CFP: Demons in Russian Icons, AATSEEL, Boston 2013

Boston, Massachusetts, USA, January 3 - 06, 2013
Deadline: Jul 1, 2012

Proposed panel on demons in Russian art for AATSEEL 2013. The panel will be chaired by Sally Pratt.

For the panel I am proposing to give a paper on the representation of demons focusing mainly on 17th c. Russian icons and illustrated manuscripts. Since icons are meant to make the invisible world visible, they help to shed light on contemporary interpretations of concepts such as evil.

Focus on provenance of a particular demon type is of interest as well as such topics as to the type of evil being represented with a particular subset of features such as color, etc

For further information please contact me at
rsmith@museumofrussianicons.org.

—Prof. Raoul Smith
Museum of Russian Icons
Clinton, MA 01510

CFP: Inclusion & Exclusion in Russian Language & Culture, Edinburgh 5th Oct

Following the first Negotiating Ideologies conference in 2010, we are pleased to announce a second one-day conference for postgraduates in the field of Russian Studies, to be held at the Princess Dashkova Centre, University of Edinburgh, on the 5th of October, 2012.

This interdisciplinary conference will examine ideological production in Russian language and culture through the multiple tools of inclusion and exclusion. By bringing together scholars from diverse backgrounds within the broad field of Russian studies, we hope to take advantage of different disciplinary perspectives on practices of inclusion and exclusion. Papers are invited from researchers in areas such as sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, culture, history, and translation.

The conference will address aspects such as:

•     The working of discourses to construct in and out groups
•     Discourses of racism and other forms of discrimination
•     Language policy in Russia
•     The place of the Russian language outside Russia
•     Cultural means of creating inclusion and exclusion
•     Inclusion and exclusion in translation
•     Inclusion and exclusion in a historical perspective
•     Memory studies: 'remembering' or 'forgetting' aspects of the past

Proposals for 20-minute papers are invited from current postgraduates by the closing date of 1st May 2012. Please submit short abstracts (up to 300 words) and details of institutional affiliation to the organisers at russianstudiesconference@gmail.com.

We will be able to provide some assistance with travel expenses for speakers
coming from outside Scotland.

CFP: Russian Language & Culture, Princess Dashkova Centre, Edinburgh

Negotiating Ideologies II: Inclusion and Exclusion in Russian Language and
Culture
Second Call for Papers


Following the first Negotiating Ideologies conference in 2010, we are
pleased to announce a second one-day conference for postgraduates in the
field of Russian Studies, to be held at the Princess Dashkova Centre,
University of Edinburgh, on the 5th of October, 2012. 


This interdisciplinary conference will examine ideological production in
Russian language and culture through the multiple tools of inclusion and
exclusion. By bringing together scholars from diverse backgrounds within the
broad field of Russian studies, we hope to take advantage of different
disciplinary perspectives on practices of inclusion and exclusion. Panels
are invited from researchers in areas such as sociolinguistics, discourse
analysis, culture, history, and translation. 


The conference will address aspects such as: 
- The working of discourses to construct in and out groups. 
- Discourses of racism and other forms of discrimination.
- Language policy in Russia.
- The place of the Russian language outside Russia.
- Cultural means of creating inclusion and exclusion.
- Inclusion and exclusion in translation.
- Inclusion and exclusion in a historical perspective.
- Memory studies: "remembering" or "forgetting" aspects of the past. 


Proposals for 20-minute papers are invited from current postgraduates by the
closing date of 1 May 2012. Please submit short abstracts (up to 300 words)
and details of institutional affiliation to the organisers at
russianstudiesconference@gmail.com
Some assistance with speakers' travel expenses may be available- this is
dependent on funding.


Organising committee:
Ekaterina Popova
Elena Moore
Samantha Sherry

CONF: French Language in Russia, Uni of Bristol, 12-14 Sept 2012

The French Language in Russia
The second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth
On the occasion of the bicentenary of the war of 1812
An international interdisciplinary conference
University of Bristol, Wednesday 12-Friday 14 September 2012


The bicentenary of Russia’s war against Napoleon provides an opportunity to explore various aspects of the history of the French language in Russia.
The war drew the attention of Russian society to the use of French in Russia. Disapproval of francophonie had already been expressed in the second half of the eighteenth century but at the beginning of the nineteenth century the practice became a target for certain groups of Russian intellectuals, and the growth of a national self-consciousness in Russia was thus revealed. Russian writers had stressed the importance of learning and mastering the native language well before 1812, to be sure, but it was the war against Napoleon that made it possible for the attitudes of different social strata and groups towards the francophonie of Russian high society to be clarified.


