Central & East European, Russian & Eurasian Studies (Erasmus Mundus International Master)

Activity plan:

• Public Lecture at the Central Asian Studies Centre: Friday, 9 September, 17:00 Postcolonial Russia: In Search for the Native (in Russian)
• Guest Lecture: Tuesday, 13 September, 19:00–21:45, course title: State and Nation-Building in Central Asia and Beyond, lecture theme: State and Nation-Building in Russia from a Postcolonial Perspective
• Guest Lecture: Wednesday, 14 September, 14:30–15:45, course title: Central Asia – Russia Relations, lecture theme: Central Asia in Russian National Identity
• Guest Lecture and discussion at the Al-Farabi National University, Wednesday, 14 September, 11:00–12:00 Contemporary Approaches to Global Inequality and Their Significance for Post-Soviet Space (in Russian)

 

My public lecture was intended for a general audience and was attended by students, faculty members from KIMEP and other universities as well as by the members of the public. It was co-sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. To make the talk more accessible, it was decided to conduct it in Russian. It focused on the specific features of the Russian debate on national identity and especially on the discursively constructed figure of the peasant as a consequence of internal colonisation and uneven and combined development. The lecture was attended by around 30 people and ended with a lively and useful discussion. It was filmed and is available on YouTube. 

My guest lectures were integrated in two regular classes taught by KIMEP colleagues, Dr. Dina Sharipova and Dr. Aigul Adibayeva. Their general aim was to familiarise the students with contemporary approaches to social, political and cultural developments in Russia and their impact on Russian foreign policy, especially in post-Soviet space.

The class on state and nation-building was conducted in a seminar format: we discussed postcolonial conceptual background before seeing how it applies to Russia.

The national identity class was a lecture introducing Russian national identity debate, with a particular focus on Central Asia, to a group of international students, some of whom had little background in Russian studies.

The visit to the National University was a somewhat unexpected fallout from the public lecture: the colleagues who attended the event were interested in bringing me in for a short meeting with faculty and students.

Overall, I believe the visit was extremely useful for establishing connections in the vibrant intellectual environment of Almaty, and will undoubtedly be followed up by more exchange, including, hopefully, among students. My recommendation for IMRCEES would be to pay greater attention to the specific situation of KIMEP as geographically the most remote partner on the network, whose faculty might need extra help in fully taking part in the consortium’s activity.

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First published: 30 November 2016