REES/CRES Seminar Activities, 2010-11
LEVERHULME LECTURE SERIES
Professor Alexei Miller (Central European University)
'Empire and Nationalism in Eastern Europe'
Thanks to a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship Award secured by Professor Vera Tolz on behalf of Professor Alexei Miller, we are pleased to announce a series of lectures to be given by Professor Miller during the course of the current academic year (2010-11). All are welcome to attend. Details are as follows:
October 21st 2010
"The Concepts 'Nation', 'Narod' and 'Narodnost' in the Romanov Empire, the Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Centuries"
University Place 5.209; 4.15pm
December 16th 2010
"History Politics in Russia and Neighbouring Countries - 2004-2010"
University Place 5.209; 4.15pm
February 24th 2011
"Deconstructing 'Russification'? Acculturation and Assimilation in the Russian Empire"
University Place 5.209: 4.15pm
May 19th 2011
"World War I: Nationalisms in Eastern Europe and the Collapse of Empires"
University Place 5.209; 4.15pm
'Redrawing the Boundary between East and West'
Russian and East European Studies, in collaboration with German Studies, is running a seminar series entitled 'Redrawing the boundary between East and West', which will explore the applicability of theories and approaches developed for the study of 'Western' societies and cultures to an understanding of 'Eastern' Europe.
Since the demise of communism, the terms 'East' and 'West' have been subjected to increasing scrutiny. Far from being neutral geographical concepts, they are now widely accepted as cultural constructs with strong political connotations. According to Larry Wolff, the term 'Eastern Europe' was coined in the Enlightenment period to denote those lands which, both geographically and culturally, occupied the space between the 'civilised' West and the 'barbarous' Orient. In the 20th century the meaning of the term was altered and was now used to differentiate the 'totalitarian' communist countries from the 'free' capitalist world. In both cases the terms were value-laden; they were used to emphasise the 'otherness' and inferiority of countries perceived as falling outside the West. This 'us' versus 'them' approach will be challenged by the presentations offered in the proposed seminar series.
1. Prof. Dominic Lieven (LSE)
'War and Revolution in Russia (1904-1919) in International and Comparative Context (1904-1919)'
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25th 2010 (Note: This seminar will be at 5pm, not 4.15)
2. Prof. Almira Ousmanova (the European Humanities University, Vilnius)
'Invisible Borders and Magic Transfers: Encounters with Europe in Post-Soviet Cinema'
THURSDAY DECEMBER 9th, 2010
3. Dr. Seth Graham (SSEES, UCL)
'Cultural Theory and Russian Studies'
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 17th, 2011
4. Dr. Paul Maddrell (Aberystwyth University)
'Transnational Security and Intelligence: the Stasi, the KGB and Western Intelligence Services (1950-1989)'
FRIDAY MARCH 25th 2011
5. Dr. Matthew Philpotts (University of Manchester)
'Symbolic Bankers: Elite Journal Editors in the Socialist Literary Field'
THURSDAY MAY 5th, 2011
All seminars are at 4.15pm and last approximately an hour unless otherwise indicated.
IN ALL CASES THE VENUE IS TBC AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THE NEAR FUTURE