Best Central Asia at the University of Wisconsin Podcasts (2024)

1
Babyn Yar: Ukrainian Poets Respond 46:28

2M ago46:28

46:28

Ostap Kin presented and read from his book, “Babyn Yar: Ukrainian Poets Respond” on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the Lecture: On September 29 and 30, 1941, Nazis executed 33,771 Kyivan Jews in Babyn Yar. By the time the Soviet army recaptured Kyiv, the total number of people exterminated at t…

1
Russian Independent Media Archive Project 49:29

2M ago49:29

49:29

Anna Nemzer and Ilia Venyavkin presented on their work with the Russian Independent Media Archive Project on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the Lecture: In this joint presentation, journalist Anna Nemzer and historian Ilia Venyavkin will discuss the work of the Russian Independent Media Archiv…

1
Queer(ing) Art of the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Emigration, 1890s—1940s 1:06:34

2M ago1:06:34

1:06:34

Pavel Golubev gave a lecture on, “Queer(ing) Art of the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Emigration, 1890s—1940s” on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the Lecture:The Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia invites you to a lecture about the queer imagery in the art of Russia, and its co…

1
Do you suffer from urbanitis? Gender, cybernetics, and environmental concerns in 1970s Estonian SSR 50:10

2M ago50:10

50:10

Epp Annus gave a lecture on, “Do you suffer from urbanitis? Gender, cybernetics, and environmental concerns in the 1970s Estonian SSR” on Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the Lecture: On the cover of Aimée Beekman’s novel Valikuvõimalus (The Possibility of Choice, 1978) stands the figure of a…

1
Cryptotheology, Psychobiography: Transgression in Polish 20th-Century Theatre 44:02

2M ago44:02

44:02

Tamara Trojanowska gave a lecture on “Cryptotheology, Psychobiography: Transgression in Polish 20th-Century Theatre” on Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the Lecture: Tamara Trojanowska will present on her current research, which focuses on the intersections of 20th and 21st-century drama and t…

1
Between Horror and Hope 1:07:35

2M ago1:07:35

1:07:35

Natalia Kovyliaeva (Ph.D Candidate, University of Tartu) gave a lecture on "Between Horror and Hope: Feminist Anti-War Resistance and Opportunities for Mobilization in and Outside of Putin’s Russia" on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the lecture: Since the start of the Russian full-scale inv…

1
Soviet Samizdat: Imagining a New Society 43:14

2M ago43:14

43:14

Ann Komaromi (Professor in the Centre for Comparative Literature and Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto) presented on her book, “Soviet Samizdat: Imagining a New Society,” on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the lecture: Komaromi will talk about the research …

1
Defectors: How the Illicit Flight of Soviet Citizens Built the Borders of the Cold War World 45:41

2M ago45:41

45:41

Erik R. Scott (Associate Professor of History, University of Kansas) gave a lecture on "Defectors: How the Illicit Flight of Soviet Citizens Built the Borders of the Cold War World" on Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the lecture: Defectors fleeing the Soviet Union seized the world’s attention…

1
Sonic Inscription, Soviet Writing, and Mikhail Romm’s Oral Stories with Matthew Kendall 47:07

8M ago47:07

47:07

Matthew Kendall (Assistant Professor in the Department of Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian Studies, University of Illinois-Chicago) will give a lecture on “Revolutions per Minute: Sonic Inscription, Soviet Writing, and Mikhail Romm’s Oral Stories” on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 4:00 pm in 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.About the lecture…

1
After Violence: Russia’s Beslan School Massacre And The Peace That Followed 45:47

9M ago45:47

45:47

Debra Javeline (Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame) will present on her book, After Violence: Russia’s Beslan School Massacre and the Peace that Followed (Oxford University Press, 2023). Free and open to the public.About the lecture: Starting on September 1, 2004, and ending 53 hours later, Ru…

1
Intermarriage And The Friendship Of Peoples 52:52

9M ago52:52

52:52

Historian Adrienne Edgar (Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara) will present on her recent book, Intermarriage and the Friendship of Peoples: Ethnic Mixing in Soviet Central Asia (Cornell University Press, 2022). Free and open to the public.About the lecture: In marked contrast to its Cold War rivals…

