Understanding Modern Russia

Public invited to guest lecture on modern Russia in HIST 389: The History of the Election of 2020

Monday, November 30, 2020 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM EST
Online Location, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/91213843117

Since 2016, President Trump's critics have tried to divine meaning from the president's policies, statements, and silences about Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. This speculation, always provocative but frequently insubstantial, distracts from broader historical--and knowable--questions about US-Soviet and US-Russian relations, the rise of Putin, and the evolution of the new global economy. In his talk, Professor Weiner will look to Soviet/Russian history since World War II to help us understand Russia's failed breakthrough to liberal democracy and a "free market."

Douglas Weiner is a Professor of History at the University of Arizona and a scholar of Russian and environmental history. He is the author of A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachev  (University of California Press, 1999) and Models of Nature: Ecology, Conservation and Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia (University of  Pittsburgh Press, 2000), as well as many articles related to Russian history. His current book project, 'Curiosity for Its Own Sake': Education and the Struggle for Russia's Future, examines the history of Russian education from 1870 to 1970.

HIST 389: The History of the Election of 2020, taught by Prof. Meredith Lair, examines the historical contexts and antecedents of major issues in the presidential election. This semester, students have examined the design and function of the American electoral process, the history of American suffrage, the African American Freedom Struggle, the history of policing, civil military relations, the #MeToo Movement, immigration, the history of global pandemics, American media history, and the history of the US Postal Service.

You're Invited! The public is invited to join Prof. Lair's students for Prof. Weiner's talk via Zoom at the link or call-in number below.

HIST 389: The History of the Election of 2020: "Understanding Modern Russia"

Monday, November 30, 3:00-4:15 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting: 

  • Online: https://gmu.zoom.us/j/91213843117
  • Dial in phone number: 301-715-8592
  • Meeting ID: 912 1384 3117
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