The conference aims to examine various cultural practices and ideological positions that were associated with the use of French in Russia both before and after the Napoleonic Wars. The chronological extent of the period to be studied is very broad, from the reign of Elizabeth to the age of Nicholas I, so that it should be possible to trace the appearance of francophonie in Russia, its flowering and the beginning of its decline.


The conference will address questions such as the following: the way French was learnt, cultural practices associated with its use (correspondence, keeping a diary, reading and composition of works of literature, translation, literary circles and salons, and so forth), the social groups which used it, and reservations about and hostility towards its use among the nobility. However, this list of questions is not exhaustive. Other matters may also be addressed, such as the linguistic situation in Russia during the period in question, the use of other foreign languages there and similar phenomena in other European countries.
The conference is being organised within the framework of a three-year project in the University of Bristol on the history of the French language in Russia from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. The project is led by Professor Derek Offord and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This is the first European project which aims to study the history of francophonie in one of the countries that was most affected by it. A number of international events will be organised as part of the project and it is envisaged that their proceedings will be published.


The conference will take place in Clifton Hill House, one of the University’s most attractive halls of residence. It will begin at lunchtime on 12 September and end around 4.00 on 14th.


Conference organisers
School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol; Derek Offord, project leader; Vladislav Rjéoutski and Sarah Turner, post-doctoral research assistants.
http://www.basees.org.uk/CFP-french-in-russia.shtml

CFP: Decadence or Renaissance? Russian Literature since 1991, Oxford

DECADENCE OR RENAISSANCE? RUSSIAN LITERATURE SINCE 1991
A three-day international conference at St Antony’s College, Oxford University, 24-26 September 2012


Keynote speakers:
Mark Lipovetsky (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Irina Prokhorova, head of New Literary Observer
Mikhail Shishkin, novelist


What have been the main achievements in Russian prose and poetry of the past twenty years, both inside and outside the ‘motherland’? And what have been the most interesting and innovative tendencies in literature of this period?


Beyond a handful of familiar names, new Russian writers remain little-known and little-read, both within Slavic studies and among the general public. ‘Decadence or Renaissance?’ is intended to advance knowledge and understanding of Russian literature of the post-Soviet period among scholars, publishers and translators.


We especially welcome proposals for papers that map neglected aspects of Russian fiction and poetry of the last twenty years, whether individual works or writers, themes or techniques. Equally welcome are considerations of the evolution of the ‘literary process’ in the past two decades: topics may include, for example, the role of critics and publishers; the shifting status of ‘elite’ and ‘mass’ literature; and the role of the ‘thick’ literary journals, the Internet and commercial venues in the development of new writing. We also invite papers that consider how and to what extent Russian literature since 1991 has been represented in English translation.


We look forward to receiving your proposals. Abstracts of 300-400 words should be submitted to Oliver Ready and Nina Kruglikova by Friday, 18 May. Please send any enquiries about the conference to the same addresses. The language of the conference will be English, and papers should last no longer than 20 minutes.


Pending the outcome of funding applications, we hope to be able to cover the cost of speakers’ accommodation and meals, and to offer a few travel bursaries to selected postgraduate speakers.


It is hoped that the best papers to emerge from the conference will be collected in a volume of articles edited by Oliver Ready.


About the keynote speakers:
Mark Lipovetsky’s books include Russian Postmodernist Fiction: Dialogue with chaos (1999) and Paralogii: Transformatsii (post)modernistskogo diskursa v russkoi kul’ture 1920-2000 godov (2008).


Irina Prokhorova, literary critic and cultural historian (PhD), is head of the New Literary Observer (Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie) magazine and publishing house, and a laureate of the Andrei Belyi prize for literature (2006).


Mikhail Shishkin’s novels include Vzyatie Izmaila (Russian Booker Prize, 2000), Venerin volos (National Bestseller Prize, 2005), and Pis’movnik (Big Book Prize, 2011).


Conference convener: Dr Oliver Ready (Oxford)
Administrator: Nina Kruglikova (Oxford)

CFP: Socialist Realist Art, Stockholm, 19-20 Oct 2012

Call for Papers

Socialist Realist Art: Production, Consumption and Aesthetics
Stockholm, 19-20 October 2012 
An International Conference, sponsored by the Center for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm



Since the early 1990s, there has been a striking growth of interest in the legacy of Soviet Socialist Realist art, which has reshaped our understanding of it in fundamental ways. A substantial body of research has demonstrated that the method of Socialist Realism was a highly creative and diversified cultural arena that was both heterogeneous in its pictorial strategies and often conflicted and ambivalent in its representations of the social and political messages of the day. Yet the label 'totalitarian' continues to influence the ways in which Soviet art is interpreted and contextualised, limiting our understanding of Socialist Realism and obstructing its integration into a broader narrative of twentieth-century art.


In the proposed conference we seek to examine the interests and influences which contributed to the development of Socialist Realism as a diverse and contested field of art from the 1930s to the 1980s. Participants will be invited to focus on aspects of Socialist Realist fine art production, evaluation and consumption in order to consider the ways in which artistic conventions of pictorial representation were established, adapted and transformed to reflect the changing nature of the Soviet project. This approach will facilitate a shift away from the tendency to draw conclusions about Socialist Realism based on a limited number of canonical works of art and acclaimed artists, and will encourage a reappraisal of the diversity and originality of creative output in its formal, stylistic and geographical variations.


Proposed topics may include (but should not be restricted to) the following:


How did Socialist Realist art develop over time and according to changing socio-political contexts? On what basis should specific periods can be identified, for example “Stalinist” or “post-Stalinist” art?


What were the variations in Socialist Realist art beyond Moscow and Leningrad: across the different parts of the RSRSR and the other SSRs? How did the centre-periphery relationship function in the Soviet art world?


Who were the audiences for Socialist Realist art and how was fine art consumed in the Soviet Union?


What was the role of the art critic in the definition of artistic merit? How was value and significance ascribed to works of art in the absence of an art market?


What was the role of the state in the definition of Socialist Realist art and how was the interface between artists and art world authorities managed?


What was the status of minor genres within the canon of Socialist Realist art (e.g. landscape, still life, personal portraiture) and what new and hybrid genres emerged?


How did artists seek to manipulate the development of Socialist Realism according to their own aesthetic preferences and agendas?


How did Socialist Realist art in the USSR relate to broader international narratives of Realism in the visual arts of the twentieth century?


How did Soviet Socialist Realism relate to the art sponsored by other authoritarian regimes, in the inter-war period and after? Is “totalitarian art” a viable concept?


How did the ideas and methods of Socialist Realist art relate to developments in other fields of cultural production in the USSR and vice versa? Was Socialist Realism a uniform canon, or did it vary across the fields of art, literature, music, film, architecture and so on.
Proposals for Papers
We invite proposals dealing with these or related themes. Proposals should include your name, institutional affiliation, email address, proposed paper title, 150-word abstract and short curriculum vitae. Post-graduate students are encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be asked to submit a conference paper of around 3000 words for pre-circulation before the conference.


Participants will be asked to cover their own travel expenses. We are currently exploring possibilities for support for accommodation expenses.


The submission deadline for proposals is 20 April 2012. Applicants will be informed about acceptance by around 1 May 2012.


Contacts:
For general questions and further information, please contact Mark Bassin (mark.bassin (@) sh.se).
Please submit proposals via email to Oliver Johnson (o.johnson (@) sheffield.ac.uk)


To download a pdf version of the call for papers, please click here
http://socialistrealistart.blogspot.co.uk/

CONF: Europe meets Russia, April 24-27, Berlin

Conference: Europe meets Russia April 24th-27th, Berlin

The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is pleased to host the following speakers for the upcoming EMR Conference:

The Hon. Kristiina Ojuland (MEP), Former Foreign Minister of Estonia

The Hon. Mikhail Kasyanov, Former Prime Minister of Russia (2000 – 2004)

"Europe Meets Russia" has been designed with the intention of bringing together young individuals (mid-to-later stage students and young professionals with 1-2 years experience). The program has been developed in recognition of the importance of the relationship between Russia, Europe, and the global political system. Participants will gain insight into cultural diplomacy, exchange ideas and experiences, and learn from influential figures in the given field. Participants will be able to network and develop contacts on social and professional levels through the participation of lectures, challenging workshops, and discussions. The weeklong seminar will include lectures, seminars, and workshops led by experts from the fields of politics, academia, and civil society, as well as cultural and social activities. In addition to raising awareness amongst the participants on the field of cultural diplomacy and salient issues concerning European-Russian relations, the week provides an opportunity to network and experience Berlin.

Further information about "Europe Meets Russia" can be found at:

www.icd-emr.org

The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is now accepting applications for participants with an active interest in the issue.

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/CREES/archives/conferences/index.html#064390#more 

Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre launches newsletter

The Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre has sent out the first edition of its newsletter. Full text below:


Dear All, 


This is the inaugural issue of the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) newsletter, which in its first appearance would like to explain the aims of this new project, and to present a list of forthcoming events which are organised by CCRAC. 


The Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) is a joint initiative between the Department of History of Art, University of Cambridge, and The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, to provide a forum for the investigation of Russian and Soviet art. Arising from significant research over many years among faculty and graduate students in both institutions, it aims to stimulate debate, support collaborative work, and generate and disseminate research on all aspects of the visual arts, architecture, design, and exhibitions in Russia and the Soviet Union.


The University of Cambridge and The Courtauld Institute of Art have both pioneered undergraduate and graduate teaching in these areas. Members of staff have also been involved in many ventures to take the study of Russian art and architecture further afield, through exhibitions, museum displays, work with schools, and the broadcast media. CCRAC builds on this expertise to provide a new focus for the investigation of Russian art, taking research and interest to a new level, while at the same time creating a dynamic interface between cutting-edge research and the subject's growing audiences outside academia.


Further to the list of forthcoming events listed below, please find attached a call for papers for the next CCRAC conference ‘On the Spiritual in Russian Art’ which will be held in Cambridge on 7 Spetember 2012. Abstracts should be sent to Louise Hardiman (lah45@cam.ac.uk) and Nicola Kozicharow (nlek2@cam.ac.uk) by 15 April 2012. 


Forthcoming CCRAC events:
1 May 2012, 14:00-17:00
Location: Research Forum, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Discussion panel with Professor Jean-Louis Cohen (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) on the subject of ‘Americanizm in Soviet Architecture’. 
Organised by Dr Maria Mileeva
                       
7 September 2012
Location: Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
Conference ‘On the Spiritual in Russian Art’
Organised by Louise Hardiman (University of Cambridge) and Nicky Kozicharow (University of Cambridge) 


20 - 21 September 2012
Location: The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Pembroke College, and the University Library, University of Cambridge 
Conference ‘Design without Frontiers: Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration in Soviet Art, Architecture and Design’
Organised by Dr Rosalind P Blakesley (University of Cambridge), Dr Emma Widdis (University of Cambridge) and Mel Bach (Cambridge University Library)


2 - 3 November 2012 
Location: Kenneth Clarke Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Conference 'Russian Culture in Exile. 1921-1953'
Organised by Dr Natalia Murray (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Dr Maria Kokkori (The Art Institute of Chicago)


22 - 23 February 2013  
Location: Kenneth Clarke Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Conference ‘Utopia III: Russian Art and Culture, 1989 and Beyond’
Organised by Dr Klara Kemp-Welch (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Elizaveta Butakova (The Courtauld Institute of Art)


For further information on any of these activities, or on past events, please visit the CCRAC website at: 
www.ccrac.org.uk


For any enquiries about past or future CCRAC events please contact: 
enquiries@ccrac.org.uk


CCRAC policy on future events:
CCRAC aims to facilitate, encourage and collaborate in promoting the study of Russian and/or Soviet art and culture, through conferences and comparable activities. While CCRAC actively welcomes suggestions and proposals in relation to this aim, no projects can be presented under the heading, name, or logo of the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) without written permission from the co-directors in Cambridge University and/or the Courtauld Institute of Art. Proposals to CCRAC will be considered in relation to location, timing, and funding, as well as balance of interests and organisational responsibility in any collaboration.