1
The Story Of Memorial And The Country's Failed Transition To The Rule Of Law 41:37

9M ago41:37

41:37

Lecture with Grigory Vaypan.Grigory traces the root causes of Russia’s war against Ukraine to the failure of the post-Soviet transitional justice project in the early 1990s. When the Soviet totalitarian regime collapsed, very little was done to confront its past crimes. Impunity for Soviet-era atrocities set the ground for persecution and abuse of …

1
Dungan Folktales & Legends: The Sino-Muslim Folkloric Narrative Tradition of Central Asia 42:30

12M ago42:30

42:30

Lecture with Professor Kenneth J. Yin.First migrating from northwest China to Russian Central Asia after the suppression of the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) under the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, the Dungan people boast a rich oral tradition, which served as an important breeding ground for the development of Dungan written literature in the Soviet period…

1
The Great Game and Migration of the 1950-60s from China to Kazakhstan with Dr. Ablet Kamalov 1:07:43

12M ago1:07:43

1:07:43

This presentation will focus on the migration of Kazakhs, Uyghurs, Russians and some other ethnic groups from Xinjiang province of China to Soviet Kazakhstan in the 1950-60s. Discussion of the migration based on analysis of the Soviet archival materials as well as oral histories of migrants will be put into the context of the Great Game paradigm, t…

1
Resilience in Ukraine: What We Know and What Can Be Done with Tymofii Brik 38:59

1y ago38:59

38:59

The talk focuses on the socio-economic consequences of the war and the factors contributing to the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Russia’s war against Ukraine has been ongoing for many years, and despite the challenges, the Ukrainian people have shown remarkable resilience in the face of adversity. The talk will highlight the factors that have…

1
A Spiritual Revolution: Reform and Reaction in Orthodox Russia with Andrey Ivanov 49:22

1y ago49:22

49:22

The ideas of the Protestant Reformation, followed by the European Enlightenment, had a profound and long-lasting impact on Russia’s church and society in the long eighteenth century. Though the Orthodox Church was often assumed to have been hostile toward outside influence, Ivanov’s recent book argues that the institution in fact embraced many West…

1
Political Participation of Women in the USSR and Russia with Valeria Umanets 48:31

1+ y ago48:31

48:31

What happens when women’s political quotas are implemented in non-democracies? Valeria Umanets focuses on understanding the political and social meaning and manipulation of gender in the Soviet Union, which held informal women’s political quotas for almost 75 years. Specifically, this talk focuses on the political engagement of women in the Soviet …

1
Shifting Rationality: How Identity Decay Led Russia to Invade Ukraine with Mikhail Troitskiy 40:35

1+ y ago40:35

40:35

The great puzzle of Russia-West relations throughout the three post-Cold War decades has been the apparent reluctance of the Kremlin to reap significant and evident benefits from collaboration with the United States and its allies. At many junctures, Moscow consistently chose confrontation over reassurance of its western counterparts and other key …

1
War, Revolution, and the Expansion of Women's Political Citizenship in Finland with Aili Tripp 40:32

1+ y ago40:32

40:32

Finland was the first country in Europe to allow for suffrage for both men and women and the first in the world where women were elected to national legislative office. Using turn of the 20th century Finland as an example, Professor Tripp will demonstrate how war and the end of empire are linked to the expansion of women's citizenship. (The lecture…

1
A War Vocabulary: Traumatic Experience and the Search for a New Language in Ukrainian Literature 59:43

1+ y ago59:43

59:43

The literature of the war against Ukraine testified to the profound changes that took place in the nature of Ukrainian artistic expression: from the loss of the very ability to speak, through the development of a new poetics of the voice and body, through literalism as the restoration of the connection between the word and reality and the rejection…

1
Power And Powerlessness In Wartime Russia with Sam Greene 48:08

1+ y ago48:08

48:08

Russia's war against Ukraine has brought about a radical restructuring of the Russian political economy, placing transformative ideology and outright coercion firmly at the heart of power. Despite this, the war and its consequences have produced remarkably little resistance. This discussion delves beyond the dynamics of coercion and ideology, to in…

