Russia in Review, Sept. 1-8, 2023

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]

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Books To Boots: Critics Say New Russian History Textbook Is Propaganda, Preparation For War

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – Aug. 31, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-history-textbook-propaganda/32572916.html) As schools across Russia and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine prepare for the start of the school year on […]

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The Russian Idea Revisited

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – William E. Pomeranz – June 6, 2023) William Pomeranz is the Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, Some years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, President Boris Yeltsin initiated a national search for a new Russian idea. The past was too raw and controversial, however, to reach any consensus on or reconciliation as to what […]

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Russian History: Call For Papers: Reinterpreting Russian History after Feb. 24, 2022

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

Discussion published by Lawrence Langer on Sunday, June 4, 2023 Russian History invites essays on the implications of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for Russian history. Articles should address a significant problem in the study of Russian History, the state of the field and the historiography concerning this issue, and the significance of the topic for an understanding of Russian history […]

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The Kremlin Finally Puts Together an Ideology

Moscow State University file photo

(The Kennan Institute – Fedor Krasheninnikov – May 30, 2023) Fedor Krasheninnikov is a well-known Russian journalist and political analyst. He has been a contributing opinion writer with the business newspaper Vedomosti and the independent online publication Snob.ru. Krasheninnikov also serves as political commentator for the radio station Echo of Moscow. During year 24 of Putin’s rule, and more than […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes surprise commencement address at Johns Hopkins” – Baltimore Sun

Screenshot file photo of Volodymyr Zelensky Gesturing, from Congressional Teleconference, adapted from image at doggett.house.gov

“The Johns Hopkins University celebrated its commencement … with a surprise speech from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via livestream …. and [awarded] Zelenskyy an honorary doctorate …. The Class of 2023 offered him a standing ovation after the address …. Zelenskyy offered … a message centered around time, … ‘the most valuable resource on the planet.’ … He said the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “It’s High Time to Decolonize Western Russia Studies” – Foreign Policy/ Artem Shaipov, Yuliia Shaipova

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

“Why has it taken a war of conquest for experts to recognize Russia’s nature as a vast imperial enterprise?” “… Russia’s nature as an imperial power is [historically and geopolitically] incontrovertible. After World War I, the Russian Empire avoided the permanent dismemberment that befell other multi-ethnic land empires …. The Soviet Union … reconquered most of the non-Russian lands … […]

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IERES EVENT: The Russia Program Launch Event: A New Way to Study Russia – March 10 in Washington, D.C.

The Russia Program - A New Way to Study Russia with logo

The George Washington University The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies invites you to: The Russia Program Launch Event A new way to study Russia myemail.constantcontact.com/Mark-Your-Calender–The-Russia-Program-Launch-Event.html?soid=1110347635144&aid=riWi8iX4Jes Friday, March 10, 2023 9:00am – 3:00pm EST Elliott School of International Affairs Lindner Conference Room 602 1957 E St. NW Washington, D.C. 20052 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put an end to […]

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Moscow’s Invasion Of Ukraine Triggers ‘Soul-Searching’ At Western Universities As Scholars Rethink Russian Studies

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Todd Prince – Jan. 1, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-war-ukraine-western-academia/32201630.html) When more than 2,000 Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies specialists from around the world gather in Philadelphia later […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Russia’s grim demographics could thwart Putin’s global ambitions” – Washington Post

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“The Russian army’s strangely stumble-footed invasion of Ukraine is only the latest reminder of the pervasive and long-standing ‘human resource’ woes that frustrate … Putin’s aspirations for superpower status. … Russia is depopulating — even after Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, its total numbers are lower today than when the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia’s working-age population and its pool […]

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Self-Selection into the Public Sector When Corruption is Widespread: The Paradoxical Case of Contemporary Russia

Hand Pulling Cash from Envelope

[W]e found that despite Russia’s high levels of corruption, Russian university students with a propensity to act dishonestly or corruptly self-select out of public sector employment and into the private sector …. These findings present something of a puzzle […]

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Arrest Of Russian University Rector Sparks Fears Of Further Clampdown On Liberal Arts

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

His supporters have rallied to his cause, alleging that he fell victim to a criminal case that was opportunistically used to target a plucky school that some officials see as an incubator of dissent […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Blacklisting of Bard College Signals End of Key U.S.-Russia Cultural Exchange” – Moscow Times

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

The U.S. liberal arts college has been labeled “undesirable,” effectively banning its dual-degree program with St. Petersburg State University […]

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‘Why Don’t You Like Putin?’: Russian Students Pay A Heavy Price For Political Protests

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

… In the weeks since the demonstrations, local officials … have cracked down on young people … who participated …. Many have found themselves facing expulsion from their educational institutions, serious criminal charges, or … both […]

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Young Russians Want a Normal Country, Not One Based on the Past or Some Ideological Vision

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, March 5, 2021) The “We Speak Russian” blog suggests younger Russians reject both a Russia modeled on the past as offered by “state father” Putin and “the beautiful Russia of the future” modeled on an ideological vision as offered by Aleksey Navalny. Instead, the rising generation wants “a normal Russia” (echo.msk.ru/blog/govorimporusski/2800326-echo/). Young […]

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Moscow Drops Plans for Foreign Language Requirement for Secondary School Graduation

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Jan. 4, 2021) To graduate from secondary schools, Russians will still have to pass tests in Russian; but they will not be required to do so in foreign languages like English, German, French, Spanish and Chinese, the education ministry has announced (publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202012240006?index=1&rangeSize=1). That change effectively ends the effort of former education minister, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian schools open with classroom, cafeteria precautions” – AP

Covid-19 Coronavirus file photo, adapted from image at cdc.gov

“Russian children have returned to schools …. [T]eachers underwent mandatory virus tests …. Temperature checks are conducted each morning … [S]chool schedules were amended to reduce the number … attending at the same time. Authorities also limited … school cafeterias and recreation areas …. Masks in schools are not mandatory for all of Russia’s 85 regions ….” If a child […]

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Former Russian Finance Minister Says Economy ‘In Stagnation,’ Needs More Government Spending

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

A respected former Russian finance minister said the nation’s economy is stagnating and the government needs to invest more in education and health in order to drive growth […]

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RUSSIALINK: “MGIMO University Rector Anatoly Torkunov: The study of international relations needs digital technologies” – Interfax

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

MGIMO University Rector, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Torkunov discusses in an interview with Interfax how artificial intelligence will help improve relations between Russia and the United States and solve the Middle East issue. (Interfax – June 22, 2020) Question: Russia has vast expertise in natural sciences and high technologies. Demand for biological and medical sciences has […]

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Dmitry Babich: “My answer to Sean Guillory” [re: Russian Studies]

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

Subject: My answer to Sean Guillory (re Russian Studies) Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2020 08:53:34 +0300 From: Dmitry Babich <dima9770@mail.ru> [Dmitry Babich, born in Moscow, has worked for various Russian and international media outlets for more than 25 years. He is a frequent guest on BBC, Al Jazeera, RT, and CNN. His core areas of focus include Russia’s modern political […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s edtech companies step up in the pandemic; Expansion of online learning might help modify the country’s archaic education system” – Asia Times/ Dmitriy Frolovskiy

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“… looming economic fallout in Russia could wipe out as much as 10% of gross domestic product … yet … could also deliver … transformative shifts. Educational technology is one of the areas destined to grow worldwide. Russia is not an exception … expansion of online learning might also help modify the country’s archaic education system. [Covid-19 s]tay-at-home policies … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Denies Visas for Teachers at Anglo-American School in Moscow” – New York Times/ Andrew E. Kramer

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

“Russia’s Foreign Ministry has … denied visas for teachers at a [Moscow] school … run by Western embassies … American officials suggested [the action] was an effort to exert political pressure on the United States by curtailing schooling for the children of diplomats. It is not clear why the Russian government denied entry to 30 teachers, about one fifth of […]

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Experts Discuss Threats Shaping Russia’s Alliances

Moscow State University file photo

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Nini Arshakuni and Daniel Shapiro – April 8, 2019 – russiamatters.org/blog/experts-discuss-threats-shaping-russias-alliances) The authors are graduate student associates at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and Russia Matters. What kind of alliances and partnerships is Russia building and what motivates great-power behavior? At a recent conference organized by the Moscow State Institute of International […]

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NEWSLINK: “IN MEMORIAM: SEWERYN BIALER (1926-2019)” – Columbia University Harriman Institute

Lit Candle with Reflection and Dark Background

“Seweryn Bialer, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Columbia University, MacArthur Fellow, and survivor of Auschwitz, died on February 8, 2019, at his home in Manhattan. …”

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Growth of Public History in Russia ‘Democratizing Memory,’ New Study Says

File Photo of Soviet Gulag at Belbaltlag, adapted from image at nps.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, January 17, 2019) [Text with links windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/01/growth-of-public-history-in-russia.html] Public history, the trend within the history discipline in many places around the world that seeks to rely on the digitalization of personal memoirs, diaries, and photographs of ordinary people to present the past from below, has come to Russia and is “democratizing memory” in […]

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Call for Papers: Business Ethics and National Patterns of Behavior: The Economics Profession in Russia

Men Sitting Around Long Oval Boardroom Table, File Photo of FIFA Officials Meeting with Vladmir Putin