Directors:
Dr Rosalind Polly Blakesley (rpg27@cam.ac.uk)
Pembroke College
Cambridge CB2 1RF


Professor John Milner (john.milner@courtauld.ac.uk)
The Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 0RN


Administrator:
Dr Maria Mileeva (maria.mileeva@courtauld.ac.uk)
Department of History of Art
University of Cambridge
1 Scroope Terrace
Cambridge
CB2 1PX

CONF: Russian Emigration at Crossroads of XX-XXI Centuries

CFP Conference: Russian Emigration at the Crossroads of the XX-XXI Centuries April, 28-29, 2012 

The International Conference “Russian Emigration at the Crossroads of XX-XXI Centuries” is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of The New Review / Noviy Zhurnal. The goals of the conference are to explore the unknown pages of the intellectual history of Russia Abroad and Russian Émigré culture, and to restore the whole spectrum of the social and intellectual Russian lifestyle in exile. The conference also aims to discuss aspects of the modern Russian Diaspora throughout the world. Participants of the conference should reflect upon topics related to the history and culture of Russian Émigrés from 1917 to 2012. The conference will consist of regular panels and 2 Round Tables dedicated to the historical and modern Russian-speaking Diaspora. The conference will be held on April, 28-29, 2012.

The International conference will be organized by The New Review Inc., the oldest Russian Émigré literary magazine (Noviy Zhurnal/ The New Review), with the partnership of Harriman Institute, Columbia University. The New Review was founded in New York in 1942. For seven decades The New Review played the role of a cultural center of Russian Immigration throughout the world. Our contributing authors include Russian Nobel Prize laureates – the 1933 laureate Ivan Bunin, the 1970 laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the 1987 laureate Joseph Brodsky, as well as a plethora of other writers, poets, philosophers: Vladimir Nabokov, Georgi Ivanov, Georgi Adamovich, Boris Zaitzev, Alexandra Tolstoy, Mikhail Karpovich, Pitirim Sorokin, Nicholas Timasheff, etc. Today among our authors are the most well-known modern Russian writers. The New Review is distributed in more than 30 countries. For decades, The New Review has been instrumental in forming the Russian literary process abroad.

Book of abstracts and other conference materials (in English and Russian) will be published after the conference.

Registration fee is $25.00. The conference will be held at Columbia University (April 28, 2012) and Concierge Conference Center (Manhattan; April 29). Contact us via nr-office@newreviewinc.com or newreview@msn.com with the subject: “New Review International Conference”.

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/CREES/archives/2011/12/cfp_conference_11.html

CFP: 32nd Annual Slavic Forum U of Chicago 2012

Call for Papers for the 32nd Annual Slavic Forum 2012

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at The University of Chicago is excited to announce our upcoming graduate student conference, the 32nd Annual Slavic Forum. This year’s conference will focus on comparative inquiries in Eastern European and Slavic cultures, in the spirit of comparative studies of history, literature, and linguistics. This year the conference will take place on May 11th-12th, 2012 and will consist of formal panels and a keynote lecture.

We invite abstracts for individual papers, 20 minutes in length, from Master’s or Ph.D. students in Slavic studies and related fields, including linguistics, literature, history, gender studies, art history, music, theater arts, film, as well as any other disciplines related to the topic of the conference. The Slavic Forum committee will organize panels following the acceptance of papers to the conference. Papers accepted to the 32nd Annual Slavic Forum will be published in an electronic collection of working papers from the conference. A style sheet will be distributed following the acceptance of papers to the conference and authors will be given a chance to revise their papers and include comments from the conference prior to publication.

The deadline for all abstract proposals is March 16th, 2012. Please send a brief abstract (300 words or less) and a short bio to slavicforum@gmail.com. Examples and references are not included in the word count. Please include your name and affiliation at the top of the abstract but not in the body, so that we may make them anonymous for refereeing and easily identify them afterwards. All abstracts will be refereed and participants will be notified by the end of March.

Please also note any equipment that might be needed for the presentation. The Slavic Forum committee will strive to meet all equipment needs, but cannot make any guarantees due to budget limits.

For more information refer to Slavic Forum's website:
http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/theslavicforum

FREE CONF: Russia(n) in Global Context: Uni of Leeds, 9 March

Friday 9 March 2012 at the University of Leeds:
The University of Leeds presents a one-day workshop on the theme of
"Russia(n) in the Global Context". This event is intended to explore
approaches and methodologies for repositioning Russia and Russian Studies in
the age of globalisation. We are particularly interested in but not limited
to such questions as: To what extent is it appropriate to move beyond
hitherto existing paradigms of examining Russia such as Russia vs the West?
Is the concept of Russia in transition from the Communist era still
applicable? What new forms of research engagement can we utilise to study
Russia(n) in the global context? 