1
Ukraine's Unnamed War - Jesse Driscoll (2.9.23) 52:44

1+ y ago52:44

52:44

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has its roots in the events of 2013–2014. Russia cynically termed the seditionist conflict in Crimea and Eastern Donbas a ‘civil war’ in order to claim non-involvement. This flies in the face of evidence, but the authors argue that the social science literature on civil wars can be used help understand why no…

1
The Russian Labor Market Story: Deciphering the Puzzles with Vladimir Gimpelson 1:02:22

1+ y ago1:02:22

1:02:22

How can the Russian economy, moving from one crisis to another one, avoid significant hikes in unemployment? How does human capital evolve when workers’ wages peak so early and then decline so steeply? How does a country so rich in human capital exhibit such low productivity? Vladimir Gimpelson suggests some explanations and proposes how examining …

1
The Biggest War Since 1945: Why and How Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Matters for European Security 48:22

1+ y ago48:22

48:22

Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine reverberates beyond Ukraine in a major way. The international order and law are blatantly violated. Energy corridors have been affected and food supply chains have been disrupted around the world. The very notion of the international community and its ability to react to aggression is being tested. Volodymyr Dub…

1
Pastoralism in Kazakhstan as Cultural Heritage or Sustainable Culture? - Russell Zanca 1:18:45

1+ y ago1:18:45

1:18:45

Humans have harnessed and selectively bred livestock in Kazakhstan for over 5,000 years. This lecture discusses the history and current practices of pastoralism in Kazakhstan, exploring the contemporary interaction shared among people, animals, and ecosystems and the advantages of incorporating ancient lifeways among those who herd livestock in Kaz…

1
Ukraine Now and Tomorrow - Yoshiko Herrera, Sara Karpukhin, and Oksana Stoychuk 59:50

1+ y ago59:50

59:50

Emerged from several courses taught by UW-Madison faculty this semester focusing on Ukraine, the panel addresses questions submitted by the students in these courses relating to the histories and cultures in the region, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. - SPEAKERS: Oksana Stoychuk (German, Nordic, and Slavic+), Sara Karpukhin (German, Nordic, an…

1
How Russia Joined the Council of Europe: The Role of Values, Politics, and Law - Jeff Kahn 43:45

1+ y ago43:45

43:45

The story of Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe now has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What can we learn about the values of this international organization from Russia’s participation in it? Was Russia’s membership “worth it”? Any attempted answer must produce more questions: from which perspective – Russia’s, the Council’s, other Me…

1
Re-colonization? Kyrgyzstani Labor Migrant Experiences in Russia and Geopolitical Remittances 56:17

1+ y ago56:17

56:17

with Ted Gerber (UW-Madison Professor of Sociology) - After Russia recovered from the economic woes of the 1990s, its government sought to maintain and expand its influence over former Soviet republics of Central Asia by opening the doors to large numbers of labor migrants from them. However, many accounts of the experiences of Central Asian labor …

1
Law and Visual Culture in Three Vignettes - Agata Fijalkowski 53:00

1+ y ago53:00

53:00

Dr. Fijalkowski explores the relationship between law and visual culture by looking at photographs of individuals (a dissident, a judge, and a prosecutor who were involved in high-profile trials during the Stalinist period. An image can hide and expose questions of legitimation and authority pertaining to Stalinist rule and how we view defendants, …

1
Making a Difference: Helping Ukrainian Refugees on the Ukraine-Poland Border 51:52

1+ y ago51:52

51:52

NOTE: This is a partial recording of a complete panel. The beginning of the panel was not recorded. - Panelists share their experiences volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees in border regions of Poland and Ukraine. This panel features Kari Anderson (University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna, Head of Operations for Operation SafeDrop of the Make a Di…

