The Years that Changed the World: 

Reflecting on the Russian-American Past and Framing the Future 

Interdisciplinary conference

Place: American Councils for International Education. Large Conference Room (12th Floor)

Dates: December 16 - 17 (Sunday - Monday), 2012

The year 2012 has provided multiple reminders of past Russian-American points of contact that can generate interesting and useful insights into future interactions between these two countries, and their impact on the world. We have chosen to focus our conference theme on six years that were of particular importance in the history of Russian – American relations: 1812, 1912, 1917, 1932, 1962 and 1972.

The war of 1812 played a unique role in the histories of the two countries. It was a significant nation-forming event for both Russia and America. Each fought, each was invaded and both emerged victorious.  The year 1812 also marked the founding of Fort Ross, the symbol of the Russian Empire’s expansion into the North America. With this event, the two histories came close to merging, only to be separated soon after by the dominant political currents of the nineteenth century. 

During the twentieth century, the two nations were destined to become the leading world superpowers, creating a political arena wherein Russia and the United States stood toe-to-toe numerous times.  Among the many historical milestones, the conference will discuss the epic saga of "Titanic” (1912) as it is represented in the recently released Russian documentary "Titanic: The Last Mystery” (released in 2012).The 1932 migration of a large group of American political emigrants to the USSR, and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 – serve as examples of events that left indelible imprints on history of both nations and the world.

The discussion of the Russian-American encounters in the past will serve as the prologue to several panels focusing on the current state of Russian studies in the United States. We believe that these points of contact can provide case studies for academics engaged in teaching Russian language to American students as well as context for heritage speakers who face everyday challenges of communicating across Russian and American cultures.

The program of this conference will be organized around the two major thematic blocks: that of Russian-American history and that of teaching everything Russian in the U.S.

The working languages of the conference: English and Russian. 

Please, follow this link to see the detailed program of the conference. 

Click here and register to attend the conference (*required!)