The workshop will comprise morning panels and an afternoon round table,
followed by the launch of the Leeds Russian Centre and a wine reception.
The morning panels will bring together experts in Russian Studies that will
debate the future of the field from the perspective of different academic disciplines. The afternoon round table will focus on the Russian presidential elections and offer reflections on the impact of the election on the global economy, politics, media and culture. 


Further information and programme will be posted on our website
www.leeds.ac.uk/russian by 15 February 2012.
Confirmed speakers include: Birgit Beumers (U Bristol), Stephen Coleman (U
Leeds), Nancy Condee (U Pittsburgh), Christopher Dent (U Leeds), Julian
Cooper (U Birmingham), Simon Dixon (UCL), Marina Frolova-Walker (U
Cambridge), Luke Harding (The Guardian), Stephen Hutchings (U Manchester),
Lara Ryazanova-Clark (U Edinburgh), Vera Tolz (U Manchester), Sarah Wilson
(Courtauld Institute).


The event is free to attend but places for the morning panels are limited
and strictly on a first-come first-served basis. Please notify us of your
intention to attend by Friday 17 February. 
Contact Sarah Hudspith s.f.hudspith@leeds.ac.uk 0113 3433290.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Dr Sarah Hudspith
Director of Russian
School of Modern Languages and Cultures
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
UK
0113 3433290
s.f.hudspith@leeds.ac.auk

CONF: SOAS Eurasia Research Programme on 18 Feb in London announced

Second Annual Interdisciplinary

Eurasia Research Conference

at

School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS

Russell Square, London

Jointly organized by The Eurasian Studies Society (TESS) and New Research on Central Asia and Caucasus (NRCAC)

Conference Chairs: Sevket Akyildiz (SOAS) & Gaigysyz Jorayev (UCL)

Contact e-mail: eurasiasocietyuk@gmail.com 

Venue: Room G2, SOAS, Russell Square, London

Saturday 18 February 2012, (Starts at 9.00- ends at 17.00pm)

*         *        * 

Programme 

 Welcome (Dr. Sevket Akyildiz, SOAS)

Panel 1- [9.05- 10.50]  
- Identity, Culture and Anthropology
Chair: Dr. Otambek Mastibekov, Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, London

• Diana Ibanez  (PhD Candidate, SOAS, London)

Taloq or ‘Fast Track Divorce’: Subjectivity, Personhood, and Mexican Soap Operas in Kulob, Southern Tajikistan

•  Bolant Yeskarauly (PhD Candidate, Leicester University)

Kazakhness and Kazakhstanshipness in the 21st Century

• Rebecca Beardmore (PhD Candidate, UCL)

The Past is Another Country: Reflections on Conducting Archaeology in the Post-Soviet, Multinational, Nation-state of Kazakhstan

• Diana Kudaibergenova (PhD Cambridge University)

National Identity in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Soviet Legacy and Primordialism Post-1991
Coffee Break [10.50-11.10]
Panel 2 – History [11.10-12.50]
Chair: Katherine Hughes, PhD Candidate, SOAS

• Dr. Elena Paskaleva (Leiden University, Holland)

The Bibi Khanum Kosh in Samarqand: Its Mongol and Timurid Architecture

• Stefan Peychev (PhD Candidate, University of Illinois).

Capital Cities and Imperial Ideology in Eurasia, 1200-1500

• Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev (PhD Student, SOAS, London)

Soviet and Post-Soviet Sources on Mughal – Tajik Historiography

• Barakatullo Ashurov (PhD Student, SOAS, London)

Sogdian Texts from Sogdiana: Eighty Years Ago and Now
Lunch Break [12.50-13.30]
Panel 3 –  [13.30- 14.50] Migration & Social Development
Chair: Sultonbek Aksakolov, PhD Candidate, SOAS

• Bogumil Terminski (PhD Candidate, University of Warsaw/Geneva)

Environmentally Induced Migrations: Theoretical Frameworks and Current Challenges

• Gulzat Botoeva (PhD Candidate, Essex University)

Social and Economic Conditions of Drug Production in Kyrgyzstan

• Zamira Dildorbekova (Exeter University, UK)

The Dynamics of Islam and Modernity in Tajikistan
Coffee Break [14.50-15.10]
Panel 4 – [15.15-16.50] International Relations & Politics
Chair: Zayra M Badillo Castro, PhD Candidate, SOAS

• Cyrus Ki Yip Yee (PhD Candidate, SOAS)