1
The Russian 1990s and Soviet Writers: Market, Marginalization, and Decay in Peredelkino 49:49

1+ y ago49:49

49:49

Russians today often remember the “Wild 1990s” as a time of chaos, impoverishment and disorientation. Through the lens of the privileged Writers’ Town, which had been built under Stalin and once been home to Isaac Babel, Boris Pasternak and Kornei Chukovskii among others, we can see how marketization and the collapse of socialist support systems le…

1
Sovereign Fiction: The Poetics and Politics of Russian Realism 53:04

1+ y ago53:04

53:04

Dr. Ilya Kliger outlines an approach to the study of “sociotopes” in narrative fiction and beyond. Defining sociotopes as specific configurations of sociality, presupposing and projecting diverse scenarios and normative principles of affiliation and detachment, Professor Kliger takes as his case study the emblematic and consequential moment in the …

1
Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds - Tatyana Gershkovich 44:00

2y ago44:00

44:00

Dr. Tatyana Gershkovich contests the familiar opposition of Tolstoy the moralist and Nabokov the aesthete. She argues that their divergent stylistic and philosophical trajectories were in fact parallel flights from the same fear: that one’s experience of the world might be entirely one’s own, private, and impossible to share through art. Yet unlike…

1
Crossroads of Empire: Culture and Statehood at the Eastern Frontiers of Europe - Cristina Florea 58:16

2y ago58:16

58:16

Bukovina, a former borderland of the Habsburg empire now divided between Ukraine and Romania, was a place of mutual observation, competition, and conflict between the different states and governments that laid claim to the territory. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the province experienced repeated regime changes – many o…

1
Thrifty Businesswoman or Exploiter Extraordinaire? The Madam in Nineteenth-Century Russia 47:12

2y ago47:12

47:12

Dr. Lucey considers how Russia’s writers and artists popularized images of madams and procuresses as manipulative and greedy figures who tricked and abused the women in their charge. Portrayed as far more heinous than the men who frequented brothels, the madam looms in literature and fine art as a trafficker in human flesh who goes against God and …

1
Ukrainians in Poland in Peace and War - Iryna Januszek (9.15.22) 57:15

2y ago57:15

57:15

Iryna Januszek is one of the many Ukrainians who found a life in Poland in the post-Soviet era, but Ukraine has never been far from her thoughts. Members of family remained there and participated in the movements to build a new society. She also shares those aspirations which brought Ukrainians to fight for freedom and association with Europe. Now …

1
Black Like Us: African-American Travelers in Soviet Central Asia - Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon 39:41

2y ago39:41

39:41

How did African American visitors and residents of Soviet Central Asia imagine their Central Asian counterparts? Through an exploration of their writings, we can see how African Americans envisioned a shared historical and racial bond between themselves and Central Asians. About the Speaker: Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon is a Ph.D. student in history …

1
Climate, Environment, and Society in Medieval Central Eurasia - Amanda Wooden and Henry Misa 1:08:33

2y ago1:08:33

1:08:33

7.21.22Henry Misa provides an almost two-thousand-year-long context for the modern climate crisis in Central Eurasia. He gives an overview of climatic and environmental change in Central Eurasia stretching from around 400 to the 1960s, and discusses the ongoing debates within the historiography of climate and society in Central Eurasia with a focus…

1
The Untold Nuclear History of Kazakhstan - Togzhan Kassenova (7.14.22) 1:04:15

2y ago1:04:15

1:04:15

Dr. Kassenova shares the history of Soviet nuclear tests in the Kazakh steppe, their harm to the people and the environment, and the story of the public anti-nuclear movement that led to the closure of the nuclear testing site. She also explains why Kazakhstan decided to give up its nuclear inheritance, including more than a thousand nuclear weapon…

1
When Language Policy is Not Enough - Juldyz Smagulova (7.7.22) 40:29

2y ago40:29

40:29

By focusing predominantly on discourse production and language management, language policy research de-emphasizes the material sources of inequality. The lecture argues that language management, often restricted by ritualistic and symbolic gestures, cannot rectify historically formed relations of power and calls for critical examination of both soc…

