British communist Stanley Forman in the post-World War II period. The full collection, totaling about 5,000 items, is currently housed at the British Film Institute. The majority of the films come from the former USSR; others are from the former Eastern Bloc countries, as well as Latin America, Vietnam. A handful of films are from the USA. As is the case with many Soviet films and newsreels, some of them were prepared specifically for international audiences, while others were Russian-language films dubbed into English. The videos are provided with ample metadata, which makes the collection an excellent resource for both research and teaching.”
Togda: This visual archive provides access to thousands of documents, photographs, films, books, and more from the pre-World War Two period, with an emphasis on exploring the art, architecture, and culture, especially that of the avant-garde of USSR in the 20s and 30s. New materials are regularly posted. The website is in Russian.
Russian Language-Teaching Resources
Teachrussian.org: This website features tons of resources for all levels of Russian language instruction, including activities, handouts, games, lesson plans and teaching tips to help teach Russian grammar, vocabulary, syntax, phonetics and pronunciation, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
“Students’ learning is in their power”: Interview with Karen Evans-Romaine: A discussion with Karen Evans-Romaine, professor of Russian at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of the UW-Madison Russian Flagship Program on “ways to promote students’ autonomy, how technology has changed over the years and what this means for language teaching, how Karen uses songs in her classroom, and many other practical aspects of language teaching.”
Language Literature Culture Commons: Sponsored by the University of Arizona CERCLL, “this portal is focused around open educational resources that can be used for online, hybrid/blended, or technology-enhanced courses in Slavic language, literature, and culture. The website also hosts a map of Slavic programs and courses in the United States as well as a list of resources related to online and technology-enhanced teaching.”
Similar Databases
PONARS Eurasia Digital Resource Hub: “The PONARS Eurasia Digital Resource Hub is a unique online resource compiling videos on a variety of topics relating to Russian and Eurasian history and politics. The collection can be used to supplement both in-person and online lectures and coursework.”
NYU Russian and Slavic Studies Resource Guide: This expertly organized guide features links to dozens of various (free and subscription-based) resources on topics ranging from history to GIS to statistics to theatre. Thank you to our very own Alla Roylance (NYU Russian and Slavic Studies Librarian) for this wonderful resource.