China’s New Administration in the Inner Asian Frontiers in the Late Qing Period 1901-11

• Timothy Alexander Nunan (PhD Candidate, Oxford University)

Soviet Development Thought, the ‘Central Asian Consensus’, and Soviet Afganovedeniie. c. 1953-1991

• Dr. Filiz Katman (Istanbul Aydın University)

New Great Game, South Caucasus and NATO

• Aijan Sharshenova (PhD Candidate, Leeds University)

Democracy Promotion in Central Asia: the European Union’s Strategy Towards Kyrgyzstan
Closing Remarks: Dr. Gül Berna Özcan, Royal Holloway, University of London

http://eurasiastudies-society.com/submitted-papers-2011/

Conference Sponsors -

Arcadia University,

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,

Royal Holloway, University of London.

————–

Post event dinner at 19:00 PM Sofra Restaurant, Covent Garden, London.

http://www.sofra.co.uk/sofra_coventgarden.htm £17.00 per person (payable on the night).

CONF: Legacies of Russian Avant-Garde at Columbia, 24-25th Feb

Conference: Legacies of the Russian Avant-Garde 

The Harriman Institute, Columbia University

Friday, 24 February 2012–Saturday, 25 February 2012 

Room 1501, International Affairs Building 

This conference brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, poets, and artists, to re-examine the story of the Russian avant-garde. The panels, talks, and screenings will treat seminal and lesser-known works from a wide range of media, including literature, the visual arts, architecture, dance, film, and theater. Key issues to be explored will be the formation of the historical avant-garde; its appropriation by both official and dissident culture; avant-garde theory; and the Russian avant-garde’s dissemination abroad. By examining the seemingly paradoxical "traditions" of the avant-garde, we hope to raise broader questions about art practice and the cultural heritage of the twentieth century.

Participants: Arnold Aronson (Columbia), John Bowlt (USC), Svetlana Boym (Harvard), Devin Fore (Princeton), Boris Gasparov (Columbia), Nina Gourianova (Northwestern), Boris Groys (NYU), Tim Harte (Bryn Mawr), Valentina Izmirlieva (Columbia), Dragan Kujundzic (U of Florida), Mark Lipovetsky (U of Colorado at Boulder), Ronald Meyer (Columbia), Nicoletta Misler (Istituto Universitario Orientale), Catharine Nepomnyashchy (Columbia)

Eugene Ostashevsky (NYU), Harsha Ram (Berkeley), Masha Salazkina (Concordia), Yuri Shevchuk (Columbia), Nariman Skakov (Stanford), Tatiana Smoliarova (Columbia), Rebecca Stanton (Columbia), Malynne Sternstein (U of Chicago), Cristina Vatulescu (NYU), Matvei Yankelevich (Ugly Duckling Presse).

The Harriman Institute at Columbia University is the oldest academic institution in the United States devoted to the study of the countries of the former Soviet Union, East Central Europe and the Balkans. Their mission is to serve our large and diverse community at the university and beyond by supporting instruction and dialogue, sponsoring vibrant, multidisciplinary events that bring together their extraordinary resources of faculty, students, and alumni. Most importantly, they are committed to training the next generation of regional specialists to play leadership roles in setting the academic and scholarly agenda, making policy and challenging accepted truths about how we study our rapidly changing world.

Conference Program- download PDF

http://www.harrimaninstitute.org/MEDIA/02124.pdf

CFP: Association for Slavonic & East European Studies 2012

CFP for ASEEES 2012 convention Individual paper proposals deadline: 12/16 Panel/roundtable proposal deadline: 1/16/2012

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR 2012 CONVENTION

The 2012 ASEEES Annual Convention will be held at the New Orleans Marriott on Nov. 15-18, 2012. The Call for Proposals is currently open.

INDIVIDUAL PAPER PROPOSALS: The deadline for individual paper proposals is December 16, 2011, 5:00 pm US EST. 

Do not submit an individual paper proposal for a paper that is already part of an organized panel, and do not submit a proposal if you are presenting any paper on any other proposed panel. 

A conference participant can present only one paper at the conference, and can appear on the program no more than twice.

PANEL/ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS: The deadline for panel/roundtable submissions is January 15, 2012 (exact time: January 16, 2012, 12:01 am US PST). 

Forms are available at www.aseees.org and should be mailed to Wendy Walker, Convention Coordinator, 66 Tyler Road, Weston, MA 02493 or submitted online. 

Please note that we cannot accept faxed proposals.

Affiliate groups note: Requests for a meeting room at the convention are also due January 15, 2012 (exact time: January 16, 2012, 12:01 am US PST). 

Affiliate groups may only request one meeting room at the convention.

http://www.aseees.org/convention/cfp2012.html. 

Guide to Russian Archives by Andy Willimott

I would like to draw your attention to some freely available materials which will hopefully be of great benefit to new research students, or those who are planning to undertake a research trip to Russia or Ukraine in the near future. Last year at the University of Oxford, Jon Waterlow (Oxford), Samantha Sherry (Edinburgh) and Andy Willimott (University of East Anglia) organised a conference called 'Research Approaches to Former Soviet States: A Practical Introduction'. 


Some more description follows below, but in the first instance you can hear the majority of the papers given at the event as a free podcast, available here:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/?feed=histfac-russia-conf-audio-feed#histfac-russia-conf-audio-feed

The conference took the form of a two-day collaborative workshop for current postgraduate students planning to make their first research trips to (or use sources from) former Soviet states. The event had a strong interdisciplinary focus, incorporating talks on researching History, Film, Theatre, Visual Art, Literature, Language, Music, Cultural Studies and Memory. The aim was to stimulate exchange and interaction not only between institutions, but also across academic disciplines.

The intention was to share as much practical and methodological information as possible to give all new researchers a head start so they could avoid getting bogged down in administrative or organisational difficulties.

In addition to papers given by experienced academic researchers, there were numerous presentations by current graduate students who had just completed extensive research trips, primarily in Russia and Ukraine. These students shared crucial practical information and gave extensive advice on how to approach research and the process of a projectâ  s evolution during the research process.

A huge amount of practical information on individual archives, archival and library holdings and structures, archival vocabulary, visa advice, useful weblinks and more was produced as a booklet for the conference and  is freely available online: http://humbox.ac.uk/2614/#t. 
The right of Samantha Sherry, Jonathan Waterlow, and Andy Willimott to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The editors are happy for sections to be reproduced for students, provided full acknowledgment is given.

The podcast includes the following talks:
Panel I - Overview Panel
* Early Modern sources: Clare Griffin (SSEES) - Using Manuscripts to Research Russian History - The Case of 17th Century Medical Texts
* Early Revolutionary sources: Andy Willimott (UEA) - Researching Soviet Social History in the 1920s
* Early Stalinist sources: Jon Waterlow (Oxford) - 'But there was no humour in the 1930s!'   - Researching Around the System
* Post-Stalinist sources: Alessandro Iandolo (Oxford) - Using 1950s-1960s Sources:  the Case of Soviet Policy in West Africa

Panel II - Racial and Medical Histories
* Daniel Beer (Royal Holloway) - The Human Sciences in Revolutionary Russia: Using Specialist and  Thickâ  Journals
* Simon Pawley (SSEES) -  More History from the Sideâ  : Researching Social History of Medicine of the Late Imperial and Early Soviet era.

Panel III - Music, Visual Art & Film
* Claire Knight (Cambridge) - Silence in the Archives
* Joshua Walden (Oxford) - Sonic Sources and the Study of Béla Bartókâ  s â  Romanian Folk Dancesâ
* JJ Gurga (SSEES) - Whose voice is it anyway? Film Dubbing in the Soviet Republics
* Seth Graham (SSEES) - A Russianistâ  s Adventures in Central Asian Cinema

Panel IV - Memory
* Catherine Merridale (Queen Mary) Listening for Twenty Years
* Polly Jones - Myth, Memory, Fandom: Konstantin Simonov and his Readers in the 1950s and 1960s

Panel V - Reading Between the Lines: Beyond the Text of Printed Sources
* Samantha Sherry (Edinburgh) -The Elusive Censor: The Difficulties of Researching Soviet Censorship
* Simon Huxtable (Birkbeck) - Newspapers Beyond Text: Mapping 'Komsomolâ  skaya pravda', 1950-1964
* Alex Titov (Leeds) - Research in Private vs. Institutional Archives: Difference in Approaches, Unity of Aims

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The conference was made possible by the financial support of the Arts & Humanities Research Council; the British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies; the Modern European History Research Centre, part of the Faculty of History at Oxford; and the University of East Anglia.