Events
Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society
May 19, 2011 // 4:00pm — 5:30pm
Death and Redemption examines the Gulag's role defining the border between reintegration into society and permanent removal through death. Steven Barnes focuses on Kazakhstan's Karaganda region, a location that hosted a number of Soviet detention institutions, and suggests that the Gulag should be construed as a "corrective facility," which gave its occupants a final chance to prove themselves through forced labor. Those who succeeded returned home after years of brutal, forced labor; the ones who "failed" died. Barnes traces the evolution of the Gulag from its origins post-1917, immediately following the Russian Revolution up to the death of Stalin in 1953. The author draws on recently declassified materials from Russia and Kazakhstan, including memoirs of survivors, to show that the Gulag as an institution remained closely linked to the Soviet idea of creating an utopian socialist society.
Muslims and the State in Late Imperial Russia and Today
May 16, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Through analyzing the status of Muslim communities in late Imperial Russia, James Meyer, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Philosophy, Montana State University, and Title VIII-Supported Research Scholar, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, examined the current state of - and challenges facing - Muslim culture in modern-day Russia.
Report Presentation: "St. Petersburg, 1993-2003: The Dynamic Decade"
May 11, 2011 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
William Brumfield and Arthur George discussed the report "St. Petersburg, 1993-2003: The Dynamic Decade," and the status and future of the urban fabric of St. Petersburg.
The Politics of Memory in a Divided Society: A Comparison of Post-Franco Spain and Post-Soviet Ukraine
May 09, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Oxana Shevel, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Tufts University
One Hour Eighteen
May 04, 2011 // 5:30pm — 8:00pm
Blair A. Ruble, Director, Kennan Institute; Randy Bregman, Partner, Salans; William Pomeranz, Deputy Director, Kennan Institute; Yury Urnov, Director, "One Hour Eighteen"
Russia and the European Court of Human Rights: Implications for U.S. Policy
May 03, 2011 // 10:00am — 5:30pm
The Kennan Institute and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation sponsored a one-day seminar to explore the role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the development of the rule of law in Russia.
Russia's Rule of Law Challenge: Implications for U.S. Policy
May 02, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:15pm
Four leading experts discussed the rule of law in Russia, with a focus on the legal reforms currently underway and how they impact U.S.-Russian relations, Russia’s democratic development and future economic prosperity. Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia continues to struggle with the implementation of the rule of law and President Dmitry Medvedev has made this his signature initiative, using it as a means to distinguish his presidency from that of his immediate predecessor, Vladimir Putin
Life as a Black Ukrainian: How Some Natives Are Treated Like Foreigners
May 02, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Terrell Starr, Independent Scholar, New York
Book Discussion: "Swimming in the Daylight: An American Student, a Soviet-Jewish Dissident, and the Gift of Hope"
April 26, 2011 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
Lisa C. Paul, Author and Attorney, Milwaukee, Wisc.
The Russian Orthodox Church in the Post-Soviet Period: Challenges and Responses
April 25, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Olga Kazmina, Professor, Department of Ethnology, Moscow State University; Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Department of Religion, Emory University; and Former Regional Exchange Scholar, Kennan Institute