Author: Josh

Deadline: February 15, 2022

In celebration of the centennial jubilee of the Philosophers’ Ship and the 80th anniversary of The New Review / Novyi Zhurnal, the conference “Russian Emigration on the Waves of Freedom” will explore the unknown pages of the intellectual history of Russian émigré culture in the 20th century and will seek to integrate the social, cultural, and intellectual contributions of the multiethnic Russian-language diaspora into world culture. In 1922 the leading Russian intellectuals were expelled from Soviet Russia. The Philosophers’ Ship marked the beginning of the intellectual history of the Russian intelligentsia in exile. The traditions of Russia Abroad, its free thinking and uncensored literature were continued on the pages of The New Review, the only intellectual publication of the multiethnic Russian-language diaspora during wartime. For 80 years, The New Review has been the intellectual center of the Russian free word and independent thought. Today the issues of this unique journal present the intellectual treasures of contemporary American, Russian, and world culture.

Deadline: February 28, 2022

Harvard University Graduate Conference, April 9, 2022

 *To Be Held In-Person*

Co-organizers: Joanna Burdzel, Brett Donohoe, Roy Ginsberg, Anna Ivanov, Rachael Neidinger, Harvard University

The exosphere is the most distant layer of a planet’s atmosphere that still binds objects to a body’s gravitational pull. The image of the exosphere, as a conceptual metaphor, guides our conference. Adopting this receding vantage point, paradoxically, creates a sense of proximity, as sites formerly separated by huge distances begin to appear as mere neighbors — zooming out makes distinct bodies seem all the closer. On a discursive level, approaching the study of Slavic literatures in this way seems promising, as richly informed readings of individual works or artists can often contain echoes of trends and through lines operating on a broader scale in unexpected ways. From the exosphere, however, such resonances become appreciable, and the contingency of varied, seemingly unconnected entities becomes all the more apparent. Our conference proposes to adopt this approach and see what productive pairings can be found when unlikely works find themselves in close proximity on our panels. What might one say about Olga Tokarczuk and the situation of contemporary Polish prose, for example, in discussion with another scholar talking about queer Bosnian poetry? We hope to uncover connections that can be seen from the exosphere that might be otherwise missed.

Deadline: February 15, 2022

Shifting Grounds: Changing Models of Nature in the Former Soviet Sphere  

Update: Due to the on-going complications of COVID-19 the SGSA has decided to move the conference online.  

The Slavic Graduate Students Association (SGSA) in conjunction with the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Russian East European and Eurasian Center, and the History Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign invites submissions of presentation proposals from scholars across disciplines to this year’s conference, titled “Shifting Grounds: Changing Models of Nature in the Former Soviet Sphere.” We invite all professors, graduate students, and professionals to submit papers related to our topic for consideration.