1. « Особенности диалекта и социолекта в творчестве Н. С. Лескова » [Dialect and Sociolect in the Wo... (42:02)

Date:
2019-04-15
Summary:
Colorful and vibrant language distinguishes the oeuvre of Nikolai Leskov, “the most Russian of Russian writers” in the assessment of D. S. Mirsky and many others. This presentation addresses the language of Leskov’s oeuvre from various perspectives: connections with Leskov’s biography, critical reception, and, with reference to Leskov’s“The Sealed Angel,” its principal features and dialectical inconsistencies. Ani Abrahamyan is a PhD student in Russian Literature at the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures. Her research focuses on nineteenth-century Russian literature and the work of Nikolai Leskov, especially the strengths and limitations in his embodiment of underrepresented and marginalized groups.

2. “Between Large Scale Infrastructures and Local Communities: Informal Roads as Agents of Change” (54:17)

Date:
2019-10-17
Summary:
Dr. Vera Kuklina, Research Professor, Department of Geography, George Washington University While the impact of large infrastructural projects on Siberia’s people and environment has increasingly been gaining attention, important issues related to local infrastructures are less known. Taking the Evenki village Vershina Khandy as an example, Vera Kuklina’s research explores the relationship between different scales of local indigenous communities, extractive industries, and the state. With the introduction of infrastructural development and new transportation technologies, some traditional routes are being used as a base for public road construction, while others are being replaced by new elements: geological clear-cuts, forestry roads, and service roads, and as such, are informally used by motorized vehicles. These informal roads continue to serve as mediators between the village and large-scale infrastructural projects (e.g., the Baikal-Amur Mainline during the Soviet period, and more recently the Power of Siberia gas pipeline construction). The analysis and observations in this talk are based on materials gathered during summer 2019 field work, which included interviews with local leaders, hunters, and fishermen; travelling by different transportation modes; and participation in local subsistence activities. Besides her post at GWU, Vera Kuklina is also Senior Research Associate at the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences. Her research interests include urbanization of indigenous people, traditional land use, socio-ecological systems, cultural geographies of infrastructure and remoteness.

3. "Environmental Challenges, Policies, and Grass-Roots Campaigns in Today's Russia" (1:26:38)

Date:
2019-02-15
Summary:
Visiting environmental journalist Angelina Davydova speaks about environmental problems and challenges in Russia, the policies to tackle them, and the civil society initiatives and movements that have grown to face them. Davydova is currently based at UC Davis as a Humphrey Fellow. She was a past Reuters Foundation fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University (2006) and head of the German-Russian Office of Environmental Information (www.rnei.de). Since 2008 Davydova has been an observer of the UN Climate negotiation process (UNFCCC) and regularly publishes her work in Russian and international media (including the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The Conversation, Open Democracy, and Science Magazine). Davydova is also the curator of a two-year media training program, “Water Stories,” which features stories dedicated to water issues in Central Asia.

4. "Russian Odysseys" Part 1 (14:37)

Date:
2019-09-25
Summary:
Stephen F. Cohen and Alexander Rabinowitch Reflect on Six (plus!) Decades of Scholarly and Personal Engagement with Russia Open Panel Discussion. Stephen Cohen and Alexander Rabinowitch interviewed by their wives: Katrina vanden Heuvel and Janet Rabinowitch.

5. "Russian Odysseys" Part 2 (1:12:53)

Date:
2019-09-25
Summary:
Stephen F. Cohen and Alexander Rabinowitch Reflect on Six (plus!) Decades of Scholarly and Personal Engagement with Russia Open Panel Discussion. Stephen Cohen and Alexander Rabinowitch interviewed by their wives: Katrina vanden Heuvel and Janet Rabinowitch.

6. «Между игрой и реальностью: детские сверхъестественные верования в цифровую эпоху» [Between Play ... (1:12:06)

Date:
2019-04-19
Summary:
Folklorists and anthropologists have explored children's preoccupation with supernatural entities for decades, and the development of the internet has given rise to online video formats for supernatural practices that are popular among children in Russia and beyond. Drawing on ethnographic research in Russian children's summer camps and online digital ethnography, this talk addresses children's supernatural beliefs, play, and imagination. A doctoral candidate in anthropology at the European University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Angelina Kozlovskaia has presented her research at conferences in Russia as well as India, Australia, Finland, Belgium, and Estonia. During Spring 2019 she is a visiting scholar with the Russian and East European Institute and the Russian Studies Workshop.

7. «На службе общества и... автократов: Как свободные медиа помогают авторитарным режимам выживать» ... (1:14:44)

Date:
2019-02-06
Summary:
The current paradigm of political science suggests that authoritarian regimes suppress freedoms of speech and press as significant threats to autocratic survival. However, evidence now suggests that autocratic governments can exploit such ostensibly democratic institutions in new and surprising ways. Among the most salient examples are Russia and China where media outlets (even the freest ones) figure in the autocratic toolbox, a phenomenon that lends credence to the idea of self-development of non-democratic regimes. Valerii Nechai is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Applied Political Science at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. His research addresses the interaction of media and politics.

8. «Профессиональная идеология ускользающей профессии» [Professional Ideology for an Elusive Profess... (1:14:37)

Date:
2019-04-04
Summary:
Technological, communicative, political, and commercial challenges in the contemporary media sphere are transforming journalism. This talk addresses the impact of those challenges on perceptions of the journalistic profession among Russian journalists themselves. Marina Berezhnaia chairs the Department of TV and Radio Journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Saint Petersburg State University (SPbSU). She has published textbooks in journalism and scholarly articles on journalistic ethics and the treatment of social issues in the media. Prior to joining the SPbSU, she pursued an active career in publishing and telejournalism.