Subject: Call for Papers: Business Ethics and National Patterns of Behavior: The Economics Profession in Russia Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2019 From: Patricia Dowden <pedowden@gmail.com> I’m attaching a call for papers for a conference to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in May of 2019. We would be very grateful if you could publish this to your readers. Best wishes, […]

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Russian Educational System Threatened by Privatization, Underfunding

File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 15, 2018) The explosive growth of private for-profit higher educational institutions and mounting anger in the regions about the costs of public schools at the primary and secondary level are threatening the quality of the Russian educational system, a system on which the future of that country heavily depends. If the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Crimea’s Columbine’: Massacre Draws Comparisons to U.S. Shootings; Death toll from college attack rises to 20, as authorities try to determine the attacker’s motive” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Authorities said 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov detonated explosives and opened fire Wednesday at [Crimea’s] Kerch Polytechnic College before taking his own life. Initially thought to be a terrorist attack, the massacre was later classified by officials as mass murder. … Kerch is a city in the east of Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula … annexed by Russia from Ukraine […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “The 7th Open Innovations Moscow international forum” – GovernmentRu

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

(Government.ru – October 16, 2018) The plenary session’s theme is Smart Country: National Strategy. The international innovation-driven development forum, Open Innovations, has been held in Moscow since 2012 and is co-hosted by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Moscow Government, the Rusnano Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programmes, the Russian Venture Company, the Foundation for Promoting Innovation, the Skolkovo Foundation […]

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NEWSLINK: “Russian Studies in the Era of Trump” – Ohio State University Slavic and East European Journal

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Russian Studies in the Era of Trump: A SEEB Series Organized by Ani Kokobobo: Researching Russian Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump by Eliot Borenstein … Making Russian Great Again: Language, Dissent, and Critical Pedagogy by Thomas Jesús Garza … Teaching Chekhov in the Time of Trump by Anne Lounsbery … Redefining the Russian Civilization and Culture Survey […]

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Applications open – American Councils Russian study abroad programs + financial aid

File Photo of Russian Orthodox Church at Kremlin, adapted from defense.gov Image

Subject: Applications open – American Councils Russian study abroad programs + financial aid Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2018 From: Elliott Kaduck <EKaduck@americancouncils.org> Program website: http://acstudyabroad.org/rlasp/ Dear Colleagues, American Councils for International Education is currently accepting applications for Spring 2019 semester Russian language study-abroad programs. The application deadline is October 15, 2018 for the following programs: Applications: https://americancouncils-horizons.symplicity.com/index.php?s=programs&mode=form&id=bb7e0d8cd1ba264823238be9da64773d&au=&ck= Advanced Russian Language […]

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Maria Trofimova: “[SEELANGS] European University at Saint Petersburg Reopens Its International Programs”

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

Subject: [SEELANGS] European University at Saint Petersburg Reopens Its International Programs Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2018 From: Maria Trofimova <mtrofimova@EU.SPB.RU> Dear SEELANGers, I am happy to let you know that on August 10 2018 European University at Saint Petersburg has received a new educational license. After a forced year without students we are opening our doors for them again. This […]

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Research the revenge: what we’re getting wrong about Russia Today; Data-mining and analysis will not reveal what makes Russian propaganda tick.

Kremlin and River

(opendemocracy.net – Vasily Gatov – August 15, 2018) Vasily Gatov is visiting fellow at the Center of Communication Leadership and Policy at USC Annenberg, and is a Russian media researcher and author based in Boston. He has over 30 years of professional experience in domestic and international media, as well as media analysis, strategy and development. [opendemocracy.net/od-russia/vasily-gatov/what-we-are-getting-wrong-about-russia-today] I personally know […]

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“Russia, My History” — History as an Ideological Tool

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(PONARS Eurasia – Ivan Kurilla, Sergey Ivanov, Adrian Selin – August 5, 2018 – ponarseurasia.org/point-counter/russia-my-history-as-ideological-tool) The emergence of permanent history parks in Russia can be compared to the advent of “Institutes of National Memory” that operate in a number of former Soviet and Central European states. The vision of history they present is highly politically engaged. History as an Ideological […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin] Address to Russian school leavers” – Kremlin.ru

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Kremlin.ru – June 23, 2018) President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Dear friends, I am happy to greet you all and sincerely congratulate all Russian school leavers on the completion of their studies. Today is one of the most remarkable and memorable days in your lives – a good, touching, exciting and also a sad day because you are parting with […]

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Andrei Liakhov: “Re: 2018-#105-Johnson’s Russia List (re The Spectator (UK) Owen Matthews)”

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

Subject: Re: 2018-#105-Johnson’s Russia List (re The Spectator (UK) Owen Matthews) Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2018 From: Andrei Liakhov <gaffriloff@yahoo.co.uk> Comments on Owen’s Piece I am really surprised by this piece. I wonder where he took his statistics about number of schools and “crumbling houses”. UNESCO praised Russian pre-school education as recently as in 2014 (increase to 84% of kids […]

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RUSSIALINK: “All RAS institutes to be subordinated to Science Ministry – Golikova” – Interfax

File Photo of Test Tubes with Algae Displaying Different Colors, Part of U.S. Energy-Related Research; from nrel.gov

MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) – All institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) formerly subordinated to the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (FASO) will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said at a meeting of the Academy Presidium on Tuesday. “I’d like to assure you that […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Meet the Ministry of Enlightenment; Reformists and traditionalists are at war over Russian schools; Is teaching a ‘divine calling’ to support the state, or is about preparing students for the future?” – The Economist

File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

“… Russia has a strong crop of teachers … [and] a talented and well-educated population. Over 55% of working-age adults have degrees. Student performance in international tests has been rising steadily; Russia now scores around the average for OECD countries. Yet years of under-financing-the government spends just 3.6% of GDP on education – and an archaic curriculum have left the […]

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Francis A. Boyle: “NYT Obit on Dick Pipes”

File Photo of Library at Harvard University with Banners and Persons Walking on Quad, from image at state.gov

From: Francis A Boyle <fboyle@illinois.edu> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2018 Subject: NYT Obit on Dick Pipes [Francis Anthony Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law] I took Imperial Russian History with Dick Pipes at Harvard and got an A, which I was grateful for and deserved. So this is not a case […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin Signs Order to Restructure Government Ministries” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin with Heads Bowed Over Microphone

President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order to restructure several government ministries after meeting with Prime Minister-designate Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday. Among other shifts, the order created a Ministry of Science and Higher Education separate from the Education Ministry and added digital development to the portfolio of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, while adding a tenth deputy […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Frustrated at visa holdup, Russians give up on American vacations” – Washington Post/Amie Ferris-Rotman

File Photo of Airplane Approaching Runway About to Land

“… Escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington are putting a damper on Russians’ vacation plans, catching ordinary people in a diplomatic crossfire …. A year ago, obtaining a U.S. tourist visa could take less than a week. Now, it comes with an eight-month delay. * * * The Kremlin may be delighted that fewer of its citizens are being exposed to […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Where STEM girls at: Russian women in STEM” – Bear Market Brief/Kasey Stricklin

File Photo of Test Tubes with Algae Displaying Different Colors, Part of U.S. Energy-Related Research; from nrel.gov

“Women in Russia are entering STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields at a higher rate than many of their Western counterparts, but there are still far less Russian women that men in the majority of these fields. … While interest in STEM drops precipitously at an early age in most other countries, often due to gender stereotypes, Russian girls […]

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NEWSLINK: “In Memoriam: Karen Dawisha” – Miami University, Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies

Lit Candle with Reflection and Dark Background

“Karen Dawisha, the former Walter E. Havighurst Professor of Political Science and director of Miami University’s Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, died Wednesday, April 11, after a long illness. She was 68. Dawisha joined the Miami faculty in 2000, becoming the first Walter E. Havighurst Professor of Political Science and the founding director of the Havighurst Center for […]

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NEWSLINK: “Stanford suspends all undergraduate programs in Russia” – The Stanford Daily/Nicholas Midler

File Photo of Airplane Approaching Runway About to Land

“Stanford suspended all undergraduate study abroad programs to Russia, including a summer internship at the Carnegie Moscow Center, after the Department of State issued a Level Three travel advisory for the country. … the University prohibits undergraduates from participating in Stanford-sponsored or Stanford-organized trips to regions that have been issued an official travel advisory of Level Three or Level Four, […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Meeting with Mentor forum participants” – KremlinRu

File Photo of Empty Chair and Desk with Computer, adapted from image at osha.gov

(Kremlin.ru – February 14, 2018) The President met with participants of the Mentor national forum held in Moscow on February 13-15. The forum brought together several thousand people involved in mentoring, including active mentors at businesses, representatives of HR departments of major public and private corporations, federal and regional authorities, employees of non-profit organisations and educational institutions, and is designed […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Meeting of the Council for Science and Education” – KremlinRu

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Kremlin.ru – February 8, 2018) The President held a meeting of the Council for Science and Education in Novosibirsk. The agenda focused on the sector’s main tasks and prospects, as well as the key areas of international research and technical cooperation. Transcript of meeting of the Council for Science and Education President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues, I […]

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IN MEMORIAM [Link]: “Donald Barry Obituary” – Legacy.com

Lit Candle with Reflection and Dark Background

“Donald D. Barry, 83 of Bethlehem, died January 31, 2018 at home surround by his family. Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, he was the son of the late Ruth May Barry and John L. Barry. Don was educated at Ohio University and Syracuse University. During his time in graduate school he spent a year at Moscow University in the early […]

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