This is the first in a series of blog posts prepared by students in Professor Regina Smyth’s Y332 Russian Politics class. By Aidan Hale The Russian invasion of Ukraine five weeks ago sent shockwaves around the world. Horrifying images and atrocities are continuing to surface as Russian troops begin to retreat, prompting numerous religious leaders… Read more »
Tag: Russia
Film Screening “Kolyma: Road of Bones”
By Eliza Frenkel, Graduate Student, Anthropology In the old Soviet comedy “The Diamond Arm” (1969) the following saying became very popular among Soviet citizens. — Будете у нас на Колыме, милости просим. — When you will be in Kolyma, you are so welcome.— — Нет уж, лучше вы к нам. — No, you’d better come to… Read more »
Making a Russian-language textbook: teaching about disability issues through film
Written collaboratively by RSW’s Disability Studies Working Group In mid-May, 2021, members of RSW’s Disability Studies Working Group met via Zoom with Dickinson College Russian Department faculty Alyssa DeBlasio and Izolda Savenkova to workshop Unit 2 of DeBlasio and Savenkova’s in-process textbook for advanced Russian language learners, Pro-Dvizhenie: Advanced Russian through Film and Media. The… Read more »
Reflections on the RSW event “Promoting Inclusion and Appreciating Diversity in Today’s Russia: Global Trends and Local Realities”
By Dafna Rachok, PhD student in Anthropology It is not a secret that concepts travel through time and places and often get vernacularized and reshaped. To find out how the idea of inclusion is understood and employed in contemporary Russia, on April 16th, a panel of experts gathered to tackle the question of diversity and… Read more »
Legal Memos & Social Journalism: IU student & faculty research team supports Russian human rights advocacy organization Moscow Helsinki Group
By Clare Angeroth Franks, REEI alumna Deaths which occur in state custody are a growing crisis in the Russian Federation. While there are no official statistics on deaths in custody in the country, more than one third of deaths associated with law enforcement agencies and the Federal Penitentiary Service (Федеральная служба исполнения наказаний or FSIN) are not adequately explained. Most often, the public only learns that… Read more »
Reflections on the RSW panel, “The State of Human Rights in Russia Today.” Part 2
By Clare Angeroth Franks, REEI alumna This blog post is the second in a two-part series on this event. Part 2: A New Framework for Human Rights On Friday, February 5, 2021 four experts on human rights in Russia gathered to discuss the state of human rights in Russia today as part of the Russian Studies Workshop’s Critical Conversations in Russian Studies series. A recording of… Read more »
Reflections on Nataliya Savelyeva’s Talk, “Parasite Organizations”
By Griffin Edwards, MA student, REEI Natalia Savelyeva’s recent lecture “Parasite Organizations: What the Evolution of Direct Sales Marketing in Russia can tell us about Contemporary Capitalism” discussed the reception of direct sales marketing organizations in post-Soviet Russia, from its original stigma to acceptance. Savelyeva’s research seeks to answer questions such as: what were the… Read more »
Reflections on Stanislav Budnitsky’s talk, “Russia’s Great Power Identity and Internet Diplomacy”
Written by Nicholas Ingersoll, Graduate Student, Department of History On November 11, 2020, Dr. Stanislav Budnitsky, a postdoctoral fellow at the IU Russian Studies Workshop, gave a presentation on “Russia’s Great Power Identity and Internet Diplomacy” and its implications for Russia’s approach to internet governance and diplomacy. Dr. Budnitsky’s work investigates how the national identity… Read more »
The Past and Present at the Moscow Art Theatre
By Greer Gerni, PhD student Theatre The 2018-2019 season was the first under the Moscow Art Theatre’s new artistic director Sergey Zhenovach. While much of the theatre’s presence remains unchanged, there are some noticeable differences. Interestingly, most of them point to the past, not the future. I have been researching Moscow’s theatre’s since 2009, paying… Read more »