The Russian field: A View from Abroad
The Centre for Independent Social Research, St. Petersburg (Russia)
in collaboration with
Laboratorium. Russian Review of Social Research
presents
International Conference
The Russian field: A View from Abroad
St. Petersburg, May 28-31, 2009
The conference “The Russian field: A View from Abroad” is a first attempt to investigate how scholars outside of Russia experience Russian Studies, and current academic work coming out of Russia.
Scholars from around the world study contemporary daily life in Russia, but there are limited opportunities to discuss the results of their research with Russian colleagues. At the same time, Russian scholars have limited access to the wealth of work produced outside of Russia. Thus, many valuable intellectual and methodological resources, which could lead to new and inventive ways of thinking about Russian society and culture, remain removed from Russian researchers.
The conference organizers aim to bridge the existing gap between scholars working both inside and outside of Russia. The conference will focus on attendees’ experiences in encountering the “Russian field”, traditions, and languages, as well as their reflections on those experiences.
We invite social scientists, sociologists and anthropologists from around the world who have used qualitative methods in field studies within Russia over the last 20 years.
The topic for the conference is defined rather broadly: studying every day life in Russia and its transformations. We are especially interested in papers that address areas of typical Russian life, the study of which produces different or even contradicting results and conclusions among Russian scholars and scholars outside of Russia.
Based on submitted proposals, organizers will develop themes to structure plenary sessions, round tables and conference sessions. By developing themes for the conference, the organizers hope to foster dynamic and generous participation from all scholars and facilitate international networking of academics working in Russian Studies.
Main conference language will be Russian. Round tables and plenary sessions will be held in Russian and English.
A cultural programme during the conference is in preparation.
Please send your proposal for a presentation in Russian or English (max. 400 words) and fill out the application form no later than November 30, 2008. A list of invited speakers will be published by January 15, 2009 at the conference website www.russianfield.info.
Invited speakers are asked to submit full papers by May 1, 2009 to
. Papers will be posted at the conference website.
The website will provide more information regarding the organization of the conference.
For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Elena Bogdanova at .
Organizers:
Viktor Voronkov, Director of Centre for Independent Social Research (RUS)
Aleksey Yurchak, University of California-Berkeley (USA)
Mikhail Gabowitsch, Editor in Chief “Laboratorium. Russian Review of Social Research”
Serguei Ouchakine, Princeton University (USA)
Sofia Tchouikina, Centre for Independent Social Research
Olga Brednikova, Centre for Independent Social Research
Elena Bogdanova, Centre for Independent Social Research
Contact:
Elena Bogdanova
Centre for Independent Social Research
191040 St. Petersburg, P.O.B. 193
Phone/ fax: 007-812-718-3796
Email: