Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University

10/15/2026

TOMORROW! During the full-scale war, Ukraine hasn't just countered Russian propaganda, it has courted global publics the way a brand might court consumers. Come hear more:

The talk introduces the term “branded war” to theorize a form of structured public engagement that elevates promotional visibility into an end in itself. The goal of this analysis is to extend critical theorizations of the uses of promotional strategic communication in response to war and geopol...

10/15/2026

How should NATO defend its northern flank against an increasingly aggressive Russia? In person, 10/21: Come hear new findings from a multi-year research project led by the Norwegian Defense University College and supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Defense. Panels will present war-game outcomes and research on the future NATO-Russia relationship. Learn more and register:

What can experimental wargaming and research on defending NATO’s northern flank teach us about Arctic security, conflict dynamics, and NATO's future amid Russian aggression and instability?

10/13/2026

When U.S. Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum arrived in Uzbekistan in 2019, Russian-backed media cast his mission as a secret plot to destabilize Central Asia. Hear from him about his team's response to this “firehose of falsehood” with soft power tools. 10/23, in person, moderated by Nargis Kassenova:

Join us for a seminar on diplomacy in Central Asia and the evolution of "soft power" tools, with insights from retired ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Daniel Rosenblum.

10/13/2026

📣 REMINDER! Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork across Ukraine, anthropologist and genocide expert Kristina Hook examines the legacy of the Holodomor against the backdrop of Russia's current war in Ukraine. On October 14, Hook will discuss her forthcoming book, hosted by Emily Channell-Justice, director of HURI's Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program.

📘 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦

💡 This book explores the domestic, international, and geopolitical implications of the 1932–1933 Holodomor—an artificial famine that killed millions and changed Ukrainian society forever. Kristina Hook draws on multi-year ethnographic fieldwork across Ukraine since 2015 and a decade of interviews with contemporary Ukrainian leaders in political, legal, activist, and academic spheres. These never-before-published interviews uncover a paradox: although the Holodomor nearly destroyed Ukraine in the 1930s, its memory also provided a narrative through which contemporary leaders would seek to rebuild their nation and express growing national confidence. As the Kremlin wages a new genocidal war against Ukraine, 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 shows how memories of the Holodomor have shaped Ukrainian leaders’ perceptions of existential threat since 2014 and fueled a postcolonial reclamation of Ukrainian history and identity. The book demonstrates how this memory has become a framework through which these individuals interpret Russian violence, understand the stakes of national sovereignty, and articulate the meaning of Ukrainian survival—helping to explain the country’s extraordinary resistance today.

💙 Dr. Kristina Hook is an Assistant Professor of Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

🗓️ ONLINE AND ON CAMPUS | Wednesday, October 14 at 5:00 – 6:30 pm EDT

🔗 Learn more and register to attend: https://www.huri.harvard.edu/event/kristina-hook-when-ukrainian-sun-rises-holodomor-frontlines-moscows-century-violence

📷 Book cover photo by Pavlo Zaiarnyi

💛 HURI | Seminar in Ukrainian Studies | Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program

10/12/2026

Join us at The Brattle Theatre on Oct. 26 for a free screening of Oscar winner "Mr. Nobody Against Putin," followed by a talk with its co-director and protagonist, Pavel Talankin. This collaborative documentary, created from footage shot by Talankin during his time as a videographer at a Russian school, reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children. Registration required:

Join us at the Brattle Theater for a screening of the Academy Award winning documentary, "Mr. Nobody Against Putin," followed by a conversation with the film's star and co-director, Pavel Talankin.

10/02/2026

Between 1911 and 1924, Russian art historian and critic Pavel Muratov published an erudite, dazzling, unclassifiable trilogy of Italian travel impressions—a Russian modernist iteration of *il viaggio educativo*. Now this brilliant, “impossible” text is finally accessible to Anglophone readers. Join us for a discussion with Lena Lenček, the scholar behind the book’s first English translation (Northwestern University Press, 2026). In person, 10/15:

Prof. Lena Lenček discusses her new English translation of Obrazy Italii, a celebrated, previously untranslated Russian modernist iteration of il viaggio educativo (Northwestern University Press, 2026).

09/28/2026

TOMORROW!

Yulia Spiridonova's talk will reflect on her current exhibition, "The Space of Appearance: Shared Tongue," at the Davis Center. Photographed initially in Massachusetts and more recently in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the project traces the informal networks that emerge among immigrants through shared....

09/24/2026

🇭🇺 70 years ago, the Hungarian Revolution posed a profound challenge for the Soviet bloc and for a young U.N. needing to respond to Moscow’s invasion. Come hear the latest scholarship on the "Problem of Hungary,” drawing on newly available archival materials at our upcoming Cold War Studies seminar. In person, 10/1:

Join us for a seminar discussing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, informed by new archival materials.

09/23/2026

Less than a week away!

Yulia Spiridonova's talk will reflect on her current exhibition, "The Space of Appearance: Shared Tongue," at the Davis Center. Photographed initially in Massachusetts and more recently in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the project traces the informal networks that emerge among immigrants through shared....

09/22/2026

From the Soviet-Afghan war, through responses to 9/11, to U.S. embassies across Central Asia in the 2000s—retired Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland held key roles through 30+ years of American diplomacy in the region. Now he has donated a major new collection of professional papers to the Davis Center—thousands of documents, diaries, letters, and cables. Come hear more about it, in person with our librarian Svetlana Rukhelman and director of our Program on Central Asia Nargis Kassenova, 10/5:

The Davis Center is proud to announce a new significant collection of materials on American diplomacy in Central Asia, donated by retired U.S. Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland.