Events

Are you looking to be in conversation with the world of Russian and Eurasian studies? You have come to the right place — pull up a seat.

Davis Center art exhibit

Looking for a recording of a past event? Browse prior listings below, or see all of our event videos on our YouTube channel.

Event Format

Upcoming

Nurek Dam in Tajikistan

4th Annual Graduate Student Conference on Central Asia

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In person

Come hear more than 20 outstanding young scholars present on topics as diverse as energy, child care, migration, managed successions, and much, much more

Sarah Cameron
Sarah Cameron

Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland, College Park

Gavin Helf
Gavin Helf

Adjunct Professor, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Alice Volfson

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Sarah Hummel
Sarah Hummel

Visiting Assistant Professor

Dana Masalimova
Dana Masalimova

Independent Scholar

Josh Hughes

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Adam Wozniak

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Nargis Kassenova
Nargis Kassenova

Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center

Nenets reindeer herder on a winter day

Borrowed Voices: Indigenous Rights, Representation, and the Crisis of Legitimacy in Global Governance

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In person

Join us for the annual Davis Memorial Lecture, exploring how Indigenous representation operates under conditions of political constraint, with a focus on the growing repression faced by Indigenous activists in Russia.

Liubov Sulyandziga
Liubov Sulyandziga

Visiting Scholar, Davis Center (AY 2025-26)

Steven Solnick
Steven Solnick

Executive Director, Davis Center

Anti-war and anti-NATO graffiti in Valladolid, 1986

The Cold War, Spain's Entry Into NATO, and the 1986 Referendum: The Political Dynamics

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In person

Join us for a seminar on Spain’s 1986 referendum on NATO membership. Drawing on multinational archival research and interviews, the talk explores how Spain navigated allies' expectations and domestic political pressures while defining its role in NATO. 

Recording Available
Marina Pérez de Arcos
Marina Pérez de Arcos

UKRI Global Fellow, Yale University

Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer

Director, Cold War Studies Project, Davis Center

"The First Social Democracy" book cover.

Book Talk: Georgia, 1918-1921. The World's First Social Democratic State?

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In person

In his new book, Stephen Jones asks questions about how the major ideologies of the 20th century, such as nationalism, socialism, and liberalism, both clashed and fused in Georgia to establish something no one was expecting: a social democratic state on the periphery of Europe.

Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones

Chairman, Advisory Board, Program on Georgian Studies, Davis Center; Professor of Modern Georgian History, Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia)

Natia Chankvetadze
Natia Chankvetadze

Director, Program on Georgian Studies, Davis Center

Immigrants to the Soviet Union

Western Migrants in the Soviet Union, 1920-1940: Expectations and Experiences

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In person

This talk examines the experiences of American and European migrants who arrived in the Soviet Kazakhstan and Russia between 1920 and 1940.

Rakhmetolla Zakarya
Rakhmetolla Zakarya

Teaching Professor, Maqsut Narikbayev University

Nargis Kassenova
Nargis Kassenova

Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center

The ship that Tamara Kvaratzkhelia sailed to the US

Lives in Transit: Visualizing Georgian Migration Across Continents After 1921

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Online

This webinar will look at the stories of individual men and women and their extraordinary journeys, using an interactive map to visualize their routes and illuminate the wide-ranging dispersal of Georgians in the wake of 20th-century wars and revolutions.

Recording Available
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones

Chairman, Advisory Board, Program on Georgian Studies, Davis Center; Professor of Modern Georgian History, Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia)

Eka Imerlishvili
Eka Imerlishvili

Secretary of the Georgian Association in the US

Markus Vaher

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Diana Zadura
Diana Zadura

Independent Scholar; Graduate of Cultural Anthropology and Eastern Studies, Warsaw University

Salome Tsereteli-Stephens
Salome Tsereteli-Stephens

President, Georgian Association in the USA

Elene Kekelia
Elene Kekelia

Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, George Washington University

Lottery ticket issued by Avtodor, 1930

Introduction to Blavatnik Archive's Open-Access Digital Collections

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Online

Join us for a presentation on the Blavatnik Archive’s digital collections and tools. 

