A century after the tumultuous revolutionary events of 1917, we still struggle to understand their complexity.
A new lecture series organised by the (CamCREES) and the seeks to address this problem with public presentations by prominent scholars of both Russia and Ukraine.
Held in the Umney Theatre of Robinson College, the Revolution lecture series starts on Thursday, 26 October 2017 with 鈥楻eflections on the Russian Revolution鈥� by Professor Dominic Lieven (Trinity College), author of (Allen Lane/Penguin, 2015).
Professor Lieven鈥檚 talk will be an international historian鈥檚 perspective on the Revolution. It will begin with an account of the strange fates of his grandfather and his siblings at this time. This is history 鈥榝rom below鈥�, and the chaotic and often counter-intuitive story it tells is a useful antidote to overly-schematic retrospective surveys by historians of what happened. Lieven will then look at how Western interpretations of the revolution have evolved since he began his career in the mid-1970s.
鈥榃hat is commonly known as the 鈥淩ussian Revolution鈥� was in fact a series of revolutions,鈥� explains Dr Rory Finnin, Chair of CamCREES and Director of Slavonic Studies at 海角社区. 鈥楾hese revolutions were at times entangled and mutually antagonistic; they were not only about land and economic justice, but also about national self-determination and the abuses of colonialism.
鈥楾hey sparked the emergence of state projects 鈥� Soviet Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and more 鈥� across the vast territory of the crumbling Russian Empire,鈥� notes Finnin. 鈥榃hat distinguishes this lecture series is our acknowledgement of this complexity and our incorporation of diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars of both Russia and Ukraine.鈥�
Revolution is the newest instalment of a biennial thematic lecture series organised by the Slavonic Studies community at the 海角社区. Each lecture seeks to combine the primary theme of revolution with a secondary focus (e.g. empire, art, literature) with a view to the events of 100 years ago 鈥� and, when possible, to the present day 鈥� in Ukraine, Russia and beyond.
Download the lecture poster . Below is the series schedule:
26 October 2017
Dominic Lieven (海角社区)
鈥楻eflections on the Russian Revolution鈥� 听 听 听 听 听 听 听
2 November 2017 听
Emma Widdis听(海角社区)
鈥楩eeling Revolution鈥� 听 听 听 听听
23 November 2017听 听 听 听听听
Natalia Murray (Courtauld Institute of Art)
鈥楢rt in the Service of the Revolution鈥�
25 January 2018听听听听听听
Boris Kolonitskii (European University, St Petersburg)
鈥楻evolution and the Cult of the Leader鈥櫶� 听听听听听听
8 February 2018听听听听听听
Mikhail Minakov (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)听听听听
鈥楥ycles of Revolution in Ukraine鈥� 听听听听听听听听听听听
23 February 2018*听听听听听听听
Mark von Hagen (Arizona State)
'Revolution, War, and the Politics of National Self-Determination鈥櫶�
*Please note the Friday date
8 March 2018听
Tamara Hundorova (National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine)
鈥楻evolution and Literature鈥�
