Join our Visiting Scholars Program and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for the final Visiting Scholar Seminar of the year, featuring two presentations that investigate the connection between foreign oil companies and civil society in Kazakhstan and the study of knowledge production in the USSR.
Bolashak scholar Gulnur Makulbayeva will begin the seminar by discussing her research project, "Foreign Oil Companies and Civil Society in Kazakhstan: A Representation Failure?" Drawing on interviews with civil society representatives, as well as secondary data, Gulnur will assess the impact of foreign oil companies on civil society support in western Kazakhstan. Is the influence positive or negative and in what ways does it contribute to or mitigate the way civil society support connects with the preferences and needs of local communities?
Postdoctoral fellow Valerii Otiakovskii will then discuss his research project, "Center-Periphery Dynamics in Soviet Humanities: Literary Studies in Leningrad and Kharkiv, ca. 1930." Valerii looks at two literary scholars in particular — Yulian Oksman and Ieremiah Aizenshtok — to explore how spatial hierarchies shaped intellectual authority, institutional affiliation, and survival strategies under totalitarian control.
If you would like to attend their talks, please make sure to register.
The goal of these biweekly seminars is to provide an informal setting for our scholars to share progress on their research and to receive feedback from and/or generate discussion among the broader Davis Center community.
Accessibility
The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact us at 617-495-4037 or daviscenter@fas.harvard.edu in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance if possible. Please note that the Davis Center will make every effort to secure services but that services are subject to availability.