1
Chechen Demographic Growth as a Reaction to the Existential Threat from Russia with Marat Iliyasov 36:45

2y ago36:45

36:45

This lecture presents research findings on the reasons for Chechen population growth in times of harshness. The investigation begins with an observation of a quite contradictory nature: Chechens would not postpone creating families in times of war (1994-1996 and 1999-2009). Being based on demographic statistics, which imply longitudinal studies, th…

1
Dialogue with the Dictator: Authoritarian Legitimation and Information Management - Hannah Chapman 35:31

2y ago35:31

35:31

Hannah Chapman presents a theory of how non-democratic regimes use seemingly democratic forms of communication and participation to bolster regime legitimacy and mitigate information dilemmas. She argues that autocrats develop and maintain participatory technologies—elite-mass communication strategies that promote increased interaction between the …

1
The Anniversary of Martial Law in Poland: Panel Discussion 1:03:01

2y ago1:03:01

1:03:01

Panel Discussion with Kathryn Ciancia, Lukasz Wodzynski, Krzysztof Borowski, and Brian Porter-Szucs : December 13, 2021, marked the 40th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Martial Law, the Communist Government’s violent attempt to quell a civic mass movement that gave millions of Poles hope for a better future. It marked the end of the “carnival…

1
The Expulsion of Jews from Communist Poland: Memory Wars and Homeland Anxieties - Anat Plocker 44:34

2y ago44:34

44:34

In March 1968, Polish youth rebelled against the communist regime, demanding free speech and academic freedom. In response, the government publicly accused Polish Jews of staging the demonstrations as part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to weaken communism and forced thousands of Jews to leave the country. The talk exposes the conspiracies the commun…

1
The Political Economy of Polygynous Marriages Among the Kyrgyz - Michele Commercio (3.31.22) 58:13

2+ y ago58:13

58:13

There is very little academic literature on polygyny among Central Asians in general and among the Kyrgyz in particular. This talk, based on Michele Commercio’s forthcoming book, will explore the normalization of polygyny among the Kyrgyz in contemporary Kyrgyzstan, which criminalizes such unions, from a historical perspective. By this, she means i…

1
James Joyce's Russia and the Nightmare of Paternity - Jose Vergara (3.24.22) 46:19

2+ y ago46:19

46:19

While James Joyce’s place in the modernist pantheon has long been firmly entrenched, its resonances continue to be uncovered. In the Russian context, the Irish writer has occupied many roles since his work was first translated in the mid-1920s. This talk will trace the development not of a monolithic Joyce, but rather of five separate Russian Joyce…

1
Russia Invades Ukraine: A Public Forum (3.2.22) 1:09:15

2+ y ago1:09:15

1:09:15

The world has been shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why did this happen? What is the true historical relationship between Russia and Ukraine? How are people reacting in Russia? What are the implications for the United States, NATO, and international security? What will be the impact of sanctions and other financial penalties that the Uni…

1
Truculent Nationalism: The Russian People and Foreign Policy - Michael Alexeev (3.3.22) 43:37

2+ y ago43:37

43:37

Military assertiveness in the “near abroad” and elsewhere has characterized Russia’s foreign policy at least since 2008. It has also played well with the Russian public. Is this aggressiveness due only or mostly to Putin’s ambitions or do popular attitudes in Russia support it as well? About the Speaker: Michael Alexeev is Professor of Economics at…

1
Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe with Emily Greble (2.17.22) 45:27

2+ y ago45:27

45:27

From 1878 to the early 1920s, millions of Ottoman Muslims became citizens of other European states. This talk explores the many ways Muslims responded, from resistance to negotiation, illuminating how Muslim citizens shaped the states and societies in which they lived. Emily Greble addresses questions about why Muslims have been erased from so much…

1
Black Earth, White Bread: A Technopolitical History of Russian Agriculture and Food - Susanne Wengle 39:02

2+ y ago39:02

39:02

Like all facets of daily life, the food that Russian farms produced and citizens ate—or, in some years, didn’t eat—underwent radical shifts in the century between the Bolshevik Revolution and Vladimir Putin’s presidency. An interdisciplinary history of Russia’s agriculture and food systems documents a complex story of the interactions between polit…

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Central Asia At The University Of Wisconsin Podcasts

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