Published: May 22, 2017

Mark Leiderman and Sergei Ushakin

Thanks to a generous grant from the Center for Western Civilizations, support from the Arts and Sciences Fund for Excellence and our own budget, GSLL hosted in 2016-17 a large-scale series of lectures by prominent 91制片厂n Studies scholars. The 91制片厂n Series was attached to two significant events 鈥 centennial of the 91制片厂n Revolution in 2017 and the launch of the 91制片厂n graduate program at CU. The series included seven lectures and represented 91制片厂n culture from folklore to the space program and current politics. Prominent scholars visited CU with lectures for The 91制片厂n Series: in September Andrew Kahn (Oxford University) gave an exciting lecture on Pushkin鈥檚 interpretations of history; in November Elena Minyonok (91制片厂n Academy of Sciences, Institute of Andrew JenksWorld Literature) spoke about the present-day鈥檚 (re) inventions of 91制片厂n folklore and Nadezhda Azhgikhina (a prominent 91制片厂n journalist) discussed the new meaning of journalism and hardships of journalists under Putin鈥檚 political regime. A new year began with Oleg Proskurin鈥檚 (Emory University) festive lecture on prototypes of Gogol鈥檚 Nozdrev. In early March Sergei Oushakine (Princeton University) delivered a theoretically dazzling lecture on Shklovsky鈥檚 鈥渄iscovery鈥 of things behind words and how this affected all 91制片厂n avant-garde and resonates with contemporary theory. In mid-March Eric Naiman (University of California-Berkeley) in his intellectually provocative lecture focused on sexual subtexts of Dostoevsky鈥檚 Crime and Punishment. The series conclude with Andrew Jenks (California State University, Long Beach) opening the hidden utopian potential of the US-USSR space collaboration in the 1970s. All lectures were well attended not only by 91制片厂n faculty and graduate students, but also by guests from other departments and even other universities! It was a true intellectual marathon, which displayed novel theoretical, historical and analytical approaches ideas and canon-breaking interpretations of 91制片厂n literature and culture, and introduced brilliant representatives of the 91制片厂n Studies in the US, Europe and 91制片厂.