Sandra Grudic
Sandra Grudić

Program Administrator, Educator Outreach, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Julie Reines Chervinsky

Director, Blavatnik Archive

Brandon Schechter

Historian, Blavatnik Archive

Cover, "Public Sector Reforms in Kazakhstan", Janenova and Makulbayeva.

Public Sector Reforms in Kazakhstan: Exploring a 'Listening and Just State' Agenda

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Online

In their edited volume, Public Sector Reforms in Kazakhstan, Saltanat Janenova and Gulnur Makulbayeva examine the implementation dynamics of diverse policy initiatives advanced through the “Listening and Just State” agenda.

Saltanat Janenova
Saltanat Janenova

Lecturer in Public Policy, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol (UK); Director, Centre for Public Administration and Behavioral Policy, National Analytical Centre, Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan)

Gulnur Makulbayeva
Gulnur Makulbayeva

Associate Professor, Academy of Public Administration Under the President of Kazakhstan

Nargis Kassenova
Nargis Kassenova

Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center

Past

We’ve hosted dozens of events, many of which we’ve recorded. Search past events for the topics you care about.

Dried Aral Sea with ship wreck and grazing animals

Elusive Water: The Life and Death of Central Asia's Aral Sea

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In person

 Join us for the talk examining the causes and the consequences of the Aral Sea disaster. 

Sarah Cameron
Sarah Cameron

Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland, College Park

Nargis Kassenova
Nargis Kassenova

Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center

a classroom in Afghanistan with girls

A Generation at Risk: Education and the Future of Afghanistan

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In person

Join us for a timely conversation exploring how restrictions on education in Afghanistan are shaping the country’s future, bringing together frontline reporting and expert analysis to shed light on an urgent issue that demands global attention.

Lotfullah Najafizada
Lotfullah Najafizada

CEO, Amu TV, Washington DC

Thomas Barfield
Thomas Barfield

Professor of Anthropology / Director of Graduate Studies, Boston University

Nargis Kassenova
Nargis Kassenova

Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center

Reyaz Abdullah Sultani
Reyaz Abdullah Sultani

Undergraduate Student, Harvard College; President, Harvard College Afghan Students Association

a human profile with information dots and tracks

AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True and Everything Is Generated

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In person

Join us for a conversation on how AI-powered propaganda differs from what came before and how new technologies shape public reality.

Peter Pomerantsev
Peter Pomerantsev

Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins University

Halyna Padalko

Research Affiliate, MIT-Ukraine Program, Fulbright Fellow

map of post soviet republics

Analyzing Post-Soviet Reforms and Reform Proposals: Results of Comparative Research, Part 2

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In person

Come hear key findings from a unique comparison of institutional reforms enacted or proposed by elites, opposition groups, and other actors in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan; and Russia. 

Irina Busygina
Irina Busygina

Independent Scholar

Aspram Israyelyan
Aspram Israyelyan

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Matvey Anufriev
Matvey Anufriev

MPP Candidate, Harvard Kennedy School

Zachary Hollis
Zachary Hollis

A.M. Candidate in Regional Studies—REECA

Arctic event image

Negotiating Authority: Indigenous Diplomacy Across Arctic and Global Governance

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In person

This roundtable examines Indigenous diplomacy as a form of institutional engagement operating simultaneously across multiple political arenas. 

Picture of Malu Rosing
Malu Rosing

Advisor on Arctic and Human Rights System, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Photo of Marjorie Balzer
Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer
Photo of Elsa Stamatopoulou
Elsa Stamatopoulou
Photo of Andrey Petrov
Andrey Petrov
Mariana Katzarova

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Russian Federation

Liubov Sulyandziga
Liubov Sulyandziga

Visiting Scholar, Davis Center (AY 2025-26)

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